The German Occupation of France put an end to Maurice Blanchot's career as a political journalist. In April 1941 he began to publish a weekly column of literary criticism in the Journal des Débats, which became the source for his first critical work, Faux pas (1943). As well as providing a unique perspective on cultural life during the Occupation, these pieces offer crucial insights into the mind and art of a writer who was to become one of the most influential figures on the French literary scene in the second half of the twentieth century. <br><br>As well as laying the basis for the career of one France's most original writers and thinkers, these articles also offer a reminder that Blanchot's political awareness remains undimmed, through clear if sometimes coded acts of criticism or defiance of the prevailing order.