page_title: Contes cruels
section_title: The Subversion of the story
hierarchical_section_title: Contes cruels / The Subversion of the story
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Illustration anonyme d'un conte d'Octave Mirbeau (1848-1917), «&#160;Le Nid de frelons&#160;», paru dans "La Vie populaire" le 16 février 1890.
context_page_description: Contes cruels is a two-volume set of about 150 tales and short stories by the 19th-century French writer Octave Mirbeau, collected and edited by Pierre Michel and Jean-François Nivet and published in two volumes in 1990 by Librairie Séguier. The title was taken from Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, of whom Mirbeau was a friend and admirer.
context_section_description: It is apparent that the novelist accorded little interest to a task  which, in his eyes, served primarily to put food on the table. Indeed, at the time, the short story occupied an important place in the press, and along with the chronicle, was a genre particularly favored by the public, permitting most writers to earn their living more dependably than was possible through the publication of their books. The daily papers could thereby secure the fidelity of their readers by offering them a bit of entertainment and by allowing them to experience a modicum of cheer and emotion.
  Mirbeau saw in the story a valuable opportunity to expand his literary range, by treating subjects and sketching out characters and settings that he intended to develop more fully in subsequent novels.
caption: Octave Mirbeau, "Le Nid de frelons", La Vie populaire, 16 February 1890
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