French Literature Reviews - 2026

Éric Zernik, L'éternel féminin. Le phantasme de Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

Rousseau has a reputation for being an indefensible misogynist, yet his writings bear witness to the intensity of his loves: Marion, Julie, Sophie… Yet, beyond the clichés and independently of the Genevan philosopher's life, Rousseau's thought regarding women is far more subtle and complex than the caricature often made of it today through twenty-first-century concepts devoid of grounding in eighteenth-century society.

Here, Éric Zernik invites us to dissect the philosopher's thought to understand the originality of his approach to the categories of the masculine and the feminine. For Rousseau, if man dominates, woman reigns. Domination unfolds in the external world. Not only is it exercised effectively by one being over other beings, but it manifests in an immediately perceptible way: it is a force acting upon another force of lesser intensity. Conversely, reigning involves an almost magical power—a power without power, in a way—which effaces itself in order to assert itself all the more within its sole domain, intimacy, where the boundary between exteriority and interiority, between immanence and transcendence, identity and alterity blurs.

In the wake of Sylviane Agacinski's Metaphysics of the Sexes, this work demonstrates how Rousseau draws upon Antiquity to transcend an anthropocentric Judeo-Christian worldview. The Enlightenment philosopher thus develops a feminization of gaze and thought.

It is this vision—or more precisely, this analytical framework—that Éric Zernik designates by the expression "eternal feminine": eternal as are truths that depend on the a priori concepts of thought. Consequently, the notion of fantasy (phantasme) must be understood in its etymological sense as an image touching the soul. It is an imaginary co-production between man and woman, between a being who feeds on images and a being who turns herself into an image.

Just as Rousseau's prose can be, this book is enchanting. Appealing as much to the senses as to the intellect, it offers an original feminist approach to Rousseau which, through its postmodernity, achieves universality.

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

PART I: “IT WAS LIKE AN APPARITION”

CHAPTER 1: THE POWER OF IMAGINATION

CHAPTER 2: MODESTY OR THE GAME OF COURTSHIP

CHAPTER 3: WOMAN AND APPEARANCE

CHAPTER 4: THE FLEETING TOUCH

CHAPTER 5: CONJUGAL UNION

PART II: EXTENSION OF THE REALM OF THE FEMININE

CHAPTER 6: VOCATION

CHAPTER 7: A FEMININE ONTOLOGY

CHAPTER 8: THE FEMININE IN THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

CHAPTER 9: THE SOVEREIGN AND THE GOVERNESS

CHAPTER 10: THE LAWGIVER AND HIS DOUBLE

PART III: LAST BREATHS

CHAPTER 11: THE FEMININE AND DEATH

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The eighteenth-century philosophical landscape frequently grappled with the definition of gender roles, often grounding these discussions in classical references and the evolving social structures of the Enlightenment. Within this intellectual tradition, the distinction between public authority and private influence became a recurring theme. By situating Rousseau's reflections on the masculine and feminine within this broader discourse, the text highlights how his conceptualization of intimacy and power challenges contemporary interpretations. Readers interested in the history of gender philosophy or the evolution of Enlightenment thought may find this examination of Rousseau's analytical framework relevant to their studies.

The concept of the eternal feminine, as explored here, draws upon the interplay between imagination and social identity, reflecting a tradition that seeks to understand the soul through symbolic representation. By analyzing how Rousseau integrates these ideas into his broader political and ontological theories, the work addresses the tension between exteriority and interiority. This approach invites a reconsideration of how eighteenth-century thinkers navigated the boundaries of identity and alterity. The analysis emphasizes the philosophical significance of the feminine as a category that transcends simple binary oppositions, offering a perspective on the co-production of gendered images in historical literature.