Abstract
In his Carnet 1, Proust, as we have seen, expresses his doubts about the form of his work ; he does not yet know whether he will write a " novel " or " a philosophical study ". The latter term, which rivals the word essay, is often used by the writer, who assigns it a variety of meanings. In La Recherche, it refers first and foremost to the intellectual work of : that of Norpois, who publishes " savantes études ", preferably in the Revue des Deux Mondes, considered by Proust to be the ideal periodical for publishing this kind of text ; but also that of Swann, occupied with a " étude sur Vermeer ". When Odette refers to her lover's research, she sometimes speaks of " étude ", sometimes of " travaux ", the two words being more or less equivalent. These scholarly studies, linked to " vieux papiers ", always refer to erudition as well as to " bouquinaille ". Their academicism risks making them boring. Odette deplores the fact that Swann is not as witty in " his studies " as he is in his letters and conversation. This raises an essential question for Proust : how to make the novel witty, without debasing it ? It's a question of rediscovering in writing the " tact " of conversation, while avoiding, on the one hand, the shortcomings of a Sainte-Beuve who contented himself with salon criticism in his Causeries ; and on the other, the ponderousness of the " travaux d'érudition " of a Brichot, the academic character in La Recherche.
