French Literature Reviews - 2026

É. Marty, J. Genet, postscript
Writers: Biography, Letters and Memoirs

Éric Marty, Jean Genet, postscriptum
Éditions Verdier, 2006, 128 p.
ISBN: 2-86432-460-1

EAN: 9782864324607
11.50 €

Stemming from two lectures delivered following the publication of "Jean Genet à Chatila" in 2003, this collection extends its reflection through two central questions. First, the question of the taboo, which forms the constitutive structure of the imaginary transaction that Genet imposes on his reader; second, the question of political commitment, which the perverse logic present in his work subverts and deploys as a mere semblance.

At the crossroads of these two texts, what is at stake once again is Genet's antisemitism in all its singularity, viewed against the backdrop of a writing whose opaque, stubborn, and destructive violence is neutralized by no catharsis, by no compensatory transaction with the world, save precisely that of the Taboo.

The antisemitic question raised in this collection, far from being a witch hunt in which Genet would be the quarry, aims quite simply to read him—if truly reading him means opening him up to a truth that he attempts to write with one hand while trying to blind us to it with the other, if reading cannot be accomplished without doing a certain kind of violence to him, and if it is true that this violence is the only empathy his writing can bear and to which it aspires.

Éric Marty, born in Paris in 1955, is an essayist and writer, and currently teaches contemporary French literature at Paris Diderot University (Paris 7).

Jean Genet occupies a singular position in twentieth-century French literature, known for his subversion of social norms and his exploration of the margins of existence. His writing often challenges the distinction between the sacred and the profane, utilizing a transgressive aesthetic that resists traditional moral interpretation. This collection, stemming from two lectures, examines the role of the taboo in Genet's work and the way his perverse logic subverts political commitment, while considering the singularity of his antisemitism.

The intersection of political engagement and aesthetic form remains a central concern in modern literary studies, particularly regarding authors who actively court controversy. This volume investigates the manifestation of antisemitism in Genet's texts and the ethical implications of reading a body of work that presents opaque, destructive violence. Readers interested in the intersection of ethics and literary form may find this examination of Genet’s complex rhetoric relevant.