“The Narrative Obsession”: Franck Venaille and the Art of Telling in Verse and Prose
(2026) Verse Plots. Computational Analysis of Narrativity, Sameness and Change within Verse — ISBN: [9788076581494], 59-76, published
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- Abstract
- Since Mallarmé, modern French poetry has privileged lyricism over storytelling, establishing a theoretical divide between verse and narrative prose. However, Franck Venaille’s work challenges this dichotomy by embracing narrative within innovative formal structures. This article examines La Descente de l’Escaut (1995), a poem that blends verse and prose to create new narrative dynamics. Through varied typographical arrangements and enunciative modulations, Venaille demonstrates that prose is not merely prosaic material but an essential component of contemporary poetic form. His work illustrates how modern poetry can revive the epic tradition while maintaining formal innovation, proving that the boundaries between verse and prose become increasingly permeable when unified within a single poetic framework.
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Cunescu, S. (2026). “The Narrative Obsession”: Franck Venaille and the Art of Telling in Verse and Prose. In Bories, A. S., Plecháč, P., Ruiz Fabo, P., & Seláf, L. (ed.), Verse Plots. Computational Analysis of Narrativity, Sameness and Change within Verse (pp. 59-76). Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Czech Literature / Gépeskönyv. https://doi.org/10.51305/ICL.CZ.9788076581494.05