SOURCE: Engstrom, Alfred G. “The Formal Short Story in France and Its Development before 1850.” In Studies in Language and Literature, edited by George R. Coffman, pp. 249-60. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1945.

In the following essay, Engstrom defines the French short story (conte), and chronicles early works in this genre by Mérimée, Balzac, and Gautier.

I

The first half of the 19th century saw the formal evolution and early development of the modern short story.¹ Much of the best brief fiction published during these years differs greatly in both form and content from that which came before; but there is notable disagreement as to the nature of the difference between the new fiction and the old and as to the terminology to be employed in discussing the different forms. These problems are especially puzzling in a study of French literature; for the short story...