French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Kauß, Der diskrete Charme der Prokrastination
Novel and Narrative Prose

Anja Kauß: Der diskrete Charme der Prokrastination. Aufschub als literarisches Motiv und narrative Strategie (insbesondere im Werk von Jean-Philippe Toussaint). Munich, Martin Meidenbauer Verlagsbuchhandlung, 2008.

• 602 pages
• 69.90 EUR
• ISBN-13: 9783899756722

Publisher's Description
You can safely put this book aside – and read it later when the time is right: A foundational study on procrastination, a phenomenology of postponement as a cultural achievement – as a strategy, as a circumspectly skeptical philosophy of life, as a mindset and principle of action. Within the framework of aesthetics and rhetoric, it introduces a hitherto scarcely noticed phenomenon: the aesthetics of dilatory narration. Against the backdrop of postmodern theory, procrastination thus emerges as an analytically far-reaching concept for understanding literature, particularly following the deconstruction of traditional narrative categories, and is examined primarily through the work of Jean-Philippe Toussaint. The book—also an excursion into the (sub)culture of procrastinators, from the ancient Greeks, Nietzsche, Freud, Kafka, Tristram Shandy, Vladimir, Estragon, Hamlet, Oblomov, Zeno Cosini, to Derrida, Muhammad Ali, or Winnie-the-Pooh—is frequently witty, partly digressional, partly essayistic-rhizomatic, and altogether both historical and systematic. A monumental fragment.

About the Author
Anja Kauß studied Romance languages and literatures, English studies, and German studies in Düsseldorf and Lille. Ph.D. in 2007. Certified translator, research associate at the Pedagogical University of Kraków.

To read a review by Jörg von Bilavsky:
http://www.literaturkritik.de/public/rezension.php?rez_id=12761

This extensive study investigates procrastination not merely as a psychological habit, but as a deliberate aesthetic strategy and a culturally significant mode of action. By examining how delay functions within narrative structures, the author contributes to the broader fields of literary theory and narratology. The work traces the evolution of dilatory practices across cultural history, engaging with key figures from philosophy and literature such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Kafka, and Jacques Derrida. Through this interdisciplinary lens, postponement emerges as a sophisticated response to the acceleration of modern life and traditional narrative expectations.

Researchers and students interested in contemporary French literature, post-modern narrative techniques, and the aesthetics of slowness will find this volume particularly valuable. It offers robust analytical tools for understanding works where action is deferred or suspended, making it especially relevant for scholars focusing on minimalist prose and contemporary authorship. While centered on the intricate novels of Jean-Philippe Toussaint, the study appeals broadly to readers exploring the intersections of philosophy, rhetoric, and literary form within the twentieth-century tradition and beyond.