From the book
The Gods Are Athirst
Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Meaning
Lemma.
A soufflet is a blow delivered with the open hand, here a ringing slap on an insolent man’s cheek. The noun can elsewhere mean bellows, but the subject, hand and cheek settle its meaning. It punctuates the bread queue’s mixture of crowding, sexual provocation and defensive anger.
Places to read
- Chapter VI, paragraph 4Frenchun large soufflet: A ringing slap. The narrator specifies a citizen’s hand striking an insolent man’s cheek.