Philippe Artières' 'Reconstitution' Explores Historical Play

Philippe Artières' book 'Reconstitution, jeux d'histoire' (Manuella Éditions) is reviewed alongside Pierre Bayard's 'Aurais-je été résistant ou bourreau ?' (Les Éditions de Minuit). The review focuses on Bayard's work, which constructs an 'auto-portrait au passé' through deductive analysis of personal, familial, and historical data. Bayard examines various situations of conscience to find the trigger for resistance behavior, while his 'delegated character' remains a passive observer. The reviewer, Sylvie Astié, playfully imagines that the character might have emancipated himself, hiding certain acts and leading a clandestine life beyond the author's control. The exergue by Primo Levi—'One can never be in another's place'—sets up the literary reasoning.