Cristallisation et recristallisation

Crystallization and recrystallization. To depict a budding love Stendhal in "De l'Amour" introduces a crystallisation metaphor. The image is from a twig abandoned in the depths of a salt mine and recovered adorned with a myriad of sparkling crystals. This essay places this analogy at the confluence of the chemical science contemporary with Stendhal, and of a Literary tradition that nurtured mythical properties of crystals, such as their purity, or their protracted incubation within the wonb of Mother Earth. The scientific bent of Stendhal made him devise such a crystallisation model. Finally a discussion of the science-literature paradigm is offered. The mute parts of the scientific discourse are those to focus inquiry on, it is submitted.Laszlo Pierre. Cristallisation et recristallisation. In: Littérature, n°82, 1991. Science et littérature. pp. 72-85