French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Boissière, Le mouvement à l’œuvre. Entre jeu et art
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

Le mouvement à l’œuvre. Entre jeu et art

Anne Boissière

Mimésis, Paris

ISBN : 9788869761591

22 €

220 p.

OVERVIEW

This book explores the status and qualities of the "pathic" based on Erwin Straus's definition, turning to play and art in order to question the striking spontaneity of these living forms of experience. By analyzing this formal dynamic—conceived here as an irreducible mode of communication operating directly within motor activity—the study highlights *playing* rather than *game*, as well as *Gestaltung* rather than form perceived in its fixed identity. This perspective is further enriched by works of outsider art (*art brut*), which serve as privileged witnesses to a logic of the unintentional, ultimately allowing us to inhabit the "world." Standing at the intersection of psychoanalysis and phenomenology, the book engages in a dialogue with the ideas of Marion Milner, Donald W. Winnicott, Johan Huizinga, and Henri Maldiney, among others.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anne Boissière is a professor at the University of Lille SHS, where she teaches aesthetics and the philosophy of art. She is the author of *Chanter Narrer Danser, Contribution à une philosophie du sentir* (Delatour France, Sampzon, 2016); *Musique Mouvement* (Manucius, Paris, 2014); and *La pensée musicale de Theodor W. Adorno, l’épique et le temps* (Beauchesne, Paris, 2011). She also co-edited, alongside Mathieu Duplay, *Vie, Symbole, Mouvement ; Susanne Langer et la danse* (Édition de l’Incidence, 2012).

Rooted in the traditions of phenomenology and psychoanalysis, this study examines how living forms of experience manifest through spontaneous bodily and creative activity. By drawing on foundational thinkers such as Erwin Straus, Johan Huizinga, and Donald W. Winnicott, the author investigates the dynamic interplay between play, artistic creation, and human perception. The analysis deliberately favors active processes over static structures, engaging with the conceptual nuances of *Gestaltung* and the expressive immediacy found within outsider art, or *art brut*.

This work will particularly interest scholars, researchers, and students of aesthetics, philosophy of art, and cultural studies seeking to deepen their understanding of sensory experience and communication. It offers valuable perspectives for those exploring the intersections of movement, psychoanalytic theory, and modern philosophical inquiry. Readers engaged with the ways human beings inhabit the world through artistic expression will find this rigorous academic exploration both challenging and illuminating.