Valéry: The poetics and phenomenology of night

The thematic of night engages many of Valéry's mythical poetic figurations, such as Teste, the Parque, and Narcissus. This article examines the nocturnal experience, focusing particularly on the poetico-ontological and phenomenological dimension in the context of Valéry's private writings in the Cahiers. Tracing the genesis of this thematic from the early poetic work and the philosophical essays, it sheds new light on the perception of night that filters through from the scientific and epistemological investigations that underpin Valéry's system of self-science in the Cahiers.