This article examines the meaning of the expression: "documentary turn". The aim is to investigate the metadiscours used to describe and think about contemporary artistic productions known as "documentary", "non-fictional" or "factual", the place occupied among these productions by objects described as "literary", and the way in which this notional factory is developed on the bangs of visual arts production, but also in dialogue with it. It's not simply that the expressions "non-fiction", "documentary writing" and "factual literature" cover different meanings: it's also that such terminological choices engage, often implicitly, methodological positions, and this at a time characterized not only by an increase in factual/non-fictional/documentary production, but also by disciplinary anxiety and a recurrent call to redefine and rethink literary studies. The article first examines the nuances that distinguish the terms "documentary" and "non-fiction", and then questions the hypothesis of a "documentary turn" and its possible effects on theory and literary studies.