Fantômas, la technologie du mal ?

The Fantômas series of novels, written by Pierre Souvestree and Marcel Allain at the beginning of the 20th century, is an example of popular literature written by four hands. We know something about how it war written thanks to Allain’s later account. However, to unravel the participation of each one of the authors in the original series and the choices made by Allain in the later episodes, we will explore a sample of each period, as well as the film adaptations to which they gave rise. Our common thread will be technology, as a means to convey the story but also as a theme, as a representation of modernity or a threat. Keywords: collaborative writing, popular literature, detective novel