The English Novel and the Literary Press in France during the Revolutionary Decade

This chapter describes the appearance of the English novel in the literary press of the period, then explores the choice of texts selected for translation. It also explores the changing reception of the English novel. Understanding the role of the English novel in France requires an examination of a complex matrix of works, re-editions, translators' prefaces, and reviews of the translated works in the French periodical press. The chapter focuses on the press, primarily because of the well-established proximity between press and literature at the end of the eighteenth century. In order to understand the place of English novels in the Revolutionary literary scene, we need first to understand the role of the literary press. The chapter also explores the translation of the English novel in France during the Revolutionary decade. The Gothic vogue exposes the mismatch between a post-Revolutionary literary elite and the reading public.