French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Cantillon, Le-Pari-de-Pascal. Etude littéraire d'une série d'énonciations
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
Review published in Acta Fabula (May–June 2015, vol. 16, no. 5):
"What does the history of Pascal's Pensées give us to think about?" by Mathilde Bombart.
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Alain Cantillon, Le Pari de Pascal. Études littéraires d'une série d'énonciations
Paris: Éditions de l'EHESS, coll. "Contextes", 2014
978-2-7116-2572-7 — 28 euros
What is the actual mode of existence of a written work over time? How have the unreadable features of an unfinished manuscript been transformed into a text regarded as a masterpiece of literature?
How does Pascal's Wager unfold, and through what paths has it reached the present day? How do this unfolding and journey constitute it and imbue it with all its power? If we examine the concrete procedures of textual idealization, we uncover a continuous, tightly woven entanglement of utterances (editions and commentaries) that ceaselessly, and inevitably without ultimate success, attempt to reproduce an authentic text, while continually activating through their labor this series of utterances within the reality of political and social life.
Alain Cantillon's study contributes to the rich tradition of textual scholarship and reception history within French literary studies. By investigating how unfinished manuscripts are transformed into acknowledged masterworks, the book engages with fundamental questions about authorship, materiality, and the afterlife of classic texts. Scholars of seventeenth-century literature, editorial history, and historical epistemology will find this rigorous examination of textual genesis and ideological transmission particularly illuminating for understanding the mechanisms of canon formation.
The volume offers a close reading of the concrete procedures that underpin textual idealization, tracing how commentaries and successive editions attempt to stabilize an elusive work. It addresses how historical utterances remain embedded within the shifting currents of political and social life. This approach will interest researchers exploring the intersection of textual criticism, philosophy, and cultural history, providing valuable methodological tools for analyzing the complex pathways through which foundational philosophical and religious arguments reach contemporary readers.