Conte (literature) facts for kids
A conte (pronounced "kont" in French) is a special kind of story. These stories are often short and full of imagination or clever ideas. They were very popular a long time ago, especially in the 1600s and 1700s. Later, in the 1800s, they started to blend in with what we now call "short stories." It can be tricky to tell contes apart from other types of stories because the French word conte can mean many things, like fairy tales, folktales, or even short stories.
What is a Conte?
The word "conte" comes from the French word conter, which means "to tell." In French, "conte" covers many different ways of telling a story, not just written ones. There isn't one perfect English word for "conte" because it can be a folktale, a fairy tale, a short story, or even a fable. This is why it's hard to give a single, clear definition for a conte.
A conte is usually longer than a regular short story but shorter than a novel. You could think of it as a novella. Contes are different from short stories not just in length, but also in what they are about. While short stories (called nouvelles in French) often focus on new or recent events, contes are usually fairy tales or stories that make you think deeply about ideas (philosophical stories).
Contes are often exciting adventure stories. They are known for being imaginative, clever, and sometimes even a bit funny or satirical. They might teach a lesson or explore big ideas, but they usually don't focus a lot on how characters feel inside or on tiny details about places. They can be deep, but they aren't usually "heavy" or too serious. These features also help keep them from being too long. Contes can be written in regular paragraphs (prose) or as poems (verse).
The History of Contes
Contes were very popular in the 1600s and 1700s. By the 1800s, the difference between contes and short stories wasn't as clear, and the two types of stories started to become one. In fact, the English term "short story" wasn't even invented until 1884!
Some famous examples of contes include Contes et nouvelles en vers by Jean de La Fontaine and Histoires ou contes du temps passé by Charles Perrault. Perrault's book includes well-known tales like "Puss in Boots" and "Cinderella". Another example is Contes cruels by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, which even started a new type of story called a conte cruel.
A famous writer named Voltaire is often said to have created a special type of story called the "philosophical conte." Another writer, Denis Diderot, also wrote these kinds of stories. Voltaire's famous stories like Candide and Zadig are often called contes. Even though Voltaire might have gotten ideas for his contes from telling stories out loud to people, he only published them after he had to leave France for a while.
Contes were also written in French-speaking places outside of France. For example, Lafcadio Hearn included stories from Creole culture in his writings.
See also
- Anthology
- Conte cruel
- Drabble
- Flash fiction, also known as microfiction
- Irish short story
- Literary journal
- Minisaga
- Sketch story
- Tall tale
- Vignette
