Qu’est-ce que l’art ? Prostitution

Abstract

Both in social discourse and in the work of many artists, an association has been repeatedly made between Literature (mainly through its publication) and prostitution. This article aims to explore this commonplace. Starting with Charles Baudelaire’s famous line from Fusée: “What is Art? Prostitution”, it unfolds this paradigmatical association through numerous literary and philosophical texts. The article then attempts to displace the meaning of the association from the cliché that links the artist to the “idea” of a prostitute, to the relationship between the reader and the text. In this manner, the article links Literature and prostitution together to question the ideal of the contractual.