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Before being a narrative issue, time was a political topic for radical Catholics and for those against revolution. In the second half of the 19th century, the novel as a genre, strongly condemned when it was dedicated only to readers’ pleasure, seemed an ideal propaganda tool for the church. It allowed two issues to merge: the management of social time, notably time dedicated to leisure, and the control of historical discourse in which contemporary issues appeared in some “good” novels approved by the church. The political fight for the defenders of the Christian faith was also a fight for time, its uses, and control.