Cryptography from the Crypt: Writing the Exiled Body in Xavier Durrieu’s 1853 Table-Turning Manuscript

Victor Hugo’s participation in table-turning séances during the early years of exile in Jersey is traditionally marked by scholars as a significant moment for biographical reasons and for the expansive poetic production that accompanied it in 1853–1855. The recent discovery of a manuscript written by Xavier Durrieu sheds light on how the “spirit alphabet” system was used to translate table-taps into words and sentences during these shared sessions. Furthermore, the Durrieu manuscript offers a method for analyzing how truncated and incomplete responses of the table were developed not just by Hugo but also by several members of the French proscrit community. This article proposes to reconsider the table-turning procès-verbaux from a wider viewpoint, arguing that a collective experience of exile, manifesting in the forms of physical disembodiment and political unease in Hugo’s entourage, lies at the heart of interpreting the table’s texts.