Conte is a literary genre of tales, often short, characterized by fantasy or wit. They were popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries until the genre became merged with the short story in the nineteenth century. Distinguishing contes from other literary genres is notoriously difficult due to the various meanings of the French term conte that span folktales, fairy tales, short stories, oral tales, and fables.
Facts
Place of Origin Notable ExampleHistoires ou contes du temps passe, Charles Perrault 1 Defining TraitA short tale characterized by fantasy or wit 1 In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: France, originated there.
Sources
1. Conte (literature), Wikipedia
Definition section, paragraph 1
Conte comes from the French word conter, 'to relate'.
History section, paragraph 2
Famous examples of contes include Contes et nouvelles en vers by Jean de La Fontaine, Histoires ou contes du temps passe by Charles Perrault, and Contes cruels by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, the last of which spawned a subgenre called conte cruel.
Lead section, sentence 1
is a literary genre of tales, often short, characterized by fantasy or wit.
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