La critique biographique en procès (1832-1871)

What was “biographical criticism” accused of in Sainte-Beuve’s lifetime? Of being improper, of focusing in an inappropriate way on details, and of analysing without judging. Contre Sainte-Beuve is inscribed in a different lineage: that of the critics who, long before it, denounced the attention biographical criticism paid to the social self to the detriment of the profound self, which manifests itself in works of art: Jean Aicard, Alfred Michiels, and Émile Bersot.