Faustina and Other Stories

The second of Stableford’s projected three-volume edition of Vivien’s complete works contains the two books of short stories and prose poetry that Vivien (1877–1909) collaborated on with her lover Hélène de Zuylen de Nyevelt (1863–1947). Copeaux appeared in 1904 or 1905 and consists of original fairy tales, decadent/symbolist meditations on nature and desire, and stories designed around eccentric moral lessons, such as “Faustina,” in which a Roman poet becomes a gladiator so he can make his death a poetic tribute to his unattainable love. Netsuké (1904) is a collection of retold Japanese and Chinese folktales and historical anecdotes, touching on many Japanese cosmological legends in the exoticizing style typical of French fin-de-siècle Orientalism. Its last few pieces are of interest for their explicit arguments in favor of lesbianism, rare at that time and place. Unfortunately, Stableford’s translation is clunky and does not give much animation to the prose poetry, or much nuance to prose that was clearly designed to be subtle and delicate. Still, this translation shows why Vivien has an enduring literary legacy. (Mar.)