feuilletons

A feuilleton is the literary and cultural section of a newspaper or magazine, traditionally published separately from the news pages and devoted to arts, literature, criticism, and light prose. The term, derived from the French feuilleton meaning a small leaf, originally signified a recurring feature rather than a single article.

Originating in early 19th-century France, the feuilleton became a popular venue for serialized fiction, poetry, essays, travel writing, and criticism. Serial installments of novels by authors such as Balzac and Dumas helped sustain reader interest between news items. By the mid to late 19th century the format spread to other European papers and took on national characteristics.

In Germany, the Feuilleton became a distinct cultural section, shaping audiences’ reception of theater, music, philosophy, and the arts. In English-speaking media, the term is used to describe similar literary or cultural supplements, often referred to as literary supplements or cultural sections.

The feuilleton played a crucial role in disseminating serialized fiction and cultivating a reading public devoted to literature and criticism. Its influence waned in many papers in the late 20th century as journalism diversified, but the term remains in use in several European publications and in discussions of journalism and literary history.