“Des bouquins assez bizarres et assez rigolos” The exemplarity of the short narrative in Bloy and Huysmans

Huysmans’ short fiction as well as Bloy’s Histoires désobligeantes are pervaded by a contradiction: they are a source of laughter, but also intend to illustrate a serious idea. Using a comparison between À vau-l’eau by Huysmans, and Bloy's “Le Frôleur compatissant,” this article aims to bring to light the specificity of a theatrical device that plays on the clash of registers and destabilization of the reader in the service of a paradoxical exemplarity.