Poetics of the Pretext is an original study of the French poet LautrEamont (1846-1870), who was rediscovered by the Surrealists in the 1920s and promoted to the vanguard of theoretical debate by the 'Telquelists' of the 1960s, but whose work has remained largely ignored or misinterpreted beyond a small circle of enthusiasts. Poetics of the Pretext analyses closely the texts, pretexts and intertexts of this innovative poet, bringing Les Chants de Maldoror and PoEsies to the foreground of contemporary critical debates around poetics, genre, intertextuality and influence. This book will make a major contribution to our understanding not only of the work of LautrEamont but also to the function of originality, imitation and plagiarism in the nineteenth century.