roman-fleuve, series of novels, each one complete in itself, that deals with one central character, an era of national life, or successive generations of a family.
Inspired by successful 19th-century cycles such as Honoré de Balzac’s Comédie humaine and Émile Zola’s Rougon-Macquart, the roman-fleuve was a popular literary genre in France during the first half of the 20th century. Examples include the 10-volume Jean-Christophe (1904–12) by Romain Rolland, the 7-part À la recherche du temps perdu (1913–27; Remembrance of Things Past) by Marcel Proust, the 8-part Les Thibault (1922–40) by Roger Martin du Gard, and Les Hommes de bonne volonté, 27 vol. (1932–46; Men of Good Will) by Jules Romains. Proust’s work is the masterpiece of the genre.