French Literature Reviews - 2026

Arianna Beatrice Fabbricatore, Filosofia dell'esperienza spettatrice. Potenza dell'arte tra scienza, politica e creazione di sé
Theatre and Performance

Attending a performance is never a neutral experience, but to what extent can this event shape our way of being? By deconstructing prejudices inherited from the Platonic tradition, this book reconsiders the concept of the spectator's experience within the realm of art, reframing it as a general model for knowledge, self-creation, and the realization of one's nature. Indeed, being a spectator means establishing truths and, in doing so, determining not only who we are, but also what we may become.

In what ways, and under what conditions?

Written for those seeking to transcend the boundaries between art and knowledge, this text opens up new perspectives for rethinking the idea of creation and recognizing the subversive and emancipatory potential of the spectator's experience.

In an era that constantly demands action and reaction, productivity and partisanship, the spectator's experience—as presented here—asserts the paradoxical power of "non-action." This implies no passivity whatsoever, but rather the capacity to let those "secret forces," sedimented in the body through experience, emerge. In this context, action is not a matter of willpower or control, but of a skillful, embodied intelligence that thinks through doing: its capacities and talents gradually take shape in our encounter with reality, are refined through practice, and offer us the joy and desire that spring from knowing and making.

This book is an invitation to understand the value of emptiness and to discover how we impart meaning to reality. Recognizing how certain things "speak" to us, influence us, and ultimately guide our choices means breaking free from a deterministic view of human nature.

If the spectator's experience can serve as an original source of freedom and happiness, it is because it stages an essential possibility: becoming authors of our relationship with reality and artists of our own lives. These pages are dedicated to theorizing this practice—a delicate, demanding, and profoundly human art.

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Arianna Beatrice Fabbricatore is an agrégée in philosophy, holds a French habilitation to direct research (HDR), and is a researcher at Sorbonne Université, where she founded and directed the international program Herméneutique de la danse. Bridging body, art, and language, her research explores cognitive processes (embodied cognition) and creation. Drawing upon the theory of the effectiveness of art, she leads research-creation projects, frequently speaking in educational, institutional, and professional settings. Her publications include La Querelle des Pantomimes (2017) and Philosophie de l'expérience spectatrice (2025). She is also the creator of immersive installations such as Art's Experience as Samādhi (2022) and Horme (2025).

The inquiry into the nature of spectatorship occupies a long-standing place in aesthetic philosophy and performance studies, where thinkers have continually questioned the boundaries separating artistic observation from active participation. By deconstructing prejudices inherited from the Platonic tradition, this book reconsiders the concept of the spectator's experience within the realm of art, reframing it as a general model for knowledge, self-creation, and the realization of one's nature. Readers interested in the intersections of philosophy, bodily experience, and contemporary performance aesthetics may find these perspectives relevant to broader discussions on art and agency.

Within the study of artistic reception and embodied cognition, scholars frequently examine how physical and intellectual engagement with performances shapes human perception and behavior. The spectator's experience—as presented here—asserts the paradoxical power of non-action, implying no passivity whatsoever, but rather the capacity to let those secret forces, sedimented in the body through experience, emerge. These pages are dedicated to theorizing this practice, inviting individuals to understand the value of emptiness and to become authors of their own relationship with reality and artists of their own lives.