French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Ronell, La Plainte
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
La Plainte
Avital Ronell
Max Milo, ed.
Voix Libres collection
272 p. — ISBN: 9782315008100
Who has never complained? About their work, their parents, their life… Unlike indignation, complaining is long-lasting. It infects our discourse and our existence as complainers. Philosophy offers no consolation, but it can distinguish insufferable whiners from lucid complainers. For there is indeed plenty to complain about in the world as it is. But to whom? And how? Philosopher Avital Ronell opens the ledger of eternal and occasional complaints.
With a provocative and humorous style, Avital Ronell creates a philosophical theater where she airs the grievances of her friends: Hamlet, Derrida, Werther, Arendt… Herself the subject of a sexual harassment complaint and international media lynching, this queer feminist responds to her accusers for the first time, within the context of the #MeToo movement.
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An article about this book can be read on en-attendant-nadeau.fr:
"Philosophy of an Emotion," by Cécile Dutheil (July 2, 2019)
The book that American academic Avital Ronell devotes to the motif of the complaint resonates with the legal and media controversy in which she herself was accused of sexual harassment, in the midst of the #MeToo movement. In it, she also questions the meaning of friendship.
The motif of the complaint has long occupied a complex place within Western philosophical and literary traditions, intersecting with ethics, psychoanalysis, and political critique. Figures such as Hamlet and Werther embody forms of existential grievance and melancholy, while twentieth-century thinkers have repeatedly confronted the problem of suffering, agency, and public discourse. Within these frameworks, the act of airing grievances oscillates between private lament and political articulation, raising questions about how distress is voiced and heard in contemporary culture.
Readers interested in contemporary philosophy and cultural critique may find this work relevant. The book that American academic Avital Ronell devotes to the motif of the complaint resonates with the legal and media controversy in which she herself was accused of sexual harassment, in the midst of the #MeToo movement, and in it she also questions the meaning of friendship.