Vol. 16 No. 2 (2022): Olivia Rosenthal: literature on the look-out

Edited by Morgane Kieffer et David Vrydaghs

Since the publication of Dans le temps in January 1999 (Éditions Verticales), Olivia Rosenthal's work has continued to grow and taken various paths. These include novels, autobiographical works, performances produced with filmmakers, visual artists or composers, but also plays and essays that question the limits usually imposed upon literature. Enriching her texts with interviews, films or exercises that directly summon the reader, Rosenthal creates a destabilizing oeuvre, which oscillates between poles generally considered to be opposite: ironic and empathetic, cruel and tender, close and distant from the reader, cautious and bold, etc. This special issue aims to capture these apparent contradictions through one of the main dynamics that irrigate this leading contemporary work: a literature “on the look-out”, implying a constant vigilance both from the author as she writes and from her readers on a formal and esthetic level, as well as a capacity to welcome otherness without naivety or paranoia.