ABSTRACT
The first decades of the twenty-first century have witnessed the publication of several works of fiction that, though marketed as novels, wear that label rather uneasily. These works are highly fragmented texts, made up of separate textual units – short stories, novellas, sketches, textual fragments, or a mixture of these – which become progressively more integrated as the novels unfold. Contrary to the Anglophone tradition, French and French-Canadian critics do not approach the collection of interlinked stories as a separate genre, but see it rather as a particular instantiation of the publishing format of the collection. Moreover, since all collections can invite readings that emphasize unity and interconnectedness as well as readings that prioritize difference, fragmentation, and separation, the collection of interlinked stories should not be seen as a separate subgroup of the collection. Other traditions and terms that can be considered are 'multiplot novel', 'collective novel', and 'network novel'.
