Contemporary · Psychoanalysis, literature
Pierre Bayard (born 1954) is a French professor of literature, psychoanalyst, and literary theorist who teaches at the University of Paris VIII. He is best known for his provocative, playful works that challenge conventional approaches to reading, criticism, and knowledge, blending psychoanalytic theory with literary analysis to explore themes of non-reading, creative misunderstanding, and the invention of alternative narratives. His work consistently undermines academic and cultural authority, celebrating the reader's freedom to engage with texts in imaginative, even heretical, ways.