Des liaisons (toujours aussi?) dangereuses, 1782-2022. Examen critique des récents avatars d'un classique dans la pop culture

• Published in: Symposium (Syracuse) Vol. 78; no. 4; pp. 300 - 316
• Main Author: Spielmann, Guy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Routledge 01.10.2024; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Adaptation; Adaptations; Audiences; Classic; Comics; Derivation; English language; French language; Graphic Novel; Graphic novels; Pop culture; Popular culture; Series
• DOI: 10.1080/00397709.2024.2407001
• ISSN: 0039-7709

The release in 2022-23 of four creative works derived from Les Liaisons dangereuses, on screen and in graphic novel format and in French and English, demonstrates that the novel published in 1782 remains indisputably relevant. However, all these avatars differ considerably from the text on which they claim to be based, in particular by not using the unique epistolary narrative device designed by Laclos. Now seldom read in its original form, and probably poorly understood even by those who do venture to read it, Les Liaisons dangereuses nevertheless still exudes an aura powerful enough to encourage contemporaries to craft versions "adapted" to today's audiences. Rather than belittling or condemning these derivations as facile and inferior to the original, we need to question the ways in which they "re-present" in pop culture a classic whose longevity they continue to ensure.