Talk:Roman à clef

The X-files reference seems pointless and silly (and I'm a fan of the show) - I'm inclined to cut it. Thoughts?Danmusic 05:49, 6 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In disambiguating Mapping, I just unlinked it from this page, since it didn't seem be being used in any technical sense. Certainly the use here doesn't match any of the technical sense on that page if it's allowed for an event or character in the novel to correspond to more than one event or character in real life (which it seems to me does happen sometimes). However, if it is being used in a technical sense, then please let me know -- or better yet, add this sense to the Mapping article! -- Toby 23:57 Jan 26, 2003 (UTC)

Thanks. I wasn't using it a technical sense, precisely. I was using it as a single word encapsulating the meaning "data indicating the one-to-one correspondence between elements in set A and elements in set B.". One event or character in the novel corresponds exactly with one event or character in real life (in a true roman à clef), so it's close to the technical meaning. Is the term, in my non-mathematical sense, in common usage, or is it just how I think about things? -- Dreamword 02:19 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC)

I'm sure that the use of the term here is certainly appropriate.What I wonder is about is a link to an article discussing a technical use of that term. If a given character in a true roman à clef can only correspond to at most one item in real life, then this would qualify as a function (or at least a partial function, but that distinction is probably an irrelevant technicality), but I'll let you decide if a link to Function (as [[function|mapping]], presumably) is a good idea or not. -- Toby 03:47 Feb 9, 2003 (UTC)

I'm inclined to leave it unlinked and, if anything, replace "mapping" with "correspondence." (Goes to show what havoc occurs when a trivium guy starts using quadrivium terms...) -- Dreamword 18:43 Feb 9, 2003 (UTC)

Well, to the extent that the quadrivium is about the various guises of number, then that must be me! ^_^ -- Toby 05:39 Feb 12, 2003 (UTC)

Re: The Devil Wears Prada: if the author denies that a character is modelled on a specific figure then we need some convincing evidence to the contrary before we call it roman a clef and put it in the list. Even if the evidence for that one figure was overwhelming I'm not sure one figure drawn from life a roman a clef makes. -- Antaeus Feldspar 11:51, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

There is far too much list and not enough article here. -- Cyrius|✎ 22:36, 15 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed there is too much list. A few examples across a variety of times and places would be sufficient. Perhaps a separate entry containing a list of famous romans a clef —Preceding unsigned comment added by 160.94.210.205 (talk) 13:24, 8 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Re: Re: The Devil Wears Prada: For that matter, the figure drawn from life must not be the author -- half of contemporary lit fic would be roman a clef if that were so, and thus Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is far from the form. I think it's also a given that the models for the fiction have already enjoyed some celebrity or notoriety -- part of the fun of reading a roman a clef is the chance to figure out who is being spoofed. If the author is just writing about a friend or relative and changes the name, they're not playing the game. 70.33.85.166 06:36, 19 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

English Language Bias

While the list is interesting there is a clear Englisg language bias. It might therefore be useful to include examples from other languages and cultures, not just to expand the list but also to note if there truly is a Anglo-american cultural oddity. The expression seems French; it might therefore be worthwile to add something on the history of the expression.

I know there are examples in Norwegian litterature (one case that relates to the internal world of publishers, a few years ago) but this is too small a country to be of general interest.

Given the value of this technique in avoiding controversy, I expect that it has been used since the very origins of writing. Vectro 20:50, 26 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure that I would call it bias. After all, this is an English language project. But point taken. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 160.94.210.205 (talk) 13:22, 8 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A Dance to the Music of Time

The article summarises this series as a "sequence of twelve novels satirising English cultural and political life in the middle of the 20th century." The series includes satire, but that's only one of its strands, and by no means the chief one. I'm not sure how one would do "Dance" justice in a one liner, but feel that this brave attempt falls short. Countersubject 13:31, 9 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

proust

"In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust is perhaps the epitome of the roman a clef novel, winding through 3000 pages of Scott-Moncrieff's translation of the authentic French text, it lays down the complexities and subtleties of life for future 20th century authors to utilize at their discretion." i am aware it is semi autobiographical, which i suppose makes it roman a clef, but what is all the rest of that? it sounds to me like an overzealous fan, but i'm not precisely sure what it's getting at so i don't want to snip it. --dan 04:17, 24 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Citizen Kane

I think Citizen Kane is a far more notable, more famous and just plain better example of Roman à clef in cinema than The Great Dictator. Any detractors? --PopeFauveXXIII (talk) 17:07, 4 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Great Gatsby

This novel is "a comment on the prohibition of alcohol sales"? Really? I know it's many things to many critics, but this seems an odd way to characterize the novel.