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Clochemerle

by Gabriel Chevallier · first published 1934

Clochemerle, published in the United States as The Scandals of Clochemerle, is a satirical novel by the French writer Gabriel Chevallier (1895–1969) which was first published in 1934. It centres on local politics and personal rivalries in the fictional village of Clochemerle, inspired by Vaux-en-Beaujolais, in Beaujolais, in 1923 and satirises the conflict between clericalists and republicans under the French Third Republic. The story concerns a dispute over the local mayor's decision to build a pissoir (public urinals) adjacent the village church which escalates into a national political crisis and derails a major international conference. In its satirical portraits of the village's individual inhabitants, Clochemerle is an example of observational humour.

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