The roman à clef: is it libellous?

 An interesting book by Sean Latham, The art of scandal, 2009, traces the 20th century history of  the roman à clef, highlighting how writers such as Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, DH Lawrence, utilised elements of the roman  in their oeuvre. This even led to worries that fiction itself might be illegal, as British courts tackled complex scandals which  implicated the novels themselves.  From the roman à clef to libel law. This indeed seems to have been a  modern trajectory .
The roman à clef denotes a specific literary genre, a narrative in which the characters are only loosely turned into fictional ones by changing their names and a few events which might lead to identification - the point being however that identification on the part of the reader is left open even if categorically denied by the author. Thus The Devil wears Prada is effectively a novel about Vogue editor Anna Wintour, disguised as the impossible Miranda Priestley, though this has never been  officially admitted by the author of the book.  To some extent most modern and contemporary fiction is based on reality and is inspired by real characters, however,  the roman à clef is more than just inspired. Usually satirical, for many authors it is a good way of venting their dissent and countering certain allegations, by giving their own version of the facts.
A roman  is not necessarily a poor work of fiction. Proust, like the authors I have already mentioned, drew heavily on the conventions of the roman à clef and his works are regarded as masterpieces of modern French literature. Umberto Eco, in  his The Name of the Rose thinly disguises well known personalities from Italian politics. Of course the great Dante went further. He did not disguise anyone but made it a point of devising the most horrible punishments in his imagined hell for all those people that in real life crossed his path and gave him grief - and readers still enjoy reading his poetry, several centuries down the line.

Libel law has dealt with defamatory works of fiction. Occasionally some people claim damages quite successfully, but it is a very complex and lengthy affair, especially if the roman is satirical- and it usually is. If a statement has not been  heard by a third party it is not libellous and most romans à clef will work on this principle. Thus proving that the fictional character is modelled on someone the readers might recognise remains tricky.
Are you thinking of writing a roman à clef? I am not a lawyer so I cannot give any legal advice, please do consult a lawyer if in doubt, but basically dont get unduly anxious about it. 'Insider novels' are all the rage at the moment, as indeed have always been. Make sure you interlace quite a bit of fiction with reality, that you keep your writing humorous and you cannot go wrong. Often, certain details are only known to the person you are discussing and it would be counterproductive for that person to claim  that what they actually said  is being quoted, it may not put them in a good light.  Make sure you have a disclaimer. 

And finally, as a last resort, wait until the person you wish to write about is dead. A deceased person cannot sue for libel. It may take a while  but he who laughs last...And you can always hire a hit man to hasten their death. But beware: the latter action may land you into some different kind of lawsuit. Don't say you have not been warned.

(All photos modelled by Alex B. and taken by Ray Spence)