“’We Must Choose Between Oblivion and Vultures’. François Mauriac's Television Cinephilia

Abstract

This article explores François Mauriac’s television cinephilia, as he authored nearly 200 “telechronicles” between 1959 and 1964, first for L’Express and later for Le Figaro littéraire. During an era when television was emerging as a mass medium, Mauriac, an Académie Française member and Nobel laureate, examined its influence on culture and society. His chronicles, oscillating between admiration and critique, analyzed television as an intermedial crossroads where cinema, literature, and current events converged. Through an unconventional cinephilia, he observed the evolution of cinema, from the silent era to the rise of television films, while addressing the aesthetic and moral challenges of televised adaptations. For Mauriac, television became a tool for rereading and transmitting works, a space where past and present engaged in dialogue. His telechronicles reflect a unique perspective on the ambivalence of television and its role in revealing cultural transformations.