Against Political Literature
What's Next
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2960730 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aurore Peyroles (Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2025-02-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Open Library of Humanities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2056-6700 • E-ISSN: 2056-6700 |
| Publisher | Open Library of the Humanities (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.16995/olh.17997 |
| OpenAlex | W4406180432 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
This article aims to critically examine a certain definition of political literature deployed in the French literary field, which considers it only, or overwhelmingly, under the prism of the 'distribution of the sensible' theorised by Jacques Rancière. With the aim of defending literature on the grounds of its social utility, many writers and critics assign it a duty of representativeness: the political role of literature is to make the invisible visible, in a language as transparent as possible. The article draws on a whole range of contemporary French literature that challenges this assignment and looks differently at the relationship between literature and politics, inviting to make literature politically rather than political literature. Examining in particular some of Nathalie Quintane's and Sandra Lucbert's texts, we shall see what this shift implies, both literarily and politically. The rejection of a literature functioning as a multiplier of visibility and accomplishing a social duty in no way implies the mourning of a political action proper to literature-but it does place it on the side of radical formal invention. What prospects does this redefinition open up
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |