French Literature Reviews - 2026

V. Arrault, L'Empire du Kitsch
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

Valérie Arrault

L'Empire du kitsch

Aesthetics series

Klincksieck, 2010

EAN 13: 9782252037522

304 pages, 23 euros

Publisher's presentation

Kitsch is on the march, quietly encroaching upon our minds a little more each day without a single voice being raised against it. Long dismissed and confined to the realm of mere bad taste and aesthetic anachronism by its critics (such as Hermann Broch, Umberto Eco, or Milan Kundera, to name only the most famous), kitsch continues to thrive, fueled by the leveling and blending of aesthetic values.
Ever since the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the disappearance of the grand ideological narratives that once structured the world, kitsch has renewed its offensive—this time in the name of a triumphant "libertarian liberalism," enshrining the process of individualization so central to Serge Lipovetsky's work and ushering in the age of triumphant narcissism.
Las Vegas, a city of architecture and gambling; Jeff Koons; Pierre et Gilles; and Disneyland are all summoned here in an attempt to unmask this offensive.

The concept of kitsch has long been analyzed by cultural critics as a sign of aesthetic degradation, often associated with bad taste, mass production, and the erosion of critical distance. Historically examined through various theoretical frameworks in modern cultural studies and philosophy, it describes objects and environments that simulate emotional or artistic profundity through cliché and superficial artifice. While early critics viewed it primarily as a byproduct of industrialization and bourgeois conformity, later observers have tracked its evolution into a pervasive mode of contemporary experience that shapes architecture, entertainment, and visual culture alike.

Readers interested in the intersections of contemporary aesthetics, cultural criticism, and the sociology of art may find this volume relevant. Long dismissed and confined to the realm of mere bad taste and aesthetic anachronism by its critics, kitsch continues to thrive, fueled by the leveling and blending of aesthetic values. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the disappearance of the grand ideological narratives that once structured the world, kitsch has renewed its offensive in the name of a triumphant libertarian liberalism.