French Literature Reviews - 2026

Writing the Body in Quebec Literature Since 1980
Francophone and Oral Literatures

Writing the Body
in Quebec Literature
Since 1980

Edited by
Daniel MARCHEIX
Nathalie WATTEYNE

Human Spaces Series


As a specific form of social discourse, literature cannot remain untouched by the "somatic culture" that developed throughout the 20th century. It serves as both a privileged witness and undoubtedly one of the most significant agents of this culture, offering configurations of the relationship that the contemporary subject weaves with its body, perceptions, and sensations. Reflection on this subject is enriched by major scholarly works that have laid valuable groundwork, from Paul Ricoeur to Jean-Pierre Richard, Dominique Maingueneau to Jacques Fontanille or Éric Landowski, and Didier Anzieu to Julia Kristeva. The studies gathered in this volume aim to contribute to this ongoing discussion by striving to chart a path whose specificity stems as much from the chosen corpus as from a shared set of problems. Focusing particularly on Quebec literature from 1980 to the present day, they examine texts profoundly shaped by the cultural debates and transformations of the 1960s and 1970s, which vividly and uniquely bear witness to a worldview in which the body and sensory experience acquire meaning. Furthermore, by addressing the question of bodily writing, these essays seek to explore the manifold interactions between the somatic and textuality.

Featuring contributions by Anne Ancrenat, Isabelle Boisclair, Arlette Bouloumié, Marc Boyer and Christiane Lahaie, Fabienne C. Caland, Laurent Fourcaut, Céline Girard, François Hébert, Evelyne Ledoux-Beaugrand, Daniel Marcheix, Bénédicte Mauguière, Isabelle Miron, Janet M. Paterson, Marie-Lyne Piccione, Yannick Resch, Lori Saint-Martin, Marie-Béatrice Samzun, Voichita-Maria Sasu, Mylène Tremblay, Sylvie Vignes-Mottet, and Nathalie Watteyne.

This volume contributes to ongoing scholarly discussions surrounding somatic culture by examining how contemporary writing engages with sensory experience, perception, and bodily awareness. Drawing on established intellectual traditions that investigate the relationship between the subject and the physical self, the collection brings together multiple perspectives on literature as a form of social discourse. The contributors analyze how texts register shifts in bodily representation, connecting literary expression to broader cultural transformations that have shaped modern understandings of embodiment in the humanities.

Focusing specifically on Quebec literature from 1980 onward, the essays trace the lingering echoes of the cultural debates of the 1960s and 1970s within contemporary fiction and poetry. By investigating the interactions between the somatic and textuality, the studies examine how writers configure bodily experience. Readers interested in contemporary Quebec literature, somatic culture, and the intersection of the body with literary representation may find these studies relevant to their inquiries.