Ambiguity as a Literary Strategy in the Preface of Eighteenth Century French Novels

Abstract

reflects a pragmatic purpose and a very efficient authorial strategy to disguise or conceal the true nature of the oeuvre. It also helps to prevent, avoid or solve any ethical or aesthetic conflicts that this highly suspicious literary genre would face in the winding and treacherous road between authors and readers. Very often the recourse to ambiguity is a tell-tale sign of a conflict which the author intends to address and hopefully solve. The conflict can be very diverse: internal or external, literary or social, collective or individual. Its analysis is an exceptionally useful tool to explore the evolution and the intimate history of the French novel during this century.