If literary studies on the idea of decadence thrive, social sciences seem willingly to ignore it. How can we explain this disdain? And how could it be overcome? This article will demonstrate that the problem lays on a misunderstanding about the nature of decadence: it is not a fact nor a concept, but an essential category for our perception of time.
CLIL theme: 4028 -- SCIENCES HUMAINES ET SOCIALES, LETTRES -- Lettres et Sciences du langage -- Lettres -- Etudes de littérature comparée