''Roman à clef'' (,

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

as ),

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for ''novel with a key'', is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradi ...

. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

and the

."Cambridge paperback guide to literature in English" by Ian Ousby, Cambridge University Press, 1996
/ref> This metaphorical key may be produced separately—typically as an explicit guide to the text by the

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

—or implied, through the use of epigraphs or other

literary technique A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want —in other words, a str ...

s.The Modernist roman à clef and Cultural Secrets, or I Know That You Know That I Know That You Know" by M. Boyde, University of Wollongong, 2009
/ref>

Madeleine de Scudéry Madeleine de Scudéry (15 November 1607 – 2 June 1701), often known simply as Mademoiselle de Scudéry, was a French writer. Her works also demonstrate such comprehensive knowledge of ancient history that it is suspected she had received inst ...

created the ''roman à clef'' in the 17th century to provide a forum for her thinly veiled fiction featuring political and public figures. The reasons an author might choose the ''roman à clef'' format include

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...

; writing about controversial topics and/or reporting inside information on

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

s without giving rise to charges of

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...

; the opportunity to turn the tale the way the author would like it to have gone; the opportunity to portray personal, autobiographical experiences without having to expose the author as the subject; avoiding self-incrimination or incrimination of others that could be used as evidence in civil, criminal, or disciplinary proceedings; the ability to change the background and personalities of key participants; and the settling of scores. Biographically inspired works have also appeared in other literary genres and art forms, notably the ''

film à clef A ''film à clef'' (or ''cinéma à clef'', ''movie à clef'', ''film à clé'' (), French for "film with a key"), is a film describing real life, behind a façade of fiction. "Key" in this context means a table one can use to swap out the names. ...

''.

Notes

References

* Amos, William (1985). ''The Originals: Who's Really Who in Fiction''. London: Cape. . * Busby, Brian (2003). ''Character Parts: Who's Really Who in CanLit''. Toronto: Knopf Canada. . * Rintoul, M.C. (2014).
Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman A Clef Literary genres

See also

Notes

References