Introduction: Characters in/as Connection

Abstract: This introduction to the special issue "Connecting Characters in Modern and Contemporary French-language Fiction" offers a critical context for studying character networks and interdependency. Through the lens of Glissant's concept of "Relation" and in dialogue with Jagoda's notion of "network aesthetics," the issue examines what connects characters in fictional works, how these links shape narrative meaning within and across texts, and how character interdependency reflects diverse social, political, and historical contexts. From the nineteenth-century novel to the multi-perspectival fictions of today, the issue attests to a shift in our critical understanding of characters, from a focus on individual centrality to movement within community.