Le blog de la M.E.E.T.

With this 21st century well in the way , what about « literary genres » ? Are the distinctions between « novel », « narrative », « poem », and « short story » still valid ? Did some inflexions occur ? « Imaginary characters in an imaginary action » : is the definition of the novel according to Claude Simon. It is indeed the only common denominator to La princesse de Clèves and Joyce’s Ulysses.

But it should be possible to write novels without any fiction. Let’s consider Jean Echenoz’s two latest books that obviously do not belong to the biographical enterprise. Asking such a question nowadays in France can only make sense by involving foreign writers.

The nomenclature of literary genres maintains a strong link with the history of each literature, and the « short-story » is not exactly the « cuento », and the former is not exactly the « nouvelle » ? And what about this major and so peculiar genre in Mexico : the « crónica » ?