\u201cLa Vieille fille di Balzac. Feuilleton ou pas? \u2018Querelle\u2019 sulle origini della letteratura seriale francese\u201d

The 1836 is the date of the encounter between seriality and literature in France: thanks to an idea of \uc9mile de Girardin, fiction becomes the highlight of the \u2bbpresse \ue0 bon march\ue9\u2bc. It\u2019s the birth of the serial literature, with the creation of the roman-feuilleton. Generally, Honor\ue9 de Balzac is considered the founder of the new genre, as he\u2019s the first writer to give his contribution to the political press with La Vieille fille. Yet, in the last twenty years a broil has built up among the French critics on the primacy of Balzac; even the belonging of La Vieille fille to the genre of the roman-feuilleton has been queried. The intent of this article is to analyze the studies which have advanced this objection, describe the elements that have led to the formulation of this hypothesis and see if the discussion on the authorship of the serial literature may be possible, or not, to give an answer. A course that define the genre itself of the roman-feuilleton