Le diable: origines et avatars

Abstract

Among the multiples thematic components that have a role in the Fantastic Fiction, this study aims at analyzing the particular case of the myth of the Devil, from the Greek diabállein, that means “to separate”, but also “to mislead”. From this double meaning, it is examined more specifically the novel Le diable amoureux (1722), by Jacques Cazotte, the melting pot of the different sources which are at the origin of the emergence of Fantastic Literature and the figure of Devil. In the eighteenth century, this presence remains as the emblematic representation of the Evil, but its actualization in the different novels of the time suggests a familiarity until then unusual.

Keywords

• Devil
• Evil
• Jacques Cazotte