Impasses et imposture de la non-lecture : la preuve par la lecture

Abstract

Building on various literary approaches that have sought to theorize reading, this article explores the conceptual relevance of non-reading. Through an analysis of Pierre Bayard’s How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read?, it examines the arguments put forward in support of non-reading and shows that the elaboration of a vocabulary to describe unconscious relationships to reading primarily aims to destigmatize the act of not reading, while emphasizing a form of self-exploration. However, the article argues that the attempt to establish non-reading as a genuine practice ultimately collapses under its own contradictions and the imposture embedded in its rhetorical strategies. It also highlights the incompatibility between the assumptions of non-reading and the fundamental contributions of reading, whose central role in literature is thereby denied.