La réception des seuils péritextuels du roman les bienveillantes de jonathan littell

Abstract EN

It is the overwhelming success of Jonathan Littell's novel Les Bienveillantes [The Kindly Ones], both commercially and artistically, that motivated the researcher to study this outstanding literary phenomenon.

The pivotal question in this study is: How could the peritextual thresholds (which mean visual and textual elements on the front and back covers) of The Kindly Ones captivate the potential reader's attention and interest, encouraging him or her to buy or read the book more than other works from various genres which discuss the same topic? This paper tries to analyze the discursive strategies and techniques implemented concomitantly by both the author and the editor while choosing these peritextual zones.

Applying a semio-pragmatic method of analysis, the research tries to identify the most stimulating and significant elements, which induce the receiver or potential buyer to follow a certain course of action, i.

e.

, buying the book before even discovering the contents of the text itself.