Préquelle

The term préquelle is a Anglicisme, Francization of the word prequel , itself Mot-valise created starting from the Nom English Sequel (continuation) and of the prefix Latin “pre” (before), and appeared in the Années 1990. The French word “after-effect” having a direction very different from English “sequel” , the transposition is not relevant but largely was essential near the public. In Québécois French, one speaks about antépisode .

Another term, not-official this time, could be “previous”, “preceding” or “prelude”, “prolog” (Antonyme S of “continuation”), or “pre-continuation” to keep the description of the difference in chronology.

The term indicates a work carried out after a given work, but whose action proceeds before in the Univers of fiction. It is a “episode preceding but carried out afterwards”. That points the difference between unfolding of time of the fiction and that of real-time. Before this Anglicism-neologism, one used made up expressions like “flashback” to indicate this phenomenon.

The préquelles ones are found in various forms, as in the Littérature, the Cinéma, the televised series, or in the universe of the video games.

Some examples of préquelles among most known:

Cinema: Star Wars - Episode I to III , Dumb & Dumberer , Cubic Zero (préquelle of Cubic ), Twin Peaks (préquelle of the series Mysteries in Twin Peaks ).
Television: Star Trek: Enterprise , Albator 84 (préquelle of Albator 78 )

In a paradoxical way, the term is used a posteriori for the works created before the invention of the term, proof that the concept is former, and what raises the question of the need for a neologism. It for example is used for opera S, or Silmarillion is regarded as préquelle Seigneur of the Rings , and many writers are leaning on the youth of their hero after having written several adventures with the ripe age.

A case a little more complex is that of the saga of James Bond: the first book of the Royal series, Casino or Spies made your plays , was the only one not to be adapted in the official cycle of the films (the preceding adaptation being a parody). In 2006 a new film of James Bond left, adapting the novel finally. It was about préquelle with other films with the direction where Bond was a spy there beginning, while even the first film carried out represented it tested. But the action of film left into 2006 proceeds clearly in XXIe century (within sight of visible technologies) whereas the first films of James Bond were held during the cold war.

In the same way, some qualified Batman Begins of préquelle, which is not exact because this film is a new adaptation of the character of Batman, independent of any film having existed previously.

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