Conte (literature)

Conte (pronounced [kɔ̃t]) is a literary genre of tales, often short, characterized by fantasy or wit.

[2] The French term conte encompasses a wide range of narrative forms that are not limited to written accounts.

It may have moral or philosophical underpinnings, but is generally not interested in psychological depth or circumstantial detail.

The distinction between contes and short stories was largely obsolete by the nineteenth century when the genres became merged.

[7] However, according to Edmund Gosse, "those brilliant stories" by Voltaire – Candide, Zadig, L'Ingénu, La Princesse de Babylone [fr], and The White Bull – "are not, in the modern sense, contes at all.

[15] The group les conteuses, which d'Aulnoy was a part of, significantly contributed to this genre in the late 17th century.