French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Monginot, Poetics of Contingency. Poetics, Criticism and Theory after Mallarmé, Valéry and Reverdy
Poetry and Poetics
Review published in Acta Fabula (April 2016, vol. 17, no. 3): "On Poetry, Perhaps. Literature & the Crisis of Ontology" by Pierre Vinclair.
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Benoît Monginot, Poétique de la contingence. Poétique, critique et théorie à partir de Mallarmé, Valéry et Reverdy
Paris: Honoré Champion, coll. "Bibliothèque de littérature générale et comparée", 2015.
EAN 9782745328090.
416 p.
Price 65EUR.
Publisher's overview:
Mallarmé, Valéry, and Reverdy appear to offer an exemplary theoretical critique of the romantic foundations of literature. This book seeks to demonstrate how this critique is woven into the very fabric of their poetry, precluding any idolatrous view of the work as existing in absolute, self-contained autonomy. It illustrates how the collapse of romantic metaphysics paves the way, in these authors, for an acknowledgment of the work's discursive nature, viewed simultaneously through both a poetic and rhetorical lens. Ultimately, this may suggest the displacement of the aesthetic paradigm of poetry—along with its inextricably political and communicative implications—in favor of a humanist inquiry that opens up new definitions for poetry and, more broadly, for literature itself.
Benoît Monginot holds a Ph.D. in French Literature and has taught at the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail. His research focuses on French poetry of the past two centuries and on literary theory.
The poetic tradition examined in this study occupies a central place in modern French literature, engaging deeply with the legacy of romanticism and the shifts in aesthetic theory that followed it. Scholars of this period frequently explore how verse interacts with philosophical questions of ontology, language, and discursive practice. By moving away from absolute autonomy toward an acknowledgment of rhetoric, poetry opens up broader inquiries into the nature of literary expression. Readers interested in modern French poetry and theoretical criticism may find this volume a helpful engagement with these enduring intellectual currents.
Benoît Monginot holds a Ph.D. in French Literature and has taught at the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail, with research focusing on French poetry of the past two centuries and on literary theory. Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Valéry, and Pierre Reverdy appear to offer an exemplary theoretical critique of the romantic foundations of literature. The publisher notes that this book seeks to demonstrate how this critique is woven into the very fabric of their poetry, precluding any idolatrous view of the work as existing in absolute, self-contained autonomy. These discussions connect closely with broader traditions of French literary scholarship and theoretical analysis of the past two centuries.
Table of Contents (PDF)