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'All Kinds of Misérables': How Tiphaine Samoyault Reframes the Rewriting Debate
Herz — World Desk · · 30s summary · 1 min read
The essentials
Tiphaine Samoyault, writer and essayist, publishes 'All Kinds of Misérables', a scholarly and personal essay on the rewriting of classics. Drawing on her own readings of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, she takes a measured stance on the polemics surrounding the erasure of passages now deemed unacceptable or the production of abridged versions. For Samoyault, a masterpiece is defined by its mutability: it transcends time and survives its transformations, as demonstrated by the multiple translations of Les Misérables. Le Temps reviewed this essay on July 23, 2026.
- Tiphaine Samoyault publishes 'All Kinds of Misérables', an essay on rewriting the classics.
- The essay takes a measured approach to debates about erasing passages deemed unacceptable.
- For Samoyault, masterpieces are defined by their mutability and timelessness.
- The author bases her argument on three personal readings of Hugo's Les Misérables.
What we know
Tiphaine Samoyault, writer and essayist, publishes 'All Kinds of Misérables', a scholarly and personal response to the contentious question 'Should we rewrite the classics?' Le Temps reviewed this essay on July 23, 2026.
The essay takes a measured stance toward two debated practices: the removal, from canonical texts, of elements deemed unacceptable or unreadable; and the circulation of shortened or summarized versions of great works.
To build her argument, the author draws on three personal approaches to Victor Hugo's Les Misérables: from illustrated summaries of her childhood to scholarly critical editions.
The essay defends the thesis that a masterpiece is timeless precisely because it is defined by its mutability. The various translations of Les Misérables serve as the principal illustration of this idea.
What remains uncertain
The official publication date of the essay and the publisher's name are not available in the current information.
What is 'All Kinds of Misérables'?
It is an essay by Tiphaine Samoyault that examines the question of rewriting the classics, drawing on different forms of reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, from illustrated summaries to critical editions.
What is the central thesis of this essay?
Samoyault argues that a masterpiece is timeless because it is defined by its mutability—that is, its capacity to be transformed and reinterpreted, as illustrated by the multiple translations of Les Misérables.
What literary debate does this essay address?
It addresses the controversies surrounding the removal of passages deemed unacceptable from canonical texts, as well as the circulation of abridged or summarized versions of great works.
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