French Literature Reviews - 2026

T. Samoyault, L. Bourgeois, La Main négative.
Art and Visual Culture

Tiphaine Samoyault, Louise Bourgeois, La Main négative

Editions Argol, "Interférences" series, 2008, 112 p.

EAN: 9782915978353
€20

Released April 2008

At first glance, little seemed to connect Tiphaine Samoyault, a 40-year-old writer, with Louise Bourgeois, a 96-year-old American artist. Yet both share childhood memories deeply rooted in a common element: antique tapestries. Louise's parents were antique dealers in Paris specializing in old tapestries, which they restored and sold. Tiphaine's parents were curators who restored and protected the tapestries of the national heritage. In Louise Bourgeois's fabric and tapestry "sculptures," Tiphaine Samoyault discovered intimate echoes deeply anchored in her childhood years—images and sensations she had never yet explored in her writing.

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Excerpt

"As I write, I search for what that past gave me as a future and what might still be of use. I write not to bring that past back, but so that no one can tell me the past is dead, that history is over, that time has run out. I write the way one restores a tapestry—not to return it to its own time, but to give it a future. Knowing that one can tie knots to reconnect broken threads is a useful form of knowledge and craftsmanship. It is sometimes difficult; knots too can break, or one of the threads slips from your fingers as you strive to hold onto the other. But the moment the knot is formed with a movement of the thumb over the index and middle fingers, it is done—things hold together."

Tiphaine Samoyault teaches at the University of Saint-Denis. Her publications include Les Indulgences ("Fiction et Cie" series, Seuil, 2000) and La Montre cassée ("Chaoïd" series, Verdier, 2004).

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Also published by Argol in the same series: L'Embarras de pensée (Alain Rivière) by Nathalie Quintane.

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The connection between literature and the visual arts has long provided a fertile ground for critical reflection and creative exchange. Writers and artists frequently draw upon shared motifs, childhood recollections, and tactile experiences to examine the shaping forces of memory.

Readers interested in modern literary essays, contemporary art, and the intersections between writing and visual creation may find this publication relevant. Tiphaine Samoyault teaches at the University of Saint-Denis and has published works including Les Indulgences and La Montre cassée, while Louise Bourgeois is widely recognized for her extensive work in sculpture.

An article about this book can be read on the remue.net website: "La main négative before the face of time".