A roman à clef or roman à clé (French for "novel with a key") is a novel describing real-life events behind a façade of fiction. The "key", not present in the text, is the correlation between events and characters in the novel and events and characters in real life.

Reasons why an author might choose the roman à clef format include:

  • Satire;
  • Writing about controversial topics and/or reporting inside information on scandals without giving rise to charges of libel.
  • A roman à clef also gives the author the opportunity to turn the tale the way the author would like it to have gone.

Since its original use in the context of writings, the roman à clef technique is also used in the theatre and in movies, like The Great Dictator depicting Hitler and nazism.

Some notable romans à clef:

Other uses

In the season 4 X-Files episode Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man, the recurring villain known as the Cigarette Smoking Man moonlights as author Raul Bloodworth and is published in a sleazy rag called Roman A Clef. The name is ironic in the context, as what he has sent to the magazine is indeed a roman à clef account of the secret conspiracies he has been involved in, but the magazine's editors rewrite it until it is unrecognizable.

See also

de:Schlüsselroman

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