Donatien Grau's 'Tout contre Sainte-Beuve' explores Proust's dual relationship with the critic

In his essay 'Tout contre Sainte-Beuve' (Grasset), Donatien Grau argues that Marcel Proust saw his 'double' in the 19th-century critic Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve. Grau demonstrates that Proust's relationship with Sainte-Beuve was more complex than simple opposition: the young Proust initially cited Sainte-Beuve as a reference, then later sought to surpass him. The book examines their 'parallel lives,' shared traits (erudition, journalism, fiction), and the 'incestuous proximities' between Sainte-Beuve's novel 'Volupté' and Proust's 'À la recherche du temps perdu.' Grau contends that Sainte-Beuve's dual identity as critic and poet resonated with Proust's own obsessions, and that Proust's rejection of the biographical model became a source of creative energy. The essay re-reads Proust through his sources, showing how Sainte-Beuve was admired, denied, and absorbed into Proust's aesthetic network. Grau's method involves tracking the 'capital conversation' between the two figures, despite their never having met. The book was published by Grasset.