Giraudoux l’inactuel ou l’art de donner ses aises à la pensée

What does the art of Giraudoux as literary critic contribute to our knowledge of critical reading and the ethics of literary criticism? This contribution shows, first of all, how his project can be explained in part by his choice of targets; secondly, it shows that all of his literary analysis is concerned with two contrary aspirations: the desire for security, and a call for freedom. Finally, it draws out his ideal: literature is both the proof and the condition, both the raison d’être and the fruit, of what he calls civilization.