French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. N'Guessan Larroux, La rue dans tous ses états
History, Politics and Society
La rue dans tous ses états
Béatrice N'Guessan Larroux
Publication date: 10/12/2018
Publisher: L'Harmattan
ISBN: 978-2-343-16113-6
EAN: 9782343161136
Number of pages: 416 p.
There is a persistent need to approach the street—a seemingly simple spatial unit whose significance is continually revitalized by the humanities. The street intrigues through its ability to evade any single, unambiguous definition, as reflected in the very title of the symposium: not only does *la rue dans tous ses états* convey a sense of multiplicity and diversity, but it also evokes the idiomatic expression "dans tous ses états" (beside oneself), suggesting disrupted tranquility, agitation, nervousness, turmoil, abnormality, and so on.
This versatility shifts the street from states of dormancy to agitation, driven by history and situated social practices. Twenty-seven authors from diverse disciplines come together here to explore the concept of the street and illustrate its various uses and functions.
Béatrice N'guessan Larroux is a senior lecturer in French literature at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny University in Abidjan. Having completed her doctoral thesis on Aragon as a novelist, she also focuses on writers "from below the thirty-fifth parallel," to use Kundera's phrase, and embraces current theories surrounding a "world literature." She is the author of Aragon au miroir : Essai sur le roman inachevé (L'Harmattan, 2018).
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An article discussing this book can be read on nonfiction.fr:
The street has long occupied a privileged position within urban studies, cultural history, and literary analysis as a dynamic site where public life and social practices unfold. Academic inquiry frequently approaches the urban thoroughfare not merely as a physical space, but as a complex area shaped by historical forces, collective behavior, and shifting cultural representations. This volume brings together twenty-seven contributors from diverse disciplines to examine the varied uses, functions, and symbolic resonances associated with the concept of the street.
Readers interested in urban studies and related fields may find La rue dans tous ses états, edited by Béatrice N'Guessan Larroux and published by L'Harmattan, a relevant contribution to ongoing discussions surrounding public spaces. The work explores how this seemingly simple spatial unit continually evades unambiguous definition, reflecting both material realities and metaphorical associations through a multidisciplinary approach that illustrates multiple dimensions characteristic of the street.
"In Defense and Illustration of the Street as a Public Thoroughfare", by C. Ruby.