French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. de Vitry, Conspirations d'un solitaire. L'individualisme civique de Charles Péguy
History, Politics and Society
Bibliographic reference: A. de Vitry, Conspirations d'un solitaire. L'individualisme civique de Charles Péguy, Les Belles Lettres, 2015. EAN13: 9782251445557.
A. de Vitry, Conspirations d'un solitaire. L'individualisme civique de Charles Péguy, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2015.
EAN: 9782251445557
520 p.
EUR 35
To today's reader, Péguy’s struggles often seem as contradictory as they frequently appeared to his contemporaries: a Dreyfusard and anarchistic socialist, he became a fierce patriot and later a singular Christian of the "depths," embodying within himself worlds that were a priori vastly incompatible. Rather than pitting these various allegiances against one another, or too quickly assuming that their articulation is unproblematic, it is far more fruitful to observe that a single, persistent contradiction runs through his entire oeuvre—between the individual and the city, solitude and commitment, "mystical" withdrawal and "political" momentum. He handles these terms in a wholly unique, often reversible manner, which constitutes the very essence and enduring relevance of this unclassifiable body of work.
At the helm of his Cahiers de la quinzaine, Péguy liked to fancy himself a "conspirator": his texts, friendships, and confidences allowed him to "foment" in the twilight the ideal city of the future, without ever renouncing an irrepressible streak of individualism.
This is what he called the "mystique": to unveil and conceal, in a single gesture, the individual secret of all politics, undermining the city even as one seeks to found it. Péguy's politics, so imperious, is also an antipolitics; of the 20th century, he bore both the affliction and the remedy.
Alexandre de Vitry is a former student of the École normale supérieure de Lyon, holds an agrégation in modern literature, and a PhD in French literature from Paris-Sorbonne University. He has published L’invention de Philippe Muray (2011) and La conquête de l’Alsace (2014), alongside various articles on French literature from the 19th to the 21st century. For his dissertation on Charles Péguy, he received the 2015 Henri Hertz Prize, awarded by the Chancellorship of the Universities of Paris. He is currently a temporary research and teaching attaché at the Collège de France, affiliated with the Chair of Modern and Contemporary French Literature.
Table of Contents
Common abbreviations and acronyms
Foreword: Péguy in All His Contradictions
The Individual and the City
Péguy in His Time
Associating, Conspiring
Preamble: The City Upside Down
Chapter One: Three Cities in the Making
The Republic Assailing Itself
Some "Republican Ideas"
Radicalism, the "Party of the French Revolution"
For Clemenceau: Individualism in the Republic
Against Léon Bourgeois: Radical Solidarity
A Critique of Radical Individualism
The Republic Travelling Through Time
In Praise of Republican Individualization
An Almost Present Republic: The Secular School
A Present Anti-Republic: A Critique of "Domination"
The Socialist City Against Collectivism
A Novel of the Origins of Socialism
Utopian France: Between Collective Being and Individual Aspiration
Jaurès's Germany: Beyond Individualism
The Collectivist Bogeyman
The Morals of Socialism
Two Utopias
Socialisms in the Present: Already the City?
Saving Dreyfus and "Preparing" the Socialist City
The Socialist Idea Put to the Test of Its Party
On the Margins of the Party: The Micropolis of Socialism
From One Social Study Group to Another
Vain Popular Universities
Bitter New Society
Anarchism to the Rescue of the City
Libertarian Communism and Social Communication
Lights and Shadows of Individualism
Anarchism in Practice
The Civic Deficit of Revolutionary Syndicalism
Anarchy at the Cahiers de la quinzaine
Me, the Cahiers de la quinzaine: Péguy as Pseudonym
We, Charles Péguy: The Péguy of Others
Interlude: The City on Vacation
Chapter 2: Beneath the Fatherland, the Race
The City Against the Nation
1905: A Bergsonian Revelation
Péguy the Anti-Individualist
Ancient Solidarities
The Choral Patriotism of Notre patrie
The Misery of Kantian Individualism
The Collectivization of Genius
On Racial Resource
Is Nationalism Racist?
Weary Race, Springing Race
Fecundity Continued
From the National to the Regional, and Back
Individualist All the Same
Three National Metonyms
The Unbearable Lightness of the Military
Paris's Great Anxiety
Before the Mystery of Israel
A Jewish Nationalism Applied to France?
A Race of Prophets
Toward Christendom
Chapter 3: From Christianity to the Mystique: Toward the Secret of Every City
Against Catholicism
In the Impasse of Situations
New Ideal City, New Pessimism
The Christian's Antique City
The Christendom of the Abbeys
The City of God
After the City: The Un-Christian World
Second Foundation: A Christendom of Individuals
A New Theologian
New Communism: Communion
New Personalism: The Imitation of Jesus Christ
On Social Excommunication
Ever an Individualist
Impossible Communities
What Is the Mystique?
Beneath Politics, the Mystique
The Solitary's Conspiracy
Conclusion: Péguy Nowhere
Appendix: Complete Table of Contents of the Cahiers de la quinzaine
First Series – January 1900–November 1900
Second Series: November 1900–August 1901
Third Series: October 1901–August 1902
Fourth Series: October 1902–August 1903
Fifth Series: October 1903–September 1904
Sixth Series: September 1904–May 1905
Seventh Series: October 1905–July 1906
Eighth Series: October 1906–April 1907
Ninth Series: October 1907–July 1908
Tenth Series: October 1908–June 1909
Eleventh Series: October 1909–August 1910
Twelfth Series: October 1910–June 1911
Thirteenth Series: August 1911–March 1912
Fourteenth Series: July 1912–June 1913
Fifteenth Series: October 1913–July 1914
Chronology
Bibliography
Péguy's Texts
Reference Editions of Péguy's Oeuvre
Correspondence and Interviews
Studies on Péguy and the Cahiers de la quinzaine
Monographs on Péguy
Collective Works and Journal Issues Dedicated to Péguy
Works Partially Dedicated to Péguy
Articles
Bibliographic Tools
Texts Contemporary with or Prior to Péguy
Various Critical Works and Articles
Index
Alexandre de Vitry examines the intricate relationship between solitude and civic commitment in the writings of Charles Péguy, a major figure of early twentieth-century French letters. Situating Péguy within the intellectual and political turbulence of his era—from the Dreyfus Affair to the founding of the influential journal Cahiers de la quinzaine—the study illuminates how the author navigated the tensions between socialism, nationalism, and Christian faith. Rather than viewing these allegiances as mere contradictions, the book demonstrates how a persistent tension between the individual and the city defines Péguy's unique body of work.
This scholarly monograph will appeal to students and researchers of modern French literature, intellectual history, and political philosophy seeking a deeper understanding of Péguy's enduring legacy. By analyzing key concepts such as the interplay between mystical withdrawal and political action, the work offers valuable insights into the intellectual traditions of the Third Republic. Readers interested in the intersections of literature, civic engagement, and twentieth-century thought will find this volume an illuminating guide to an unclassifiable thinker.