Literary Journalism in France: A quest for subjectivity and style

Vanoost, Marie [UCL]

Literary journalism has been developing in France for the last few years, mostly in the new print media called mooks – quarterly or half-yearly magazines specializing in long-form journalism. Whereas France has a long history of grand reportage, a genre that can be considered as a form of literary journalism, French mooks also refer to the American tradition of literary journalism to define their journalistic work. Considering the cultural differences between both countries, this paper investigates how French journalists writing for mooks and how American literary journalists regard their work, as well as the way their respective works relate to journalistic and literary values. This paper is based on interviews with fourteen American and nine French reporters and editors. It first focuses on the way these journalists spontaneously defined their work: what are, according to them, the main traits of the journalism they practice? While the American journalists who were interviewed tended to answer this question in terms of story elements, French reporters mostly highlighted length and subjectivity. This paper then explores how both American and French journalists related to notions such as truth, objectivity and subjectivity. In conclusion, this paper discusses some of the cultural differences between the journalistic and literary traditions of both countries.