French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Montandon, Ecrire les saisons. Cultures, Arts et Lettres
Other Literary Studies

Ecrire les saisons. Cultures, Arts et Lettres

Alain Montandon

Hermann, Paris

ISBN 978 2 7056 8408 2

464 p.

32,00€

OVERVIEW

The dawn of the Anthropocene has disrupted humanity's relationship with the seasons. These cycles, which shape the very forms of existence, are undergoing profound changes, both in their cultural representations and under the impact of climate change. Consequently, the portrayal of seasonal phenomena by writers, filmmakers, and musicians remains a perpetual source of wonder and anxiety, whether in ancient Greece, the Middle Ages, Japan, India, or Brazil.

Whether depicted with awe (Caspar David Friedrich, Hölderlin, Walser) or anxiety (Shelley, Calvino, Lepage), the seasons have continually inspired authors (from Thomson to Rick Bass), filmmakers (from Rohmer to Kim Ki-Duk), and musicians (from Vivaldi to Zender). This volume offers a rich panorama of the diverse ways in which the seasons are perceived—along with their array of meteorological phenomena—bridging temporal linearity and circularity, the eternal return, and finitude within permanence.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alain Montandon is Professor Emeritus, holds the *agrégation* in philosophy, and is an honorary member of the Institut Universitaire de France (holding the chair of comparative literature and sociopoetics). He has authored some fifteen books, edited more than sixty collective volumes, and published numerous scholarly articles.

This collective volume fits into the tradition of comparative literature and sociopoetics, an interdisciplinary field that examines how social representations and cultural forms interact with literary texts. By focusing on the seasons, the work addresses a timely ecological and philosophical question: how does the onset of the Anthropocene—the current geological age shaped by human activity—alter our artistic engagement with natural cycles? From the romantic landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich to modern cinema, the representation of meteorological phenomena reflects a shifting balance between human anxiety and the enduring rhythms of the earth.

Scholars and students of environmental humanities, comparative literature, and cultural studies will find this book particularly valuable. It helps readers understand how different cultures, from ancient Greece to contemporary Japan and Brazil, have historically mediated their relationship with time, finitude, and nature through art. By analyzing works across various media, including the music of Vivaldi and the films of Eric Rohmer, the volume provides a comprehensive framework for studying the intersection of aesthetics, climate change, and cultural memory.