Carco, writer-reporter and polygraphe of reality

A significant part of Carco’s work has been described as “reportage,” a slippery genre label applied in various ways to his stories over time but which has never been questioned. This contribution sheds light on Carcassian reportage and its complex relationship to the novel from three angles: the thematization of the urban lower depths, the poetics of the narrative—hesitating between fictionalization and documentary foundation—and the editorial chain leading from newspaper to book.