Abstract
This paper aims at clarifying the notion of “sublime” in Michel Deguy. “Le Grand-dire” (1984), his essay on Pseudo-Longinus’ On the Sublime, gives us access to this problem. The “sublime” is one of the most important words in his poem and criticism in the 1980s. His unique interpretation of On the Sublime considers Greek hypsos as “height” and not as “sublime” as we commonly understand today. In this paper, we situate his theory on sublimity as “parabolic transcendence,” which is opposed to the vertical and metaphysical transcendence. We can clarify this by examining his works in 1980s, with focus on “hyperbole (hyperbolè)” and “exchange (antidosis),” the two words that are tightly related to the “sublime” in Deguy’s writings.
