The French Face of Joseph Conrad

A large-scale account of Conrad's extensive involvement with the French literary tradition.

Yves Hervouet (Author), Lindsay Newman (Foreword by)

9780521069298, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 July 2008

372 pages
22.9 x 15.3 x 2.1 cm, 0.48 kg

Joseph Conrad has up to now been regarded as a novelist with 'dual' Polish and English national affinities. This study argues for a triple identity by presenting the French face of Conrad's work, and demonstrates that his knowledge of the French language and its literature (which preceded his acquisition of the English language) has profound implications for the study of the novels. A survey of Conrad's literary and cultural background leads into an analysis of the effect on his writing of numerous French authors, chief among them Flaubert, Maupassant and Anatole France. Documenting these influences chronologically, Yves Hervouet builds up a picture of Conrad at work. In addition he discusses in more theoretical terms their aesthetic, philosophical and technical aspects and examines possible implications for Conrad's creative originality. A large-scale account of Conrad's extensive involvement with the French literary tradition, Yves Hervouet's book is a milestone in our understanding of his work. It will have a major impact on Conrad scholarship and as a study of cross-cultural influence, it will be of interest to all students of comparative literature in the period.

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I. Conrad's French Literary and Cultural Background: 1. A part of Conrad's life
Part II. Conrad's Debt to French Authors: 2. The early fiction
3. The first phase of maturity
4. The second phase of maturity
5. The third phase of maturity and the last decade
6. Critical writings
Part III. Conrad's Philosophical and Aesthetic Inheritance: 7. Conrad and Anatole France
8. Conrad and Gustave Flaubert
Part IV. Conclusion: 9. Conclusion appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK]