Le faux en art

Abstract

The narratological approach to art forgery deals with the actantial structure which remains a constant in all cases, variations notwithstanding. It is based on the opposition between “the forger” and “the dupe”, these terms referring to actantial groups and not to persons or characters. Each of these two basic components may be split into secondary actants, some being necessarily part of the structure and others not. On the forger’s side, we may thus distinguish between the initiator, the presenter, the pilot and the maker; on the dupe’s end are the expert and the buyer (but in some instances, these can also belong to “the forger” as an actantial group). For each of those sub-actants, some movements are either possible or impossible. The structure of the interactions between “the forger” and “the dupe” is described as the system of these movements.

Keywords

• forgery
• fake
• art
• narratology
• Bruegel
• conservation