French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Peeters, Trois ans avec Derrida
Writers: Biography, Letters and Memoirs
Benoît Peeters, Trois ans avec Derrida. Les Carnets d'un biographe
Paris, Flammarion, coll. "Documents et Essais", 2010.
247 p. - €17.10
EAN : 9782081214088
Publisher's Description
In August 2007, the project of writing Jacques Derrida's biography struck me as an absolute necessity. I had had the good fortune to know him a little; I had never stopped reading him. For three years, I devoted most of my time to this research with unwavering passion. I am the first person granted access to explore the vast archive accumulated by Derrida throughout his life. I tracked down thousands of letters scattered across the globe and met over a hundred witnesses—often supportive, occasionally reticent. Derrida consumed my life, infiltrating even my dreams. Alongside this, in tiny notebooks, I recorded the milestones of this increasingly obsessive quest: appointments and readings, discoveries and false leads, reflections and doubts. Three Years with Derrida is the chronicle of this adventure, as well as a tribute to that often unappreciated genre known as biography.
Author Biography Benoît Peeters was born in 1956. A writer and scriptwriter, he has published numerous works, including The Obscure Cities with François Schuiten (Casterman), Hergé, fils de Tintin, and Nous est un autre (Flammarion). These Biographer's Notebooks accompany his biography Derrida, published by the same house.
The practice of literary biography occupies a distinct place within French literary culture, sitting at the intersection of critical investigation, historical research, and narrative art. Such works often reflect on the complex relationship between a thinker and their surviving papers, detailing the challenges of sorting through private correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, and institutional records. By chronicling the day-to-day realities of biographical research, these accounts offer insight into the methodologies used to reconstruct the trajectory of twentieth-century intellectuals.
Benoît Peeters recounts his three-year journey investigating the life of Jacques Derrida, detailing his access to the philosopher's private archives, his international search for letters, and his interviews with over a hundred witnesses. It records the milestones, discoveries, false leads, and reflections encountered while preparing a major biography. Readers interested in the practical realities of biographical research and the study of contemporary philosophy may find this volume of interest.