Jacques Dubois (born 1933, Liège), Professor emeritus of Literature at the Université de Liège invented the concept of the Literary Institution following the work of Pierre Bourdieu[1] by analogy with other social institutions such as military, medical, and political. He is also a Member of the Groupe μ. In 1983, he was the main editor of the Manifesto for Walloon culture.
On 6 May 2003 the prestigious collection La Pléiade was enriched by 21 of Simenon's novels. Jacques Dubois, president of the Center for Georges Simenon Studies has chosen the Simenon's books, written the notes and surveys with another Walloon Simenon specialist Benoît Denis. Jacques Dubois: We were totally free to choose the 21 works which will be represented in the Pléiade. The choice was difficult and painful. And Benoît Denis: We have of course included the inescapable masterpieces, The Snow Was Black, Act of Passion Mr. Hire's Engagement, The Little Saint. We wanted the different periods of his life, French, American, Swiss, to be represented. As a result we have included works from his beginnings, less known, like Tropic Moon and The House by the Canal, where, nonetheless, all of Simenon is already present. We have included relatively few Maigrets, as these novels have a rather pronounced standard and repetitive aspect.[2]
According to Michel Biron, "Jacques Dubois sought to establish the link between institution and text, while institution upon one of sociocriticism's and, his view, neglected goals, namely the conditions of the material conditions of a text."[3]