French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Compagnon, Gagner la sortie
Writers: Biography, Letters and Memoirs
Antoine Compagnon
Gagner la sortie
Paris, Collège de France, coll. « Leçons de clôture », no. 24, 2021, 68 p.,
ISBN : 978-2-7226-0570-1, €6.80.
Published: September 9, 2021
“I didn't know what to call this final lecture, hesitating between the two paths I tried to follow throughout this last course cycle and still during the penultimate hour: a melancholic temptation, that of artists who demand a ‘second chance’ to finally create their masterpiece, and a redemptive hope found in those who accept being nothing more than the avatar of a lineage. This polarity concerns not only creators, but perhaps professors as well.”
In search of a title for his closing lecture delivered at the Collège de France in January 2021, Antoine Compagnon summons his favorite authors—from Montaigne to Proust, via Chateaubriand and Baudelaire—and embarks on a series of variations on departure, retirement, and immortality.
Coming soon in open access on OpenEdition…
Contents
CONTENTS
The Last Lecture
Failing to Deliver
Cotard's Syndrome
“And after many a summer dies the swan” Quindecim annos
The Professor, That's Me
Farewell Arms
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Published by the Collège de France as part of its final lecture series, this short volume captures Antoine Compagnon's formal farewell to teaching. Drawing on canonical figures of French literature such as Montaigne, Proust, Chateaubriand, and Baudelaire, the text reflects deeply on the dual nature of academic and artistic departures. The author weighs the melancholic temptation of seeking a second chance against the redemptive hope of accepting one's place within a broader literary lineage, bridging the personal experience of retirement with enduring questions of cultural transmission.
This reflective essay will particularly interest scholars, students, and readers of modern French literature who appreciate essays on pedagogy, literary history, and intellectual autobiography. By examining the transition from active professorship to legacy, the work contributes to broader discussions on the role of the humanist scholar and the significance of artistic endings. It serves as a thoughtful meditation on a distinguished career spent in the company of literature's greatest writers.