La sociabilité des chaises longues

Abstract

Studies on literary sociability have mainly taken into consideration the places where writers could meet voluntarily, such as cafés, artists' studios, editorial boards of magazines or fairs. The study of sanatoriums makes it possible to take an interest in another kind of sociability: that of long-term internment linked to the disease. The case of university sanatoriums is particularly interesting because they brought together young people from relatively homogeneous social backgrounds who could take an interest in literary life. The magazines and the activities of entertainment that were realized there thus appear like places unknown sociability. The study of the case of the Belgian poet Christian Dotremont and the French essayist Roland Barthes confirms the importance that human relations and the literary discussions of the sanatorium have had for them.

Keywords

• Sanatorium
• Sociabilité
• Revue littéraire
• Tuberculose
• Dotremont (Christian)
• Barthes (Roland)