Not every theatrical technique is created by theatre. Acclamation, for example, is considered a visible and audible practice that has developed specific forms in both liturgy and theatre but is genuinely taken from the political sphere, where – at least in modern times – it is not always used publicly and thus visible. Precisely because of its form and community- building function and because acclamation has developed very specific variants in liturgy and theatre, it is worth comparing its usage in liturgical theory with a novel. The comparison is also drawn here between Germany and France. On the basis of Lüft’s “liturgy” and Hugo’s novel, the paper shows the structure-building task that acclamation assumes in the respective contexts, which is why it is not – as one might assume – used once, but repeatedly in the catholic liturgy and in the novel’s plot.