French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Gefen, The Idea of Literature: From Art for Art’s Sake to Engaged Writing
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics
Review published in Acta Fabula (December 2021, vol. 22, no. 10): From Literature to Literatures: The Genealogy of a Rapidly Expanding Field (Justine Brisson)
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Alexandre Gefen, The Idea of Literature: From Art for Art’s Sake to Engaged Writing
- Read the introduction on Fabula's literary theory workshop
- Interview with the author on France Culture’s La Grande table
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Far from being an essence, literature is above all an idea. This essay sets out to trace its history, from the emergence of the word and the birth of the concept at the very beginning of the 19th century to its striking contemporary transformations.
For the territory of literature is undergoing a tremendous expansion today: from literature defined by its disinterestedness and autonomy to contemporary writing that readily embraces social and political engagement; from the canonization of the author to fan fiction enthusiasts; from a sole preoccupation with style to non-fiction; from the apology of originality to the demand for inquiry; from the solitude of the creator to field literature; from the traditional novel to writings of the non-human world; from the cult of the text to writings beyond the book; from Western tropism to world literature; from a linguistic conception to an approach informed by cultural anthropology and the natural sciences.
What has happened? Why did we long identify literature with art for art's sake? What paths did our idea of literature subsequently follow after being defined by its uselessness and intransitivity, only to now appear to us as a communicative and relational practice with an ethical and even democratic function?
By tracing the long and complex genealogy of the aesthetic ideology that has dominated modern literature and its institutions, by interrogating its supposedly universal values, by questioning its religion of the text and its methods of producing distinctions, and by contextualizing the literary studies that accompanied it, we can come to understand literature as an open, expansive, and inclusive concept—as a means rather than an end.
The Author
A senior researcher at CNRS, Alexandre Gefen works on literary theory, contemporary literature, writing, and digital humanities. He is also a literary critic. Recent publications: Vies imaginaires de la littérature française (Paris, Gallimard, 2014); Art et émotions (Armand Colin, 2015); Inventer une vie. La fabrique littéraire de l’individu (Les Impressions Nouvelles, 2015). His previous essay, Réparer le monde. La littérature française face au XXIe siècle (Corti, 2017), achieved widespread success well beyond the field of literary studies.
Alexandre Gefen situates his study within the broader tradition of literary theory and intellectual history, examining how the definition of literature has shifted across two centuries. By tracing the genealogy of the aesthetic ideology that once tied literature to autonomy, disinterestedness, and the cult of the text, the book addresses the profound transformations of contemporary writing. It explores the transition from traditional narrative forms and Western canons toward world literature, non-fiction, fan fiction, and writings of the non-human world, reflecting an ongoing redefinition of cultural boundaries.
This work serves as a valuable resource for students, researchers, and readers of contemporary literature seeking to understand how writing functions today as a communicative, ethical, and relational practice. It helps clarify the historical tensions between art for art's sake and socially engaged literature, offering theoretical tools to examine the expansion of the literary field. By questioning supposedly universal aesthetic values, Gefen invites a reconsideration of literature not as a rigid essence, but as an open, inclusive, and dynamic social concept.