French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Garnot, L'Histoire selon San-Antonio
Novel and Narrative Prose
L'Histoire selon San-Antonio
Benoît Garnot
Éditions Universitaires de Dijon
Pages: 115 p.
Publication: 2018
Series: Essais
ISBN: 978-2-36441-268-2
The place of history in the San-Antonio series has never been studied; yet their author treats this discipline as a genuine hobby. By giving each of his avatars a sort of family resemblance, historical allusions and references weave a subtle yet pervasive thread running throughout the entire work.
San-Antonio uses them to illustrate or sharply characterize people, events, situations, atmospheres, and places, as well as to sketch out, through scattered touches, a pessimistic view of human history. His references are examined here from four successive angles: a despairing history, history revisited by imagination, a history of people, and a history of things.
By letting San-Antonio or Bérurier speak as often as possible, this serious subject is approached with humor and levity. Readers of Frédéric Dard, an incomparable master of the French language, will feel right at home!
The San-Antonio series, created by Frédéric Dard, occupies a distinct place in twentieth-century French popular literature. Scholars of popular fiction often examine how serial literature reflects contemporary anxieties, political contexts, and cultural memory while maintaining the conventions of suspense and entertainment. Benoît Garnot's study contributes to this broader field of inquiry by focusing specifically on the recurring historical allusions embedded across the novels.
This volume examines the historical references found throughout the series through four distinct angles, exploring how characters such as San-Antonio and Bérurier engage with the past. The analysis highlights how historical allusions are employed to characterize individuals, situations, and atmospheres while conveying a pessimistic view of human history. Readers interested in French popular literature, twentieth-century detective fiction, and the stylistic universe of Frédéric Dard may find this volume relevant.