Gaston Bachelard’s Innovative Roles in Contemporary Literary Criticism

Abstract

This paper revisits the place of the philosopher of knowledge, Gaston Pachelard, in the field of new criticism. Although this subject was previously dealt with, mostly in the French context, the present contribution highlights certain paradoxes in Bachelard's position within new literary criticism by describing his place in contemporary philosophy’s space, literature, and literary criticism. The article seeks  to resolve these paradoxes, which are often overlooked, and thus expand our understanding of the multifaced nature of the relationships between the literary critique and what sustains it.