French Literature Reviews - 2026
É. Grossmann, In Praise of the Hypersensitive
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
Review published in Acta Fabula (November 2017, vol. 18, no. 9): Daniele Carluccio, "The (Un)timeliness of the Hypersensitive"
In Praise of the Hypersensitive
Evelyne Grossman
Publication date: 02/03/2017 Publisher: Minuit (Les Editions de) Series: Paradoxe ISBN: 978-2-7073-4338-3 EAN: 9782707343383 Format: Large Format Binding: Paperback No. of pages: 217 p.
What affects us? Are we witnessing a resurgence of sensibility? The contemporary hypersensitive individual raises these questions anew through art, thought, and writing. They invite us to rehabilitate what, within each of us, is all too often seen as a weakness to be overcome: fragility and vulnerability. Are these so-called "feminine" qualities? In any case, they are traits that men were once expected to guard against in order to preserve their impenetrability—the foundational taboo of all differentiation.
Hypersensitivity should be understood as an analytical tool, an instrument of precise insight serving a subtle mode of thought—one that is as fragile as it is enduring, making it possible to invent new creative modalities free from the usual gendered divisions. By what logic other than that of the eternal dichotomy pitting the receptive gentleness of some against the penetrating strength of others? This is a question also posed by Deleuze and Barthes, as well as by women who had little concern for embodying the phallic power of the intellectual establishment of their time, such as Marguerite Duras, who boldly played the fool, or Louise Bourgeois, the eternal, destructive, and mocking woman-child. It is a question left suspended (since its very definition is to imagine the suspension of opposites) and which must therefore be tirelessly revisited.
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An article on this work can be read on en-attendant-nadeau.fr:
The study of sensibility and the affective experience has long occupied a place in intellectual history, often intersecting with debates on subjectivity and the body. The work positions hypersensitivity as an analytical tool and a mode of insight, engaging with philosophical traditions that interrogate the binary structures of strength and receptivity. This focus aligns with inquiries into how thinkers and artists navigate the tension between vulnerability and creative agency, moving beyond historical expectations of impenetrability that have traditionally shaped definitions of the subject.
Readers interested in the intersections of gender, affect, and creative practice may find this exploration relevant. The text references figures such as Marguerite Duras and Louise Bourgeois to illustrate how the suspension of opposites allows for new modalities of thought. By revisiting the works of thinkers like Deleuze and Barthes, the discussion highlights an effort to redefine the relationship between the self and the external world, questioning the dichotomies that influence perceptions of fragility and power.