French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Grésillon, Elements of Genetic Criticism: Reading Modern Manuscripts (reprint)
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Elements of Genetic Criticism: Reading Modern Manuscripts
Almuth Grésillon

Publication date: 28/01/2016 Publisher: CNRS Series: Textes & manuscrits ISBN: 978-2-271-08934-2 EAN: 9782271089342 Format: Paperback No. of pages: 312 p.

Genetic criticism emerged in the 1970s as a reaction against structuralism and textual theories. It places the manuscript at the heart of its approach. Far from being a static medium, this space of inscription is also a site of memory: it bears the traces of a process that can be reconstructed. To understand how a project, a desire to write, is transformed into a text: such is the ambition of this work by Almuth Grésillon.

Drafts, notes, various source materials, and outlines play an essential role here, as vividly illustrated by the manuscripts of Flaubert, Heine, Roussel, and Bataille. By patiently reconstructing the creative process, textual genetics constitutes both an aesthetics of production and a history of literary practices.

Table of Contents:

WHAT IS GENETIC CRITICISM?
THE MODERN MANUSCRIPT: MATERIAL OBJECT, CULTURAL OBJECT, OBJECT OF KNOWLEDGE
HOW TO ASSEMBLE AND READ A GENETIC DOSSIER?
HOW TO READ AND INTERPRET GENETIC DOSSIERS?
GENETIC CRITICISM AND EDITING
TOWARDS A GENETIC THEORY: AESTHETICS, HISTORY, WRITING

Almuth Grésillon, Director of Research (CNRS), contributed to the foundation of "genetic criticism" and edits the journal Genesis. Her publications include, among others, La mise en œuvre, Itinéraires génétiques (2008), and Genèses théâtrales (2010).

Genetic criticism established itself in France during the 1970s as a vital departure from formalist and structuralist orthodoxies that treated the finished book as an autonomous object. By examining preliminary materials such as drafts, notebooks, proofs, and marginalia, this methodological tradition shifts critical attention from the final product to the dynamic acts of writing and revision. Scholars in this field reconstruct the genealogy of a text to understand how abstract artistic intentions concretize into specific literary forms, bridging the gap between authorial psychology, textual philology, and historical context.

This foundational volume by Almuth Grésillon serves as an indispensable guide for researchers, graduate students, and literary historians interested in textual scholarship and the mechanics of literary production. Drawing on exemplary manuscript dossiers from prominent writers including Gustave Flaubert, Heinrich Heine, Raymond Roussel, and Georges Bataille, the book addresses central questions concerning editorial practice, manuscript archiving, and the interpretation of avant-textes. It offers valuable tools for anyone seeking to engage with the material dimensions of literature and the complex evolution of modern authorship.