Congrats to Prof. Emeritus, John Lyons, on his "very

Congrats to Prof. John Lyons (former Commonwealth Professor of French) on the publication of what, according to him, will likely be his "very last" article (knowing John, though, many of us remain dubious). The piece, "'Tu m'as trop entendue': Au-delà de la clarté classique," was just published in FORMENT (Lise), NANCY (Sarah), TABELING (Brice) (dir.), Scènes en partage.
Littérature, culture, politique dans la pensée d’Hélène Merlin-Kajman (Classiques Garnier, 2026).

On this article, John says that, "it brings together some of the major threads of my work over the decades as I’ve pondered the apparent simplicity and clarity of 17th century literature, under which lurks a fascinating play of irony and indirection. When I was finishing Women and Irony in Molière’s Comedies of Marriage, I realized that beyond irony there is another form of discourse in comedy, tragedy, and the novel—a form for which there is (I think) no conventional name. It appears when someone makes a statement in the hope that it will not be understood by the person to whom it is addressed. It offers the speaker a chance to “confess”—to release a deep secret—without fearing the consequences of revelation. The starting point, for me, was Phèdre’s outburst in Racine’s tragedy, "Oui, Prince, je languis, je brûle pour Thésée.” And it goes on from there…

Fans of Prof. Lyons' work should be on the lookout for a new updated edition of French Literature: A Very Short Introduction, coming out in February 2027. And Edinburgh University Press will soon issue a paperback of The Phantom of Chance (from 2012).

Congrats, John, on all of these accomplishments.