Abstract: The question of the figure of the reader interrogates the contours of the two main types of French narratives produced in the sixteenth century: the novel and the brief account. Do French authors represent the reading of a novel differently from that of a novella or collection of novellas? This enquiry takes into account the analysis of learned individuals testifying to personal experiences, the attitude of characters-turned-readers, and the image of the reader and reading elaborated in the paratext of the works.
