<p>This text attempts to show how French sociologists, primarily those closely or remotely associated with the Durkheimians of the French School of Sociology, upon becoming acquainted with Znaniecki’s work mainly during the interwar period, missed the mark with an author they misunderstood. At that time, they were preoccupied with “psychologizing” (that is, with taking on objects of study such as “mentality,” the emergence and expression of feelings and emotions, etc.) a sociological discipline perceived in France as being in crisis. Seeking sources of inspiration, they showed an interest in American sociology, with which they associated Znaniecki. Consequently, the criticisms they leveled at his work were similar to the major epistemological and theoretical objection they addressed to American studies in general: the mistaken ignorance of the fact that every group or society must be understood as a self-contained “totality.”</p>