Abstract: The discovery of La Salette on Durtal’s journey fits within the history of the symbolism of apparitions, to which Huysmans was introduced by Abbé Boullan. The possibility of a new novelistic language is raised in the form of a poetics of deciphering, in which the image acts as a signpost while remaining enigmatic. The experience is a fraught one for character and author alike: by putting themselves “en route,” they also risk being sidelined by the Church, or even lost in the mystery.
