A ''feuilleton'' (; a

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

of , the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

portion of

French newspapers Below is a list of newspapers in France. National Daily ; Online newspapers * ''Mediapart'' (internet only, investigative journalism, far-left) * ''La Tribune'' (switched to internet only since 2012, economics) * ''Slate'' (center-left) * ...

, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip,

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is quest ...

, a chronicle of the latest fashions, and

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

s, literary charade, charades and other literary trifles. The term ''feuilleton'' was invented by the editors of the French ''

Journal des débats The ''Journal des débats'' (, ''Journal of Debates'') was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times. Created shortly after the first meeting of the Estates-General of 1789, it was, after the outbreak ...

'';

Julien Louis Geoffroy Julien Louis Geoffroy (; 17 August 1743 – 27 February 1814) was a French literary critic. He was born at Rennes, and educated there and at the Collège Louis le Grand in Paris. He took orders and for some time was a mere usher, eventually bec ...

and

Bertin the Elder Bertin (; 615 – ''c''. 709 AD), also known as Saint Bertin the Great, was the Frankish abbot of a monastery in Saint-Omer later named the Abbey of Saint Bertin after him. He is venerated as a saint by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The ...

, in 1800. The ''feuilleton'' has been described as a "talk of the town", and a contemporary English-language example of the form is the "Talk of the Town" section of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. In English newspapers, the term instead came to refer to an installment of a serial story printed in one part of a newspaper.

History

The ''feuilleton'' was the literary consequence of the

Coup of 18 Brumaire The Coup of 18 Brumaire () brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of the French First Republic. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and would soon lead to the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the Fr ...

(Dix-huit-Brumaire). A consular edict of January 17, 1800, made a clean sweep of the revolutionary press, and cut down the number of Paris newspapers to 13. Under the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

, and later on, the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

, ''

Le Moniteur Universel () was a French newspaper founded in Paris on November 24, 1789 under the title by Charles-Joseph Panckoucke, and which ceased publication on December 31, 1868. It was the main French newspaper during the French Revolution and was for a long ...

'', which served as a propaganda mouthpiece for

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, basically controlled what the other twelve Parisian publications could run.

found that what might not be written in an editorial column might appear with perfect impunity on a lower level on the ''rez-de-chaussée'', the "ground floor" of a journal. Geoffroy started the first ''feuilleton'' in the ''Journal des Débats''. The idea caught on at once. The ''feuilleton'', which dealt ostensibly with literature, the drama and other harmless topics, but which, nevertheless, could make political capital out of the failure of a book or a play, became quite powerful under the Napoleonic nose. The original ''feuilletons'' were not usually printed on a separate sheet, but merely separated from the political part of the newspaper by a line, and printed in smaller type. Geoffroy's own ''feuilleton'' dealt with the theatre as he was a trenchant drama critic. By the time of his death in 1814, several other feuilletonists had made their mark, with Janin taking over from him. ''Feuilletonists'' featured in other papers included

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

, Paul de St. Victor,

Edmond de Biéville Edmond de Biéville, full name Charles-Henri-Étienne-Edmond Desnoyers de Biéville, (30 May 1814 – 1 January 1880 ) was a French journalist and playwright. The poet Fernand Desnoyers (1826-1869) was his brother. A student at the École s ...

Louis Ulbach Louis Ulbach (7 March 182216 April 1889) was a French novelist, essayist and journalist. He published seventy-six volumes, wrote three plays, and wrote numerous articles and political or biographical pamphlets. His romantic novels were compared t ...

and

Francisque Sarcey Francisque Sarcey (8 October 1827 – 16 May 1899) was a French journalist and dramatic critic. Career Sarcey was born in Dourdan, Essonne. After some years as schoolmaster, a job for which his temperament was ill-fitted, he entered journal ...

, who occupied the "ground floor" of the ''Temps''.

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

, and Coutil-Blaze wrote music-laden ''feuilletons''. Babinet, Louis Figuier and Meunier focused on science. Bibliographical ''feuilletons'' were done by

Armand de Pontmartin Armand Augustin Joseph Marie Ferrard, Comte de Pontmartin (1811-1890) was a French journalist, critic and man of letters. Pontmartin was born at Avignon (Vaucluse), France, on 16 July 1811. A Legitimist sympathizer, he began his career by attacki ...

, Gustave Planche, and

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

. However, the ''feuilleton'' would become a phenomenon only with the appearance of serialised novels. For instance,

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

' ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

'', ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

'' and '' Vingt ans après'' all filled the "ground floors" of the ''Siècle''.

Eugène Sue Marie-Joseph "Eugène" Sue (; 26 January 18043 August 1857) was a French novelist. He was one of several authors who popularized the genre of the serial novel in France with his very popular and widely imitated '' The Mysteries of Paris'', whi ...

's '' Mystères de Paris'' ran in the ''Débate'', and his ''Juif Errant'' (''

The Wandering Jew The Wandering Jew (occasionally referred to as the Eternal Jew, a calque from German ) is a mythical Immortality, immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way ...

'') appeared in the ''Constitutionnel''. In ''

The World of Yesterday ''The World of Yesterday: Memoires of a European'' (German title ) is the memoir of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It has been called the most famous book on the Habsburg Empire.Giorgio Manacorda (2010''Nota bibliografica''in Joseph Roth, '' L ...

'',

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig ( ; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world. Zweig was raised in V ...

wrote of how the ''

Neue Freie Presse ''Neue Freie Presse'' ("New Free Press") was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864 after the staff had split from the newspaper ''Die Presse''. It ...

''s ''feuilleton'', "in the lower half of the front page, separated sharply from the

ephemera Ephemera are items which were not originally designed to be retained or preserved, but have been collected or retained. The word is etymologically derived from the Greek ephēmeros 'lasting only a day'. The word is both plural and singular. On ...

of politics and the day by an unbroken line that extended from margin to margin", had become the leading arbiter of literary culture in ''

fin de siècle "''Fin de siècle''" () is a French term meaning , a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom '' turn of the century'' and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without co ...

'' Vienna, such that a ''feuilleton'' writer's "yes or no... decided the success of a work, a play, or a book, and with it that of the author".Zweig, Stefan, ''The World of Yesterday'', p.85 (1953)
The ''feuilleton'' was a common genre in Russia, especially during the government reforms of Alexander II.

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

wrote ''feuilletons''. The ''feuilletonistic'' tendency of his work has been explored by Zhernokleyev. By 1870 Dostoevsky parodied the feuilleton for its celebration of ephemeral culture. In America,

S. J. Perelman Sidney Joseph Perelman (February 1, 1904 – October 17, 1979) was an American humorist and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for ''The New Yorker''. He also wrote for several other magazines, ...

described his comic works, usually reports of his own misadventures, as ''feuilletons'' and he defined himself as a ''feuilletoniste''.

References

{{Authority control Newspapers

History

See also

References