Transfictionnalités cinématographiques de Frankenstein : éléments pour une théorie du Frankenfilm

Abstract

The cultural omnipresence and the plasticity of the Frankenstein figure confirm its status as “transfuge fiction” identified by Richard Saint-Gelais and requires an adequate methodology. This article applies it mainly to the filmic corpus—the Frankenfilms—considered as a set of variants of the myths rather than adaptations of an original, authoritative, narrative. It combines transmedial and intermedial approaches and utilises the concept of metalepsis. The latter enables us to see in what way the Frankenfilms achieve a reversal of the creator / creature relationship that relies on a number of constants, among which the breaking of the “fourth wall”.