French Literature Reviews - 2026

V. Houdart-Merot (ed.), Laughter in the Francophone World
Francophone and Oral Literatures

Bibliographic reference: V. Houdart-Merot (ed.), Rires en francophonie, Encrage Edition, collection "collection CRTF", 2013. EAN13: 9782360580460.

Are there specific forms of laughter associated with different geographical and cultural areas? Is it inappropriate to use humor to address serious subjects that do not naturally lend themselves to laughter? Are readers today more sensitive than in the past to the humorous or ironic elements within a work?

Proceeding from the premise that "literary laughter" truly exists, this volume examines contemporary mutations of laughter in Francophone literatures: shifts in the subjects addressed through humor; changes in the literary devices of laughter; and transformations in the "sense of laughter" and in how readers perceive a work's comic scope. Laughter thus shifts toward women's writing, becomes reflexive in children's literature, and transforms through the lens of translation.

From the Babelian laughter of Aziz Chouaki to the deadpan humor of Marie NDiaye, from the tragic laughter of Ghérasim Luca to the suppressed smiles of Perec, from the libertarian humor of Andrée Chedid to the gendered comedy of Germaine Tillion's operetta, this collection explores the diverse functions of the literary comic, oscillating between subversion and catharsis.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Violaine Houdart-Merot: Shifts of Laughter in Contemporary French-Language Literatures

Problematic and Evolving Definitions

Nicolas Martin-Granel: A Point of Irony in African Literatures? A Linguistic and Anthropological Approach

Anne-Marie Petitjean: English Humor for French Children

Rémi Astruc: Perfectly Absurd or Simply Grotesque?

Joanna Nowicki: The Grotesque and Irony: Two Faces of the European Spirit

Violaine Houdart-Merot: From Intertextual Laughter to Comic Outrage against Language: Laughter as a Poetic Exercise in Gherasim Luca and Valère Novarina

Christiane Chaulet Achour: From Lingua Franca to the Plurilingual Laughter of Aziz Chouaki

Insurrectional or Cathartic Function?

Lucie Joubert: Literary Humor and Irony among Women in Quebec (1970–2010): Taking the Pulse of Resistance

Sylvie Brodziak: Women's Laughter at Ravensbrück: Germaine Tillion's Le Verfügbar aux Enfers

Serge Martin: From Benjamin Rabier to Philippe Corentin: Smiling against the Grain

Sophie Déroche: Lydie Salvayre: Rabelaisian Laughter as Activism

Nicole Grepat: Andrée Chedid, the Female Clown

Catherine D’Humières: Comic Figures and Societal Issues in Comics: The Cases of Lagaffe and Parker.

Laughter and Reader Cooperation

Patrick Joole: When to Laugh is to Read: Reflexive Laughter in Francophone Children's Literature

Pierre-Louis Fort: When Perrault Becomes Perlo: The Tale at the Service of Humor in Jean-Claude Grumberg's Youth Theater

Julien Longhi: Modalities and Scope of the Smile/Laughter in Georges Perec: Playful Interpretive Paths and Cooperative Autonymy

Andrew Asibong: Marie NDiaye and Deadpan Humor

Isabelle Boyer: Verbal Jousting: Humor or Expression of Despair?

Cyrille François: Translating and Laughing: Joseph Charles Mardrus's The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night

The volume gathers contributions examining contemporary mutations of laughter across Francophone literatures, addressing shifts in subjects, literary devices, and reader perception. The collection investigates specific forms of laughter associated with different geographical and cultural areas, alongside the use of humor to treat serious subjects. Individual chapters explore diverse figures such as Aziz Chouaki, Marie NDiaye, Ghérasim Luca, Georges Perec, Andrée Chedid, and Germaine Tillion. The essays further consider the functions of the literary comic, oscillating between subversion and catharsis, while touching upon women's writing, children's literature, and translation.

Within the broader field of literary studies, investigations of the comic often intersect with questions of cultural identity, translation, and genre boundaries. Humor in literature frequently serves as a flexible instrument for negotiating serious historical, political, or social realities across different linguistic communities. Readers interested in contemporary Francophone literatures and the theoretical dimensions of literary humor may find this collection relevant to their pursuits.