French Literature Reviews - 2026

Approaches to the Essay
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Approches de l'essai. Anthologie, texts compiled and introduced by François Dumont, Québec, Éditions Nota bene, 2003, 276 p. (Coll. "Visées critiques").
ISBN: 2-89518-137-3

Contents:

François Dumont, Introduction
Georg Lukács, Nature and Form of the Essay
Theodor Adorno, The Essay as Form
Jean Marcel, Form and Function of the Essay in Spanish Literature
Jean Terrasse, The Essay or the Power of Myths
Marc Angenot, Remarks on the Literary Essay
André Belleau, Short Essayistics
Jean Starobinski, Can We Define the Essay?
R. Lane Kauffmann, The Diagonal Path of the Essay: A Method Without a Method
Robert Vigneault, Typological Project: The Registers of the Essay
Irène Langlet, The Collection as a Condition, or Declaration, of Literariness: Paul Valéry and Robert Musil

The essay occupies a distinctive space within modern literature, balancing rigorous intellectual inquiry with personal voice and formal freedom. As a site where philosophy, cultural critique, and literary artistry intersect, the genre has long challenged rigid definitions and traditional boundaries. Readers interested in the evolution of critical prose, literary theory, and genre studies may find this anthology a useful point of reference.

Additional information: http://www.notabene.ca