Émile Zola [electronic resource] : A Very Short Introduction

Brian Nelson2021

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Summary

Émile Zola was the leader of the literary movement known as "naturalism" and is one of the great figures of the novel. In his monumental Les Rougon-Macquart (1871-93), he explored the social and cultural landscape of the late nineteenth century in ways that scandalized bourgeois society. Zola opened the novel up to a new realm of subjects, including the realities of working-class life, class relations, and questions of gender and sexuality, and his writing embodied a new freedom of expression, with his bold, outspoken voice often inviting controversy. In this Very Short Introduction , Brian Nelson examines Zola's major themes and narrative art. He illuminates the social and political contexts of Zola's work, and provides readings of five individual novels (The Belly of Paris , L'Assommoir , The Ladies' Paradise , Germinal , and Earth ). Zola's naturalist theories, which attempted to align literature with science, helped to generate the stereotypical notion that his f...