Restoring Wonder: Mystical Counter-Mapping in the Work of Arthur Machen
The Welsh writer Arthur Machen (1863-1947) is now widely recognized as a literary precursor of psychogeography, both as a way of walking and as a study of the interaction between geography and psychology. Like their creator, many of his characters practise what Machen called “the art of wandering”,...
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| 出版年: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles, |
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| フォーマット: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| 言語: | Anglais |
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Angles
2026
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| 主題: | |
| オンライン･アクセス: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_10823 |
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openedition |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_10823 https://doi.org/10.4000/16305 urn:doi:10.4000/16305 en https://journals.openedition.org/angles/10823 2026-04-16T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/16305 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Restoring Wonder: Mystical Counter-Mapping in the Work of Arthur Machen Angles Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2274-2042 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles Mantrant, Sophie anti-cartographie Londres Machen mysticisme psychogéographie rituel sacramentel errance anti-mapping London Machen mysticism psychogeography sacramental ritual wandering The Welsh writer Arthur Machen (1863-1947) is now widely recognized as a literary precursor of psychogeography, both as a way of walking and as a study of the interaction between geography and psychology. Like their creator, many of his characters practise what Machen called “the art of wandering”, an art not unlike the situationist dérive in that it liberates the walker from the alienation of the everyday.This article explores Machen’s London writing, both fictional and non-fictional, to show how it ties in with his mystical agenda as a writer. The author and his fictional mouthpieces consistently voice their dislike of the disenchanted, de-spiritualized world they live in. As they participate in the disenchantment of space, maps and guidebooks are rejected in an explicit anti-map discourse. Furthermore, maps cannot render the porosity of space as perceived by the mystically inclined, for whom gateways into the unknown might appear almost anywhere. I argue that the reshaping of London in Machen’s work is an act of counter-mapping in that it opposes what Peter Ackroyd describes as “a secular view of the world”. L’écrivain gallois Arthur Machen (1863-1947) est aujourd’hui largement considéré comme un précurseur littéraire de la psychogéographie, à la fois comme pratique déambulatoire et comme étude des effets de l’espace urbain sur les émotions et comportements de l’individu. Comme leur créateur, nombre de ses personnages pratiquent ce que Machen a appelé « l’art de l’errance », une déambulation sans but qui n’est pas sans rappeler la dérive des situationnistes en ce qu’elle libère de l’aliénation du quotidien.Cet article explore les écrits londoniens de Machen afin de montrer comment sa représentation de la ville s’articule à son plaidoyer pour un réenchantement mystique du réel. L’auteur et ses porte-parole fictionnels ne cessent de dire l’aversion que leur inspire le monde désenchanté et déspiritualisé dans lequel ils vivent. Parce qu’elles participent au désenchantement de l’espace, les cartes sont rejetées dans un discours explicite. De plus, elles ne peuvent rendre compte de la porosité de l’espace tel qu’il est perçu par un regard mystique. Pour l’initié qui sait voir, des portails ouvrant sur l’inconnu peuvent apparaître à chaque coin de rue. Cet article se propose ainsi de montrer que la reconfiguration de Londres dans l’œuvre de Machen est une démarche contre-cartographique en ce qu’elle s’oppose à ce que Peter Ackroyd a décrit comme « une vision profane (secular) du monde ». |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
anti-cartographie Londres Machen mysticisme psychogéographie rituel sacramentel errance anti-mapping London Machen mysticism psychogeography sacramental ritual wandering |
| spellingShingle |
anti-cartographie Londres Machen mysticisme psychogéographie rituel sacramentel errance anti-mapping London Machen mysticism psychogeography sacramental ritual wandering Mantrant, Sophie Restoring Wonder: Mystical Counter-Mapping in the Work of Arthur Machen |
| description |
The Welsh writer Arthur Machen (1863-1947) is now widely recognized as a literary precursor of psychogeography, both as a way of walking and as a study of the interaction between geography and psychology. Like their creator, many of his characters practise what Machen called “the art of wandering”, an art not unlike the situationist dérive in that it liberates the walker from the alienation of the everyday.This article explores Machen’s London writing, both fictional and non-fictional, to show how it ties in with his mystical agenda as a writer. The author and his fictional mouthpieces consistently voice their dislike of the disenchanted, de-spiritualized world they live in. As they participate in the disenchantment of space, maps and guidebooks are rejected in an explicit anti-map discourse. Furthermore, maps cannot render the porosity of space as perceived by the mystically inclined, for whom gateways into the unknown might appear almost anywhere. I argue that the reshaping of London in Machen’s work is an act of counter-mapping in that it opposes what Peter Ackroyd describes as “a secular view of the world”. |
| author |
Mantrant, Sophie |
| author_facet |
Mantrant, Sophie |
| author_sort |
Mantrant, Sophie |
| title |
Restoring Wonder: Mystical Counter-Mapping in the Work of Arthur Machen |
| title_short |
Restoring Wonder: Mystical Counter-Mapping in the Work of Arthur Machen |
| title_full |
Restoring Wonder: Mystical Counter-Mapping in the Work of Arthur Machen |
| title_fullStr |
Restoring Wonder: Mystical Counter-Mapping in the Work of Arthur Machen |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Restoring Wonder: Mystical Counter-Mapping in the Work of Arthur Machen |
| title_sort |
restoring wonder: mystical counter-mapping in the work of arthur machen |
| publisher |
Angles |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/16305 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/angles/10823 |
| _version_ |
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