Stendhal, the Desire for Cinema - Comparative and World Literature

French Literature Reviews - 2026

Stendhal, the Desire for Cinema
Comparative and World Literature

Review in Acta Fabula: “Stendhal, a Desire for Cinema”, by Rachida El Mala

Stendhal, Le désir de cinéma
Followed by Les Privilèges du 10 avril 1840 by Stendhal
Laurent Jullier, Guillaume Soulez
Séguier, 2006.

In April 1840, Stendhal wrote "Les Privilèges". Through these strange reveries of omnipotence, one can discern a sort of prefiguration of the powers of the cinematographic apparatus that would be developed fifty years later. How does this desire for cinema resonate with Stendhal's distinctive realism, often illustrated by the imaginary tracking shot of the "mirror carried along a high-road" in The Red and the Black? The authors investigate the core of Stendhal's aesthetic reflection. They describe the impact on Stendhal of the "transformation of the spectator" at the beginning of the 19th century, with the emergence of new "image machines". They revisit his theory of "sensation", particularly in light of contemporary research on thought experiments and modal possibilities. Why does this "montage of reflections" practiced by Stendhal strike us today as something inherently cinematic?

Review pending assignment to a contributor in Acta Fabula.

The nineteenth century witnessed a profound transformation in visual culture and the role of the spectator, driven by the emergence of new optical devices and image technologies. Scholars in media archaeology and literary studies have long examined how nineteenth-century narrative techniques anticipated later visual media, connecting nineteenth-century aesthetic practices to the genealogy of modern cinematic experience through notions of motion, observation, and mechanical reproduction.

Laurent Jullier and Guillaume Soulez examine Stendhal’s aesthetic reflection by exploring his text Les Privilèges alongside his distinct approach to realism and sensation. Readers interested in the intersection of nineteenth-century French literature and early visual culture may find this volume relevant.