French term
la chute [d'une nouvelle]
"La chute du récit ouvre et ferme le temps à la fois : elle ouvre l’imagination du lecteur à un avenir que rien ne semble pouvoir détourner du chemin de la répétition."
and
"La force du conte réside dans sa chute en une image indéterminable..."
I understand that in a joke, the chute is the "punchline." But in a serious short story, what is it? The "surprise ending"?
In the essay, the author distinguishes between "la chute" and "le dénouement"; there are headings with both those titles. Under "la chute" he talks about the ending of the short story (the example sentences I gave occur under this heading); under "le dénouement" he talks more about the implications of the story, and connects it to things in real life.
| 3 +1 | climax |
Emma Paulay
|
| 4 +1 | punch line |
Liliane Hatem
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| 4 +1 | the twist |
Evans (X)
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| 4 | the ending [of a short story] |
Chris Hall
|
PRO (2): Emma Paulay, Evans (X)
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Proposed translations
climax
| agree |
John Detre
: this makes more sense than what I said
34 mins
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Thanks, John.
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|
| neutral |
writeaway
: wouldn't that be point culminant?
1 hr
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I think the two terms ("chute" and "point culminant") are interchangeable here, strange as that may sound.
|
219 témoignages et ils ne cessent pas...
Native in: English (Variants: UK, British)
Works in: French to English
the ending [of a short story]
| neutral |
Jennifer Levey
: "N/T" .... ?
2 hrs
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No Text (necessary) - it is simply shorthand speak.
|
Lebanon
Fast and reliable
Native in: English 
, Arabic
Works in: English to Arabic, Arabic to English, Arabic to French, and 3 more.
punch line
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Note added at 4 hrs (2010-05-30 03:22:32 GMT)
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The point of a joke or humorous story.
Websters
the twist
See for instance:
"The short story genre has a proud history of shattering readers' perceptions with an unexpected final paragraph. Here we present a group of the most surprising and devious twists - from the tragic to the humorous by way of the downright sinister."
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/Collections/ClasTw...
| Thanks for the excellent idea! |
Discussion
Could the author of your article be suggesting that you have to look outside the story to find its resolution/meaning?
Or, alternatively, does the discussion of the two real-life trapeze artists contain its own denouement?
Is there anything you can tell us about what the article says about the real-life trapeze artists and how it relates them to the story that could help us elucidate the meaning of dénouement here?