The work of the Belgian writer Nicole Malinconi is largely in line with the tendency to fragmentarity, which in addition to hybridism and collage is one of the main trends of post-modern narratives. In her works, fragmentarity is manifested in the form of a short story, which the author herself calls the brève. The article is an analysis of the characteristics of the short form, proper for Malinconi, and especially for its socially engaged works in which it performs important functions. The short story, through its brevity and the resulting intensity, interacts more easily with the reader. It also gains considerable critical power.

This article will focus on different forms of hybridization in the contemporary Belgian fantasy novel. It demonstrates aesthetic communion by referring to four authors: Alain Dartevelle, Christopher Gérard, Thomas Gunzig and Bernard Quiriny. By analyzing the syncretism at once generic, poetic and stylistic of their novels, it traces the contours of their mixed writing. It also reflects on the place that these novelists reserve for the supernatural, an ingredient inherent in fantastic alchemy, as well as on the national, even Belgian, character of their writing.