Les lundis de l'UTL : Conférence : Le "Mystère NERVAL" ou les enjeux de l'écriture romanesque, dans le genre policier et historique

Diane Morel, a graduate of ENS Ulm, is an author and screenwriter-director. Her novel "The Nerval Mystery" was awarded the 2025 Historical Novel Prize. The conference will focus on the challenges of writing a historical detective novel, a hybrid genre that combines the most rigorous historical research with a dramaturgical and logical construction specific to detective novels. How and why do we combine a purely formal game with the study of a complex historical reality? What are the difficulties and advantages of mixing fictional characters with characters inspired by real and sometimes famous people? What method should be used to intertwine the different themes of The Nerval Mystery: the beginnings of psychiatry, forensic medicine, student, artistic and political life under the July Monarchy, feminism and patriarchy. Comparison with three other model works of the genre to consider the construction of reality specific to this particular genre: The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco, The Corpse Reader, by Antonio Garrido and The Alienist, by Caleb Carr. Finally, in the particular case of The Nerval Mystery, why make a writer a character in detective fiction (the question of style on the horizon of pastiche)?

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