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Which literary idea of Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve did Marcel Proust challenge?

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Portrait of French author Marcel Proust, seated with his hand resting thoughtfully against his chin, wearing a dark suit and looking directly at the camera. — Marcel Proust French author Marcel Proust wrote what is considered one of the supreme achievements of modern fiction, the seven-part autobiographical novel *À la recherche du temps perdu* (1913–27; *In Search of Lost Time*).

Marcel Proust challenged the critical method of Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, which relied heavily on biographical analysis to explain literary works.1

Sainte-Beuve’s approach involved reconstructing an author's life—including their family background, education, physical appearance, and personal relationships—to interpret their writing. Proust rejected this "biographical fallacy," arguing that the superficial, social self of an author is distinct from the deeper, creative self that produces true art. In his view, a writer’s work is not merely a product of their personal history or daily life, but rather emerges from a separate, inner reality that cannot be accessed through the study of biographical data alone.1