French Literature Reviews - 2026

B. Canone & Ch. Doumet, Dictionnaire des mots manquants
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Belinda Cannone & Christian Doumet, Dictionnaire des mots manquants, Vincennes, Editions Thierry Marchaisse, 2016.

EAN: 9782362800948

216 p.

EUR 16.90

A child who loses their parents? An orphan. But a parent who loses their child? There is no word for them.

Every language has lexical gaps, areas of meaning that lack a precise corresponding term. This literary dictionary gives voice to forty-four writers who attempt, not to coin neologisms, but simply to describe and examine certain absences experienced in their linguistic practice.

There is no attempt to be exhaustive, nor is such a thing even possible. Rather, it offers a tentative mapping of absences within a certain landscape of contemporary French literature.

Contributors: Élisabeth Barillé, Pierre Bergounioux, Stéphane Bouquet, Belinda Cannone, Pierre Cleitman, Pascal Commère, François Debluë, Michel Deguy, Jean-Michel Delacomptée, Gérard Dessons, Jean-Philippe Domecq, Max Dorra, Christian Doumet, Anne Dufourmantelle, Renaud Ego, Denis Grozdanovitch, Jacques Jouet, Pierre Jourde, Cécile Ladjali, Pierre Lafargue, Frank Lanot, Alain Leygonie, Diane De Margerie, Jean-Pierre Martin, Isabelle Minière, Dominique Noguez, Gilles Ortlieb, Véronique Ovaldé, Alexis Pelletier, Pia Petersen, Didier Pourquery, Philippe Raymond-Thimonga, Henri Raynal, Philippe Renonçay, Jean Rouaud, James Sacré, Marlène Soreda, Morgan Sportes, Brina Svit, François Taillandier, Claire Tencin, Gérard Titus-Carmel, Patrick Tudoret, Julie Wolkenstein.

The concept of a lexical gap, or a designation missing from a language's vocabulary, has long fascinated both linguists and creative writers. While lexicographers often seek to standardize and fill these voids, literary practitioners frequently find creative resonance within the spaces where language falls short. In Dictionnaire des mots manquants, forty-four writers attempt not to coin neologisms, but to describe and examine absences experienced in their linguistic practice.

Rather than attempting to be exhaustive, the volume offers a tentative mapping of these absences within a certain landscape of contemporary French literature. The contributors include contemporary French writers such as Pierre Bergounioux, Michel Deguy, and Jean Rouaud. Readers interested in contemporary French literature may find this exploration of linguistic limits relevant.