The Belle Epoque and the Roaring Twenties, literary enchantment

Launched in the late 2000s, the «Dictionnaire amoureux» collection covers a wide range of subjects. One of the latest is devoted to the Belle Epoque and the Années Folles, written by Benoît Duteurtre. Guaranteed to amaze.

In this latest instalment of his dictionaries of love, Benoît Duteurtre takes us on a stroll down the steep little streets of Montmartre, along the candelabra-lit boulevards, along the rolling sidewalks of the Universal Exhibition, through the hustle and bustle of the Montparnasse cafés or along the promenades of the music halls, to the rhythm of Yvette Guibert, Claude Debussy or Duke Ellington. In just under 200 entries, from writers (André Breton) to concepts (urban planning), actresses (Sarah Bernhardt), musicians (Erik Satie), painters (Paul Signac), works (Paradise Lost) or popular (casinos) or iconic (Le Chat noir) locations, the Dictionary of the Belle Epoque and the Roaring Twenties is not intended as an encyclopedia or a complete cartography of a period, but as an anthology designed to capture the essence of an era.

The interest of such a work lies solely in bringing to life one's passion for the subject evoked and transmitting it to the reader («proclaiming one's love», in the author's words). That's why it would be absolutely pointless and absurd to talk about this dictionary in a reasoned way, taking distance and height. Instead, I'll tell you how it resonated with wonder within me.

A timeless literary stroll

As far as I can remember, my interest in painting and sculpture came rather late, around the age of 20. It came from watching the Arte documentary The Adventurers of Modern Art. My fascination with art has always been closely linked to the Paris of the twentieth century.^th century, its bohemian life, its artists and their works. My whole imagination was built around the poster for the Black cat by Steinlen, drawings by Degas, poems by Apollinaire, ballet sets by Cocteau, portraits of the muses by the Impressionists.

Since then, no matter how many museums and exhibitions I've visited, everything brings me back to the candid joy of immersing myself in that effervescent period. A time when Paris was more than ever at the center of the intellectual and artistic world. And reading Dictionary of the Belle Epoque and the Roaring Twenties, I found exactly the same enchantment!

I've wandered through these pages as I would have strolled through Paris at the dawn of the last century, wandering by the chance of words and the pleasure of sounds. I passed illustrious figures as if they were long-lost friends, shared the company of strangers in fashionable places and wandered through emerging styles. I felt myself slipping into a yellowed postcard of a Paris that seemed phantasmagorical.

«Both the Roaring Twenties and the Belle Epoque shook up the hierarchy of values. The grand and noble were inspired by the small and popular, the profound by the light. The same taste for entertainment blows through the cafés and salons where writers, painters and musicians gather.»

You won't finish this book in one go, but you'll pick it up and consult it, letting yourself be carried along, the better to lose yourself in its heart. This Dictionary of the Belle Epoque and the Roaring Twenties is anything but an anthology of famous names and establishments; it cleverly mixes important characters with common elements: from the Moulin Rouge to the moustache, from fumistes, zutistes and hydropathes to train stations, or from Charles Cros to cynicism. There's even a «forges and steel» entry! We leaf through it with adolescent joy, almost as a game. What's certain is that when you open this volume, you can smell the perfume of a bygone era. That of carefree dreams.

Write to the author: quentin.perissinotto@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Quentin Perissinotto for Le Regard Libre

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Benoît Duteurtre 
Dictionary of the Belle Epoque and the Roaring Twenties 
Plon 
2022 
644 pages 

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