Crime and Media in Contemporary France

Cover

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Title page

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Copyright

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Contents

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Acknowledgments

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pp. vii-viii

A number of persons have been instrumental in the writing of this book, in ways they may or may not realize. I thank, above all, Martine Antle for her extraordinary guidance throughout the long stretches of research and writing; she believed in this project from its inception and was instrumental in helping it find a place. I must also thank individual colleagues...

Chapter One: Crime and Sensation in Contemporary France

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pp. 1-20

The late 1980s and early 1990s were an era of heightened crime awareness in France, a precursor for the hyper-focus on security and délinquance that would characterize the turn of the century. With the introduction of the word “serial killer” into the French language, the emerging popularity of “reality TV,” and an increasingly pervasive media discourse focused on public insecurity...

Chapter Two: Mediating Crime

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pp. 21-39

As an account of a serial killer, the Paulin affaire represents a relatively new addition to contemporary French criminality. The term “serial killer” first appeared in France in 1980, and although the term “tueur en série” is now part of the French language, its entrance into French printed discourse as an English word makes its origins unmistakable. Current articles on serial killing...

Chapter Three: Viewing Crime

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pp. 40-64

From the earliest cinematic endeavors, crime has figured predominantly in French film, and faits divers have been frequently the subject of cinematic productions. While this recreation of historical events has been a consistently popular theme in film, adaptations of sensational...

Chapter Four: Sensation and Censorship

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pp. 65-83

In February of 1988, wanted posters publicizing four pictures of “the crazed killer” (“le tueur fou”) were plastered throughout Parisian metro stations, announcing the police’s progress in putting a face to the man who had murdered a policeman in Toulon and at least two civilians near Annecy. Almost immediately following the issuance of the wanted poster, the killer was identified...

Chapter Five: Performing Murder

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pp. 84-124

Koltès began writing his play in 1988, just prior to Succo’s suicide. As I have shown, Koltès’s interest in Succo, fueled by the media’s images of the killer, has been consistently cited in reference to the play, encrusting it with layers of meaning. Used by both proponents and opponents of the play...

Chapter Six: Rewriting History

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pp. 125-138

Throughout this project, I have sought to underline how the contemporary fait divers functions as an important site of struggle for the control of social meaning. As evidenced by the Paulin and Succo affaires of the 1980s, media, politicians, and law enforcement vie with each other to influence public sentiment about crime...

Works Cited

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pp. 139-148

Index

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pp. 149-153