Poetic Pascal, or the "Pensées" as an Infinite Text

Φ he aim of this essay is twofold. First, to propose new readings in the text of two fragments from Pascal's Pensees. The two fragments are not necessarily related to each other thematically: they simply represent two instances where the text of the Pensees may be corrected.2 Secondly, I wish to re-examine Valery's famous accusation that Pascal wrote in verse.3 There exist already several critiques of Valery's treatment of Pascal.4 My goal is rather to read these fragments within the context of Valery's and Claudel's poetics, turning Valery's accusation into a positive procedure for reading Pascal. In other words, rather than read these pensees within a theological context only, or an historical one, I prefer to emphasize certain features of Pascal's "Classical" writing that can be explained in terms which we tend to associate only with more avant-garde writers. Critics have already produced many studies that, in one way or another, make use of literary theory5 ; my goal is, rather, to confront Pascal with remarks on literature made by various writers themselves. I seek not to vindicate Valery nor to criticize Pascal's theological aim, but simply to understand better the style of the Pensees. I will argue that such a procedure is justified and that, without erasing the specificity of Pascal's writing, we can identify features that aid in the appreciation and understanding of Pascal's most famous and enigmatic text. The method is eclectic: I have drawn from a variety of authors in order to produce a form of critical "bricolage" that constitutes a