The Cambridge Companion to Zola

The essays in this volume focus on Zola's works, his life and times and his role in the Dreyfus Affair.

Brian Nelson (Edited by)

9780521543767, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 February 2007

246 pages
15.6 x 22.5 x 1.4 cm, 0.4 kg

'… a highly readable collection of essays. … The collection is both a solid introduction to Zola and his work for those new to the field and an enjoyable read for those who are already familiar with Zola scholarship.' The French Review

Emile Zola is a towering literary figure of the nineteenth century. His main literary achievement was his twenty-volume novel cycle, Les Rougon-Macquart (1870–93). In this series he combines a novelist's skills with those of the investigative journalist to examine the social, sexual and moral landscape of the late nineteenth century in a way that scandalized bourgeois society. In 1898 Zola crowned his literary career with a political act, his famous open letter ('J'accuse…!') to the President of the French Republic in defence of Alfred Dreyfus. The essays in this volume offer readings of individual novels as well as analyses of Zola's originality, his representation of society, sexuality and gender, his relations with the painters of his time, his narrative art, and his role in the Dreyfus Affair. The Companion also includes a chronology, detailed summaries of all of Zola's novels, suggestions for further reading, and information about specialist resources.

Chronology
Zola's novels: a summary
Family tree of the Rougon-Macquart
1. Zola and the nineteenth century Brian Nelson
2. Family histories and family plots Nicholas White
3. Zola and the representation of society Sandy Petrey
4. Questions of sexuality and gender Hannah Thompson
5. Zola and contemporary painting Robert Lethbridge
6. Zola and the art of fiction Chantal Pierre-Gnassounou
7.Thérèse Raquin: animal passion and the brutality of reading Susan Harrow
8. Nana: the world, the flesh and the devil Valerie Minogue
9. Germinal: the gathering storm David Baguley
10. La Bête humaine: the poetics of the unconscious Rae Beth Gordon
11. Zola's utopias Julia Przybos
12. 'J'accuse…!': Zola and the Dreyfus Affair Owen Morgan
Further reading and specialist resources.

Subject Areas: Literature: history & criticism [DS]