La concision exemplaire de la nouvelle? Réflexions sur l'art du récit bref chez Maupassant

This study shows how Maupassant’s aesthetic principles lead him, in certain
short stories, to expose thematised and implicit content. Th  e absence of didactic
discourse and explicit psychological analysis implies that Maupassant is using not
only concision but also amplification and repetition to engage the reader and to
make him or her aware of the nature and signification of the issues at stake. On a
generic level, the short story is conceived not as a constricted version of the novel, an
approach I refer to as a “nouvellisme,” but as a confi gurative and narrative expansion
of a crucial moment in a character’s experience. Th  e study thus questions the idea
that the short story, because of the constraints of brevity, must above all remain
concise and present all aspects of its narrative in an economical and abbreviated
way in order to transcend the mere story.