French Literature Reviews - 2026

B. Cannone, Le Sentiment d'imposture
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

Belinda Cannone,

Le Sentiment d'imposture,

Paris, Gallimard, “Folio Essais”, 2009, 160 p.

EAN: 9782070360673

7€

Publisher's overview
By “impostors,” Belinda Cannone does not mean con artists who command respect or usurp a position. The author describes a very common feeling that we are always careful to hide: the deep-seated conviction that one is not the person one ought to be to legitimately occupy one's current position, coupled with the fear of being unmasked. While this unease calls identity into question, it does not actually raise the question “Who am I?”, but rather “Am I the person I should be to be in this place?” All our ambitions, whatever their nature (professional, romantic, existential, etc.), can trigger this anxiety. In thirty-six lively chapters ranging from literature to psychoanalysis, by way of cinema, politics, and everyday experience, this essay offers narratives and reflections on the origins and experience of feeling like an impostor.

About the author
Belinda Cannone is a novelist (with four novels published since 1990) and essayist (author of six essays, including L'Écriture du désir, Calmann-Lévy, 2000, recipient of the Académie française Essay Prize).

In Le Sentiment d'imposture, Belinda Cannone explores the common feeling of believing one is not the person one ought to be to legitimately occupy a current position, coupled with the fear of being unmasked. The author distinguishes this internal anxiety from the actions of con artists or those who usurp a position. While this unease calls identity into question, it specifically addresses the question of whether one is the person they should be to be in their current place, an anxiety that can be triggered by professional, romantic, or existential ambitions.

The essay consists of thirty-six chapters that draw on literature, psychoanalysis, cinema, politics, and everyday experience to offer reflections on the origins and experience of feeling like an impostor. Readers interested in the psychology of identity and everyday philosophy may find this volume relevant.