From the borders of laughter to the margins of literature The case of the Chants de Maldoror

Using a framework based on the theory of laughter, this study highlights Lautréamont’s paradoxical and innovative practice in this domain. The article explores the reception of his work in the late nineteenth century and argues that the ethic of laughter in Les Chants de Maldoror is aligned with modern theories of laughter but does not correspond to the expectations of the public of the time, who was still educated in the classical tradition.