Charles Péguy: Time, Space, and le Monde Moderne

Although rarely appreciated, the literary and philosophical influence of the poet, essayist. and editor Charles Péguy (1873-1914) on the work of Bruno Latour has been considerable. In this essay, originally published in French in 2014 on the occasion of the centenary of Péguy’s death in the initial phases of the First World War, and translated for the first time here, Latour offers a reevaluation of his significance. Having analyzed Péguy as a reader of his own historical situation, Latour challenges the contemporary reader to Péguyist forms of textual engagement in the face of the spatio-temporal deflations of le monde moderne. The essay includes a Forward drawing out some of the implications of Péguy’s thought for Latour’s own intellectual project.