French Literature Reviews - 2026

Anouchka VASAK, Entre deux eaux: les secondes Lumières et leurs ambiguïtés (1789-1815)
History, Politics and Society

Bibliographic reference: Anouchka VASAK, Entre deux eaux: les secondes Lumières et leurs ambiguïtés (1789-1815), Le Manuscrit, collection "Réseau Lumières", 2012. EAN13: 9782304040425.

Geographical circumstances, alongside a scientific interest shared by the members of the Lumières network, brought historians and literary scholars together around a historical moment and a subject to which French literary history—always quick to establish divisions and draw boundaries—does not pay sufficient attention: the turn of the century, specifically the period some historians have called the "second Enlightenment". What is meant by the "second Enlightenment"? While it inevitably intersects with German Romanticism and even the "counter-Enlightenment", it does not constitute a movement—at most, it designates an uncultivated or battle-scarred field left in France and parts of Europe by the Revolution. Yet it still belongs to the Enlightenment, insofar as, following Foucault, one understands the latter—whether first or second—as a permanent regime of critique characteristic of modernity. Modernity? Between turning one's back on the present and the "splendid dawn" hailed by Hegel, the era is searching for its identity, as voices blend and contradict one another. Dawn or dusk? The viewer of Friedrich’s famous painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog hesitates. This very hesitation is that of the second Enlightenment.

The period spanning the French Revolution and the fall of the Empire remains a complex transitional phase within European intellectual history. Often overshadowed by the brilliance of the high Enlightenment and the subsequent rise of Romanticism, the decades around eighteen hundred saw scholars and writers navigating an uncertain ideological landscape. This era of transition brought together diverse perspectives as intellectuals grappled with the aftermath of profound political upheaval. Works addressing this chronological juncture frequently investigate how inherited philosophical traditions intersected with new forms of historical consciousness and aesthetic expression across Europe.

Readers interested in the intellectual history of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries may find this volume relevant. Entre deux eaux: les secondes Lumières et leurs ambiguþtés (1789-1815) considers how the period between seventeen eighty-nine and eighteen fifteen reflects ongoing debates concerning critique and modernity. By examining the shifting boundaries of intellectual networks during the turn of the century, the study contributes to broader discussions about cultural continuity and historical ambiguity.