« L’Homme à qui je devais le plus après mon père et ma mère » : Léon Bloy disciple de Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly
"The man to whom I owe the most, after my mother and father": Léon Bloy, Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly’s disciple

Summary/Abstract: As a substitute father figure, a mentor, a tutor and a writer to be admired and imitated, Barbey d’Aurevilly acted as a master for Bloy from the moment they first met. Indeed, among all the other self-proclaimed heirs of Barbey’s legacy, Bloy seems to be the most ardent disciple of the Connétable des Lettres. As we concentrate on the way Bloy constructs multiple authority figures who all somehow relate to Barbey, we propose to study the way these two writers, who both lean exclusively towards the figurative, give a particular depth to their relationship by elaborating their imagery, which plays an essential role in the way they construct the bond between master and disciple. This investigation will, in addition, lead us to consider how such a relationship cannot come about without any occasional differences of opinion or mutual irritation. Far from shying away from the master, Bloy clearly constructs his own authorial persona in the light of the brilliant master, rather than in his shadow.

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