“Read literature to understand the unconscious, society, and our own ideologies.”
Patrick Badonnel
Professeur émérite de littérature et civilisation américaines à la Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Patrick Badonnel a consacré sa carrière à l'étude de la culture anglo-saxonne et de ses grands auteurs. Spécialiste reconnu, il s'attache à faire dialoguer littérature, histoire des idées et critique psychanalytique, avec une curiosité intellectuelle qui dépasse les frontières disciplinaires. Son regard se veut à la fois érudit et accessible, ce qui fait de lui un conférencier recherché dans les milieux académiques comme auprès du grand public. Reçu à l'agrégation d'anglais en 1975, il soutient un doctorat d'État en 1987 consacré à l'économie du désir dans l'œuvre de William Styron. De 1994 à 2015, il occupe la chaire de littérature et civilisation américaines à la Sorbonne Nouvelle. Pendant ces deux décennies, il forme plusieurs générations d'étudiants et de chercheurs, dirige des thèses marquantes et préside des jurys d'agrégation, contribuant ainsi à façonner le paysage universitaire français dans son domaine.
Auteur d'une quarantaine de communications scientifiques et d'interventions remarquées en France comme à l'international, Patrick Badonnel s'est imposé comme une voix incontournable sur des sujets tels que la littérature afro-américaine, le roman contemporain ou la culture populaire américaine. Ses travaux explorent avec profondeur les rapports entre texte littéraire, inconscient, idéologie et société. Il a publié, seul ou en collaboration, de nombreux ouvrages de référence : William Styron, le désir foudroyé (1993), Raymond Chandler : The Big Sleep, La nouvelle anglo-saxonne : initiation à une lecture psychanalytique, Richard Ford : A Multitude of Sins, ou encore Philip Roth : American Pastoral. Ces titres témoignent de la diversité de ses centres d'intérêt, de la littérature policière à la grande fresque romanesque en passant par l'analyse psychanalytique des textes.
Patrick Badonnel se distingue également par son approche vivante et engagée de la transmission. Pour lui, une conférence n'a de sens que si elle accroche l'auditoire et suscite un questionnement véritable. Dans ses propres mots, il cherche moins à "faire passer un message" qu'à "ouvrir un espace de réflexion où chacun se sente enrichi". Cette volonté d'aller au-delà du "mainstream" fait de ses interventions des moments marquants, où l'intelligence se conjugue à la passion. Aujourd'hui, Patrick Badonnel partage son temps entre l'écriture, la recherche et les conférences. Il continue d'explorer de nouvelles pistes, notamment sur la notion d'idéologie et sur la place de la littérature dans nos sociétés contemporaines. Ses interventions s'adressent autant à des publics de connaisseurs qu'à des auditoires curieux, désireux de découvrir les richesses de la culture anglo-saxonne.
What is literature?
- The question of the existence and value of literature spans all eras. Patrick Badonnel offers a reflection on what makes the literary text unique: its codes, its reception, its ability to move and to question.
- He questions the distinctions between "good" and "bad" literature, showing that these categories are themselves ideological constructions linked to a historical and cultural context.
- The conference explores aesthetic criteria, but also the social and political functions of literature: why do we read, and what does this singular experience bring us?
- This intellectual journey invites everyone to reclaim literature as a personal and collective adventure, where the art of storytelling shapes our understanding of the world.
English and American literature
- Internationally recognized specialist, Patrick Badonnel traces the major currents of English and American literature, from Shakespeare to Philip Roth, including Dickens, Faulkner, Woolf, and Styron.
- He highlights the contextual differences: the old world marked by tradition and empire, and the new world shaped by immigration, conquest, and racial tensions.
- Literary texts are presented as mirrors of their time, but also as forces of cultural and political transformation.
- By illustrating his remarks with excerpts from emblematic works, Patrick Badonnel reveals the richness, diversity, and relevance of these literatures.
The American civilization
- Where does America come from, and what makes it unique? Patrick Badonnel offers a dive into the roots of American civilization, from the birth of the colonies to its contemporary global role.
- He emphasizes the youth and fragility of this cultural construction, marked by paradoxes: democratic ideals and racial exclusion, individual freedom and religious puritanism, expansionist optimism and historical violence.
- La conférence offre un panorama vivant de la société américaine, mêlant littérature, histoire, arts visuels et culture populaire. Elle permet de mieux comprendre la force d'attraction — mais aussi les tensions internes — d'une civilisation qui continue de marquer profondément le XXIe siècle.
Literature and Psychoanalysis: Reading the Unconscious
- Patrick Badonnel is one of the few specialists to articulate literary criticism and psychoanalysis. In this lecture, he demonstrates how texts give voice to the unconscious and repressed desires.
- Through examples taken from Styron, Gaines, Chandler, or Ford, he explores how literature stages violence, fantasy, identity, or the quest for recognition.
- He utilizes the tools of Freud and Lacan to shed light on works that appear familiar but reveal, upon deeper reading, existential and collective stakes.
- This challenging and engaging approach makes reading an exercise of interpretation and intellectual emancipation.
What is ideology?
- Beyond literature, Patrick Badonnel is interested in the history of ideas and the notion of ideology. In this lecture, he traces its evolution, from Marx to our contemporary societies.
- He shows that every culture is permeated by representations and discourses that shape our perception of reality, often without us being aware of it.
- Literature then becomes a privileged ground for observing these mechanisms: it reproduces, but also critiques and subverts the dominant ideology.
- This theme, of great relevance today, opens up avenues for reflection on society, politics, media, and our relationship to truth.
William Styron: Desire and Memory of History
- William Styron is one of the great American novelists of the 20th century. His work, infused with themes of memory, trauma, and desire, testifies to the literature's ability to probe the darkest areas of history. Patrick Badonnel proposes to revisit Sophie's Choice, which has marked generations of readers through its evocation of the horrors of the Holocaust and the most cruel human dilemmas.
- This conference highlights Styron's art, capable of linking intimate destinies to collective tragedies. Exploring characters torn by guilt and memory, Badonnel shows how the author resonates the violence of History in the daily lives of his protagonists.
- Patrick Badonnel also emphasizes the psychoanalytic dimension of this work. Repressed desires, silences, and obsessions of the characters reveal the impact of the unconscious in facing the unspeakable. This is where Styron stands out: he does not just recount History; he stages its invisible scars.
- Through this conference, the audience is invited to reflect on how literature helps us understand and carry the memory of the darkest historical events. Reading Styron means questioning our relationship with evil, suffering, and human dignity.
Philip Roth and contemporary American fiction
- Philip Roth has undoubtedly been one of the most emblematic and provocative writers of the contemporary American literary scene. His novels question American Jewish identity, the excesses of liberalism, sexuality, but also the promises and disillusions of the "American dream".
- In this presentation, Patrick Badonnel analyzes the evolution of Roth's work, from Portnoy's Complaint to American Pastoral. He shows how the author constantly sought to reinvent the novel, playing with the boundaries between autobiography, fiction, and satire.
- The conference emphasizes Roth's political and social dimension. Through his characters, he stages the fractures of America: ethnic tensions, generational conflicts, loss of ideological benchmarks. Roth thus becomes a kind of critical mirror, where America recognizes itself as much as it questions itself.
- Patrick Badonnel invites his audience to measure the modernity of Roth and the relevance of his work. In a world searching for new forms of narration, Roth appears as one of the last great novelists capable of capturing the complexity of reality.
Richard Ford: Anatomy of Violence and Intimacy
- Richard Ford holds a unique place in American literature. His sober and precise style explores both the vast landscapes of America and the shadows of human relationships. Patrick Badonnel offers a reading of A Multitude of Sins and of his other tales, where violence emerges in the most mundane of daily life.
- The conference highlights Ford's art of expressing the intimate. His characters seem ordinary, but their lives are marked by deep wounds, frustrations, and repressed anger. The violence he describes is not only social; it is also psychological, hidden in the silences and gestures of daily life.
- Patrick Badonnel emphasizes how Ford embodies what he calls "the literature of the present": a writing that captures the moment, that refuses the spectacular but reveals, in the details, the raw truth of existence.
- Through this conference, the audience is invited to reflect on the fragility of human bonds, the place of desire, and the muted violence that permeates our modern societies. Ford, by dissecting the intimate, also shines a light on the collective fractures of America.
Ernest J. Gaines and the African American voice
- Ernest J. Gaines, author of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Lesson Before Dying, has given a powerful voice to the African American experience in the Southern United States. His narratives make hear lives that have long been silenced and offer a moving tapestry of the struggle for dignity and freedom.
- Patrick Badonnel analyzes how Gaines places his characters within the grand narrative of American history. His stories span from the era of slavery to the civil rights movement, restoring the continuity of a collective memory marked by suffering and resistance.
- This conference also highlights Gaines' narrative strength: his simple yet profoundly poetic style lends a universality to these particular destinies. The African American experience becomes a metaphor for the universal quest for justice and recognition.
- By giving voice back to the forgotten of History, Ernest J. Gaines reminds us of the power of literature as an act of memory and transmission. The audience leaves this session with a renewed perspective on the value of literature in the fight for human dignity.