Être reporter sans le titre ? Les reconfigurations poétiques de la chronique à l’heure de l’invention de l’enquête (1870-1890)
Authors: Simard-Houde Mélodie 
Published: February 2022

Dans les premières décennies de la Troisième République, alors que la presse française commence à s’ouvrir à un nouveau modèle médiatique dans lequel la dépêche, le reportage, l’information et l’actualité occupent une place grandissante, qu’advient-il des genres journalistiques installés et reconnus ? Cet submission propose de répondre à cette question en examinant le cas de la chronique mondaine, dans les postures, les poétiques et les pratiques d’écriture de trois chroniqueurs de la presse parisienne : Émile Blavet et sa rubrique « La Vie parisienne », publiée au Figaro sous le pseudonyme Parisis ; « L’hiver en Russie », la chronique d’un voyage à Saint-Pétersbourg par Léon Duchemin, pour le compte du Figaro, et, enfin, des chroniques de voyage en Italie et en Afrique du Nord de Guy de Maupassant, dans les années 1880. Ces trois auteurs ont connu des fortunes littéraires bien inégales. Cependant, sous la plume de chacun d’entre eux, les caractéristiques poétiques traditionnelles de la chronique et la tâche du chroniqueur se trouvent modulées d’une manière singulière par l’essor du journalisme d’enquête et du reportage. Pour Blavet, l’hybridation se traduit, dans le paratexte des chroniques réunies en volume, par une posture de chroniqueur documenté ; chez Duchemin, elle donne lieu à une adaptation exotique de la chronique mondaine, tandis que chez Maupassant, elle est liée à l’écriture d’une expérience sensorielle. Que ce soit en insistant sur son acuité, en déplaçant son champ d’expérience de Paris vers une capitale culturelle étrangère, ou encore en transformant radicalement sa silhouette pour en faire celle d’un voyageur aventurier, chacun de ces chroniqueurs peut s’apparenter, à divers degrés, à un protoreporter. Leurs chroniques donnent ainsi à voir, en décalage avec les codes habituels, des interférences génériques qui témoignent de la mutation en cours et participent du processus de l’invention du reportage.

In the initial decades of the Third Republic, when the French press was opening up to a new media model in which wire stories, reportage, information, and news are increasingly important, what happened to the well-installed and recognized journalistic genres? This submission aims to answer this question by examining the case of the high-society column, through the postures, poetics, and writing practices of three Parisian columnists: Émile Blavet and his column “La Vie parisienne,” published in Le Figaro under the pseudonym Parisis; “L’hiver en Russie,” the narrative of a journey to Saint Petersburg by Léon Duchemin, columnist for Le Figaro; and, finally, Guy de Maupassant’s travel chronicles in Italy and North Africa during the 1880s. The three authors experience disproportionate literary success; however, in each of their writings, the traditional poetic elements of the Parisian column and the function of the columnist are modulated in a singular way through the growth of investigative journalism and reportage. In Blavet’s work, hybridization translates into the posture of a documented columnist, as expressed in the paratext of the collected columns, while in Duchemin’s writing, the travel chronicle produces an exotic adaptation of the high-society column. Finally, in Maupassant’s work, it is linked to the writing of a sensory experience. Whether by emphasizing acuity, moving fields of experience from Paris to a foreign cultural capital, or radically transforming one’s image into that of an adventurous traveler, each of these columnists can be compared to, in varying degrees, a protoreporter. Although at odds with standardized norms, their columns reveal a generic interference that reflects the changing course of the media system, one that contributes to the process of invention vis-à-vis reportage.

Nas primeiras décadas da Terceira República, quando a imprensa francesa começa a se abrir a um novo modelo midiático no qual o despacho, a reportagem, a informação e a atualidade ocupam um lugar cada vez maior, o que acontece com os gêneros jornalísticos já bem estabelecidos e reconhecidos? Este artigo procura responder a essa questão examinando o caso das crônicas mundanas, no âmbito das posturas, poéticas e práticas de escrita três cronistas da imprensa parisiense: Émile Blavet e sua rubrica “La Vie parisienne”, publicada no Figaro sob o pseudônimo de Parisis ; “L’hiver en Russie”, crônica de uma viagem a São Petersburgo por Léon Duchemin, colunista do Figaro; e, finalmente, as crônicas de viagem à Itália e à África do Norte de Guy de Maupassant nos anos 1880. Os três autores têm percursos literários bem distintos. Contudo, em seus escritos, tanto a tradicional característica poética da crônica quanto o papel do cronista são modulados de maneira singular pela ascensão do jornalismo de enquete e da reportagem. Para Blavet, a hibridação se traduz, no paratexto das crônicas reunidas em volume, em uma postura de cronista documentado; em Duchemin, ela dá lugar a uma adaptação exótica da crônica mundana, enquanto em Maupassant ela está ligada à escrita de uma experiência sensorial. Seja ao sublinhar sua acuidade, ao deslocar seu campo de experiência de Paris para uma capital cultural estrangeira, ou ainda ao transformar radicalmente sua silhueta na de um viajante aventureiro, cada um desses cronistas pode se assemelhar, em diversos níveis, a um proto-repórter. Suas crônicas revelam, em descompasso com os códigos habituais, interferências genéricas que testemunham uma mudança em curso e participam do processo de invenção da reportagem.