19 Introduction Margu^Rite Corporaal and Lottejensen

19 Introduction

Margu^riteCorporaal and Lottejensen

Figure19.1 EugeneDelacroix, "Liberty Leading the People" 1830, oil on canvas, 260x 325cm. Musee du Louvre, Paris

Source:Centre Art Historical Documentation, Radboud University. 224 MargueriteCorporaal and Lottejensen Part IV introduction 225 In 1829the Italian writer and political activist Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872) published Time frame a surveyof Europeanliteratures, in which he reflectedupon the distinctnature of national literatures: Whenwe^speakofthe "long nineteenth century", we roughly mean the period between 1770and 1914. From aculturahmd literary perspective, 1770appears tobe an unexpected If I openthe historyof the variousLiteratures of differentnations, I observean alterna- butlogical starting date. The 1770s saw the'riseofa cult of sensibility, which centodized tion of gloryand decay, of reciprocalinfluence, of transfusionfrom one to another,as theexpression of(excessive) emotions. Heroines who are prone to fainting and blushing, weUas a continualmutability of taste,now national, now servile, now corrupt. TheUter- andheroes sobbing convulsively, areno exceptionin literaturewhich transmitted. this atureofnocountry isso entirely original as to have received nointermixture offoreign cult,as becomes clear from Henry Mackenzie's Scottish novel The Man of Feeling (1771), mutabiUty,either through tradition in its earlydays, or throughconquest at a laterdate.' atext which according to its 1886editor "caught the tone of theFrench sentiment of histime, has, of course,pleased French critics, and has been translated into French. "4This Mazzini'sobservations are quite valid. Although nationality became the primary organiz- transeuropeancultof feeling*can be seen as a responseto the Enlightenment* (see ingprinciple of theEuropean landscape and national traditions and pasts were celebrated Chapter13), which centred on reason asthe primary source ofknowledge andauthor- in cultureand literature, there were also many transnational developments in the literary ity:Al?orsp^t m, oreemphasis onthe role which authentic feelings played ineveryday field*.Similar modes, genres and characters emerged in literatureacross Europe. Whilethe experiencesOnthe other hand, it was precisely enlightened thought that paved the way growing attention for national pastsmade writers such as Sir Walter Scott turn to local formore individualistic perceptions ofthe world and 'its surroundings. Byquestioning old legends*,histories and traditions, the genreof the historicalnovel* became prominent dogmaticschemes andattaching more value to people's own authonty, space was crcate'd in variousEuropean countries as a transnational*genre, ranging from Sweden to Spain, for the individual and his or her emotional life. andfrom Englandto Russia.2 Furthermore,the historicalnovel was transnational in that Thistransitional period between the Enlightenment andRomanticism* isoften labeUed writerslike AllessandroManzoni in Italy andJacob van Lennep in the Netherlandswere as"Sturmjmd Drang"*, referring to a groupof GermaninteUectuals andpoets" who greatlyinspired by theScottish author's style and themes. In Van Lennep's case, this earned residedinWeimar and placed emotions at'the heart of their artistic activities. Authors'like him the nickname of the Dutch Walter Scott. Christoph^MartmWielandJohannGottfriedHerder, Johann Wolfgang van Goethe and Europeanliteratures during the long nineteenth century were also essentially transna- FriedrichSchiUer cultivated the idea of thepoetic genius* aud saw literature'as a"means tionalin severalother respects. Thedevelopment of new printing techniques* which ena- of expressingauthentic emotions and connecting to primitive natural instincts. Goethe's bled morerapid and cheaper production* of books,in combinationwith modernforms epistolarynovel* Die Leiden desjungen Werthers CThe Sorrows ofYoung Werther', '1774) of transportwhich facilitated the disseminationof texts, meant that literary works were isone of the best known examples ofthis new cult of feeling. The unrequited love of the readmore widely, and even "travelled" across national borders, either in theiroriginal lan- passionateprotagonist for themarried Charlotte eventuaUy leads him to shoothimself. guageor in translation*.The increasing market of periodicals*also offered significant new T.his.^ide wasperceived ashi§hly shocking atthe time: when the novel inspired~cop'y- a platformsfor literature:not only on nationallevel, through their serialization*of novels, catsuicides across Europe, it was banned in Denmarkand Italy. 5However, the novelhad for example;but alsotransnadonally, asforeign writers and their work would oftenbe dis- ^wide transeuropean impact:it was translated intomany European languages, including cussed.Thus, "Portrait of anAuthor, Painted by hisPublisher", an article which appeared ^Hans Christian Andersen and British novelist CharlesDickens would Europeanhistory: the French Revolution. On U July1789, cmlians stormed the BastiUe. tour acrossand evenbeyond Europe, in order to meet foreignwriters and give public supportedbytheir democratic motto Liberte, egdite, fraternite. TheFrench King Louis readings.Readers alsoundertook journeys homes favourite in turn to visit the of their XVIIwas beheaded andnew forms of parliamentary rulewere introduced. Eulogised authorsand locations they knew from their works, leading a growingfashionability of to ^B^gen,eD^roi^'s.historypamtlng "La ]-iberte Guidant IePeuple" ('Liberty LeTdmg literarytourism*. The residence theGerman poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe (Goethe- of People'1830), this was awatershed event, which changed thepolitical landscape of hausFrankfurt) attracted admirers from all overEurope. The improvedmodes of transport Europedrastically and irreversibly. whichincreased authors' and readers' opportunities to travelled to awider impact of texts Therevolt qmcHy ended minternal bloodshed between rival groups, and resulted in and notions of literature acrossnational boundaries. autocracyof Napoleon Bonaparte. He initiaUysupported the ideals of theFrench In this introductorychapter to the long nineteenthcentury, we wiU focuson these an,but gradually started toassume supreme power and crowned himself emperor travelling"aspects of Europeanliteratures while, at the sametime, emphasizing the role Se,rlc,h,!111804-The massive anddestrucdve'battles thatwere fought during 'the literatureplayed in shapingnational cultures. For despitethe transnationalnature of many s 1792-1815, had an immense lear, transeuropean impact, as Napoleon waged war with culturaltrends and developments, literature was also perceived as the ultimateexpression ld'the Low countries' spain' Italy' Sweden, Russia and Austria. The French of national values and traditions. Su hegem- onybecame oneof the driving forces behind therise of nationalism inEurope, anddeeply Part IV introduction 227 226 MargueriteCorporaal and Lottejensen ensurethe security Europe creatinga so-called"balance power"which would affectedthe literature of thosedays. It isby no meanscoincidental that satirical prints and to of by of poemsflourished in thesedays of oppression,in particular in England.One of themajor preventnations - in particularFrance - fromonce again threatening Europe's stability. novelsof the longnineteenth century, Lev Tolstoy's War and Peace (1869), furthermore Themap of Europewas redrawn, creating new national states and confederations, and restoring monarchiessuch asFrance and Spain. demonstratesthat this time of upheavalduring the Napoleonicwars signified a shared, old post-Napoleonicera can characterizedasa nationalistand transeuropeanpast. Whileprimarily set in Moscowand St Petersburg, this novel neverthe- The be periodin which internationalistinterests were often at odds.Nationalism pervaded politics throughout lesssuggests a broader European vista by includingFrench soldiers and even Napoleoii himselfas speaking characters in the narrative. Europe,and also had a culturalcomponent: the press, the artsand literature were filled ideology, persuadepeople see as bestofaUpos- Literatureand politics were often intertwined, which makes it difficultto demarcatethe withpatriotic tryingto to theirnation the sibleworlds. Cultural nationalismbecame manifest in languageemancipation movements boundariesof "thelong nineteenth century". This is alsothe casewhen trying to deter- acrossEurope, instance Ireland,Hungary, Belgium and Finland. sametime, minewhere the "long nineteenth century" ends. From a culturalpoint of view,one could for in At the transnationalbonds were shaped combating archenemy ChristianEurope, the considerthe rise ofModernism* in the 1910sas a startingpoint of a new era.Author in the of OttomanTurks. Many Europeansjoined the GreekWar Independence(1821-1832), VirginiaWoolf saw the first post-impressionistexhibition in London,which opened in of during the Greekssuccessfully revolted against the Ottomanrulers. Among the December1910, as an importantwatershed, observing that "human character changed. "7 which volunteerswas the famouspoet George Gordon Byron, better known as Lord Byron. Froma political perspective, however, there is a clearcut in 1914,when the first WorldWar Before partake feU anddied; eyes Greeks,he brokeout. Thistotal war was of anunprecedented scale and caused the loss of millionslives. he could in thefighting, he ill in the of the Life before and after would neverbe the same,a sentimentretrospectively reflected by the wasperceived as a martyrwho hadbeen wiUing to diefor theirliberty. In 1853,a new forces France, Sardinia famousstanza inT. S.Eliot's "The Hollow Men" (1925):"This is the way the world ends."8 warbroke out, but now the OttomanTurks joined with Britain and in order to defendthemselves against the Russiansat the CrimeanPeninsula. This war broughtto an endthe "balance of power"created in 1815,and is oftenconsidered the Europe first"media war". The press played a prominentrole in creatinganti-Russian feelings and What was nineteenth-centuryEurope, and which countrieswere consideredto be shapingtransnational bonds between their opponents. European?Marking off geographicalboundaries is difficult,for Europeannations had expandedtheir territories considerably by means of colonialexpansion. By theend of the Context nineteenthcentury, Great Britain had become the largest colonial empire* in theworld. Its rule stretchedfrom large parts in North Americaand Africa to Indiaand Australia. Europeduring the long nineteenth century was in constantflux, due to theforces of war thatchanged power constellations, theexpansion of colonieson other continents and tides Althoughthese parts of theBritish Empire were not partof Europein a strictcontinen- tal useof theword, they partook in Europeanculture values in manyways. In 1866,the of emigrationand immigration. Severe economic crises, such as Ireland's Great Famine oppressive first transatlantictelegraph cable was completed, which literally connected Europe and (1845-1849),aswell as politicalregimes, such as Tsar Alexander II's pogroms of theJewish population in thesouthwestern parts of theRussian Empire (today's Poland and America.It sparkedoff a vastinfrastructure of electricalcommunication between both resulted outside Many continents.Other nationswith considerablecolonial possessions were France, Spain and Ukraine), in the relocationof populationboth within and Europe. the Netherlands. of theseemigrants settled in suburbsof Europeancities, and the growing sense of urban Europeanemigrants made these parts of theworld their new homes, introducing Euro- culturaldiversity to whichthey contributed left its traces on literature as well. Thus,George Eliot'sDaniel Deronda (1876) contains lively descriptions the LondonJewish scene, as peaneducational values and cultural traditions overseas. Books, newspapers andillustrated of weUas reflections upon the Jewish diaspora by the fieryJewish nationalist thenovel, magazinestravelled across the globe,informing emigrants about the latest developments in in their homeland.Some authors contributed literature to magazines*both in the colo- MordechaiCohen, who pleasfor the creationof a Jewishnation in Israel.Emile Zola nialworld and at theimperial centre, in the"motherland". Thisis the casefor Rudyard portrayeda provincialFrench Jewish milieu in his lastnovel Vkntk ( Truth ,1903), point- ingout the growing andsemidsm society. The novel was clearly inspired by thetrial of Kipling,who between1885 and 1886 wrote short stories* for theBritish-Indian news- in JewishCaptain Alfred Dreyfus, who was accused of treasonin 1894,and whose cause Zola papersThe Civil and Military Gazette and The Pioneer, but lateralso became successful as a hadtaken up, as weU as his criticism thegrowing intolerance towards Jews that he had writer for London magazines. of previouslyvoiced lesJuifs' Jews',1896), articlepublished Figaro. Thisraises the questionof whereto drawthe borders of nineteenth-centuryEurope: in 'Pour ('Forthe an in Le Theexpanding European cities became transnational sites, due to theinflux ofinhabit- if colonialpossessions areto beincluded, then Europe covers many different parts of the antsfrom differentnationalities: by 1877,Viennawas inhabited by - amongothers - Ser- world.If onefocuses on Europeitself, then its territoryand constellation was under per- bians,Croatians and Hungarians. Cities were also sites of mobilityin thatgreat numbers of manentchange. During the Napoleonic wars (1792-1815) aprocess ofEuropean integra- unskilledmanual workers from the countrysidehad moved to the city to find alternative tion wasincited by Napoleon,who implementedhis ideology and centralized system in labour.Oliver Goldsmith's poem "The Deserted ViUage" (1770) laments the depopuladon largeparts of hisrule. However, the protests against his regime also ignited strong feelings thepersona's childhood viUage, showing that the migration farmers thecities of patriotismand inspired nationalist movements. In 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon of big of to at theBattle of Waterloo,the GreatPowers (the Russian Empire, the UnitedKingdom, hasoften implicated them in severedestitudon and even prostitution. The First Industrial Revolution(1760-1840) and its mechanizadonof work hadnot only led to the creation Prussiaand Austria) gathered together to negotiatethe future of Europe.Their aim was Part IV introduction 229 228 MargueriteCorporaal and Lottejensen availablecommercially. While the illustrated press across Europe notresort thisnew of a factorysystem, but hadalso greatly impacted agricultural life. The rural population's did to century, engravings lithographs usedto hatredof labourdisplacing machinery instigated revolt, such as the swingriots in the mediumuntil the endof the the and thatwere southof England,during which farmers destroyed threshing machines. At thesame time. accompanynews items demonstrate theincreasing demand for visual documentary oflife thoselooking for employmentmoved away from their native regions to centresofindus- in its manyforms. This focus on realismwas also increasingly directed to theunderbeUy trialization and urbanization. of society,the poor and those living at itsmargins. Attention for theplight of thoseliving The industrializationand urbanization of Europein the long nineteenthcentury trig- in the slumswas especially prominent in journalisticreports, such as Henry Mayhew's LondonLabour and the London Poor (1851), and Howthe. Other Half Lives (1890), an geredtensions which on the onehand led to anidealizadon of simplecountry life, and in on the other to a fascinationwith and concern for conditions in the city. Romantidsm* impressiveaccount with photographs ofthe slums in NewYork City created byDanish (1770-1850),a cultural movement which not only centredon feeling,but alsoon the immigrant JacobRiis. nineteenthcentury age class reform.Ironically, while pastand the sensations that the natural landscape inspired as well as the simple people and Thelong is the of conflictand theirtraditions, sparked off aninterest in folklore*,local languages and legends*. While theideals of the FrenchRevolution had been equality and liberty for all,urbanization Romanticismwas therefore enthralled by the regionand its past,its engagementwith old andindustrialization greatly aggravated the conditionsof theworking classes who were andlocal languages and traditions also came to be the foundationfor theformation of facinglong working hours, low payment and bad housing. Legal reform to improvethe nationalidentities and nationalist ideologies in, mostnotably, Germany, Italy, Ireland and situationof theworking classes was slow, and by the middle of thenineteenth century sev- Scandinavia. eralmovements across Europe, such as the Chartists in Britainand Fourierists in France, Theveneration of traditionsand the past also informed the visual and decorative arts, propagatedsocialist ideals. The publication of The Communist Manifesto (1848) by Karl Marxand Friedrich Engels thebehest theCommunist League was followed the whichwere marked by medievalism*:a fascination with medievalhistories and legends at of by Marchinsurrection workers Berlin.During thisturbulent year revolutions,France assubject matter, medieval sculpture and architecture and artisan traditions that often of in of wasthe centreof a rebellionthat endedthe constitutionalmonarchy of Louis-Philippe expressednationalist sentiments. One such neomedieval movement in Englandwas the established Asso- Pre-RaphaeliteBrotherhood (1848), which sought to reproducethe colourschemes of and theFrench Second Republic, and the International Workingmen's medievalpaintings, and which addressed Arthurian legends as weU as medieval pastoral ciation(IWA), also known as the First International, founded in Londonin 1864,had its sceneswith shepherds.The Pre-Raphaelites in turn wereaffiliated with WiUiam Morris. firstcongress in Genevain 1866. whoseArts andCrafts movement advocated craftsmanship in responseto the celebration Thecall for equalityand independence that inspired the socialist and nationalist move- of industrial achievementat the 1851 GreatExhibition in London.The German-Austrian mentsand revolutions- suchas the Hungarianrevolt againstthe Habsburgregime in 1848- alsoextended theposition women.Olympe Gouge's Declaration desdmits de Nazareneswere a comparablemovement: founded in 1810,these artists moved from to of Viennato Rome,with the aim of bringing backsincerity and spirituality in art,seeking laFemme etde la Citoyenne('Declaration ofthe Rights ofWoman and the Female Citizen , inspirationfrom Italian medieval and early Renaissance artists and reviving fi-esco paint- 1791)and MaryWoUstonecraft's Vindication ofthe Rights ofWoman (1792) emphasised the ing Thelocal, picturesque landscape, unspoilt by modernizationor evenhuman interven- necessityfor woman'seducation and engagement in public life. Legislation to improve tion,also became a favouritesubject for Europeanartists in theearly nineteenth century, womensposition in marriagewas enacted in variousEuropean countries, and issues such suchas John Constable in Englandandjohan Christian Dahl in Norway. asthe plight of workingclass women and enfranchisement were addressed by various The rural traditionswere central to Romanticart, but the countrysideand its people Europeanwomen's movements such as the suf&agettes in France and England and the Band Deutscher Frauenvereine Germany. werealso represented in the early Realist paintings of, for example,the French Barbizoii in school(1830-1870), which drew inspiration from Constable'swork andsought to rep- resentnature and rural life asit reallywas. Jean-Fran^ois MiUet's "Des Glaneuses" ('The Literature Cleaners',1857) is anexample of a lessidyllic and more realistic focus on thetoil of Thedevelopments that marked European nineteenth-century society also left their traces agriculturallabourers. Realism* as a culturalmovement is,however, more often identi- medium literature. can arguedthat during nineteenthcentury, fiedwith theurban middle classes who hadexperienced social mobility, and, as a leisure onthe of It be thelong class,engaged with citylife attheatres, music halls, bars and the newly introduced depart- literaryproduction was characterized byfour major trends: agrowing fascination with the mentstores, such as Harrods in London(1834), Au BonMarche in Paris(1838) and the mdividual'semotions, the dynamics between tradition and modernity, commercialization St.Petersburg Passage (1846). Charles Baudelaire's "LePeintre de la Vie Moderne" ('The andemancipation. Painterof ModernLife'), published in LeFigaro in 1864,represented thewell-to-do. Thecult of feelingthat emerged in the 1770s(see Chapter 20) inspired a newkind of poetrythat focused on theexpression personal emotions. Poets would emphasize emo- educatedfldneur as a man who is at ease in theurban crowd, the spectator of city life who of dons,often connectionto an unspoiltnatural landscape. AsWordsworth described it confidentlyinterprets its scenesand dynamics. in Celebratingmodernity, paintings such as Gustave Caillebotte's "Rue de Paris, temps d^ in the1800 preface to LyricalBallads (1798), poetry should be the"spontaneous overflow of powerfulfeelings . recollected. . in tranquility."9 In Lamartine'spoem "Le Lac"('The pluie"('Paris Street on a Rainy Day', 1877), and Edgar Degas's "Place de La Concorde Lake',1816), Lake Bourget indeed functions as a sitewhich evokes the deepest feelings and (1875)give expression to that modern city experience,and Degas's painting, with itssug- thoughtsabout the flow of timeand loss. Often the landscapes that trigger the persona s gestionofasnapshot composition, moreover betrays the influence ofthe new medium ot feelingsare what Immanuel Kant and Edmund Burke would classify as sublime: these are photography.After the development of the daguerreotype in 1839, photography became 230 MargueriteCorporaal and Lottejensen Part IV introduction 231 overwhehningscenes that demonstrate the power of natureand divine creation and that mav The cheapermethods of printing, andthe fact that literaturewas published in widely inspire awe asweU asfear. Thus, PercyBysshe Shelley's "Mont Blanc" (1817) suggeststhar disseminatedweeklies and monthlies, contributed to a growing commercialization* the"unfathomable deeps" of theAlps bring the persona in a"trance sublime and strange/ of literatureduring the long nineteenthcentury. Periodicals such as Charles Dickens's To museon my own separatephantasy. "10As SheUey'sline indicates,imagination played an HouseholdWords (1850-59) and Die Cartenlaube('The Bower', 1853-1944) in Germany importantrole in Romanticpoetry:Wordsworth saw poets as the legislators of thepeople, in werewidely read,and the format of serializedfiction in instalmentsmeant that people that they,through their poetic imagination,could point the way to truth andjustice. wereencouraged to buy the following issues.As the literaturepublished in suchperi- In its focus on feeling, European Romantic literature also addresseddarker emotions. odicals had to appeal to broad audiences,it meant that genresthat were attractive to such asfear and immoral passionslike revengeand lust.This spectrum of the Romantic various classes,such as the novel of sensation(Chapter 4), the detective story and the literaryimagination mainly found its expressionin the Gothic:a literaturethat explores ghoststory, gained popularity. In fact, the long nineteenthcentury in generalcan be the sensationsof terror; is often set in an exotic setting, preferably a medieval castleor consideredthe age of the democradzadonof literature: the focus on the common peo- abbeyin southernEurope; is imbuedwith the supernatural;and, through a plot which pie and their folklore in Romanticismalso signified a more inclusivegesture towards features a villain or monster, deals with issues that are taboo or macabre and morbid potentialreaders of lower classes,while the eighteenthcentury had been the ageof the emotions that are normally swept under the carpet.As the Marquis de Sade,who used a middle-class novel. Gothic framework mjustine (1791) and Eugeniede Franval(1800), observed,the Gothic The middle of the nineteenth century saw a shift towards realism in literature that canbe interpreted asa responseto the shock of the French Revolution. The genrebecame ranparallel to the one in the visualarts. The originsof literaryrealism are attributed to especiallyprominent in Britain,through early Gothic novels*,such as The Italian(1797) French writers Honore de Balzac and Gustave Flaubert, who aimed for a detailed, almost by Ann RadclifFe,which werestrongly pervaded by anti-Catholicsentiments. The genre photographicrepresentation of realitywhich resultedin lengthydescriptions of clothes was,however, also intenselypopular in Germany,in the form of the Gespensterwmanand and interiors, and elaboratestudies of character.Flaubert set out to presentan analytical Schauenoman('ghost novel' and 'shuddernovel') in which Friedrich von Schiller and Kari narrativeof life,and based his novel Madame Bovary (1857) on a storythat made the papers Grosseexcelled. While the mode waseven adoptedin Russiaby Nikolay Karamzin,it did in 1848:the suicide ofDelphine Delamare,a provincial doctor's wife and adulteress.As not gainmuch ground in southernEurope, possibly through the ethnicand religious bias this reveals,realism often walked a thin line betweenjournalism* and fiction, and many in which the Gothic was rooted. authorsof realistfiction* in the United Stateshad careersin journalism:Stephen Crane Walpolehad a neo-medievalGothic castle.Strawberry Hill, built for himself,but the andAmbrose Fierce are examplesin case." Realism wasnot only a transeuropeanbut also fascinationwith the pastand its traditions wasnot restrictedto Gothic literature.As we saw. a transatlanticmovement, and authors of realist fiction such as Henry Jamesand Edith and aswiU be discussedin Chapter 21, the historical novel asa transeuropeangenre often Wliarton lived in Europe for considerableparts of their lives. went back to legendsfrom the Dark Ages,and was inspired by oral traditions*, the local As the exampleofMadame Bovary makes clear, realist fiction becamea mode to explore languages(vernacular) and folklore, both asa counterweight againstthe rapid progression the conditions of women, and while novels such as Flaubert's examined the effect of of modernity and asthe foundation for a collective senseof national identity. It wasnot restrictionson a woman s life, the so-caUedNew Woman* novel*, a genre that became just the genre of the historical novel, however,that playeda central role in the mediation popularacross Europe during the 1880sand 1890s,focused on the modern, well-educated of a national identity by looking at traditions.The epic national poem, which not only woman who defied gender conventions (see Chapter 24). In addressingthe interplay recollectedheroic eventsfrom the nation'spast, but wasalso infused by its mythology and between characterand environment, MadameBovary, which sketchesa woman whose traditions,had a similar function. Thus,Adam Mickiewicz's poem PanTadeusz ('SirThad- inherentlonging for romanticpassion is stifledin marriedlife in aprovincial town, is often deus',1834), set in 1811-1812, is an ode to Poland at a time when Poland-Lithuaniahad alsoregarded as a forerunnerof the naturalistgenre. been divided by Russia,Austria and Prussiaand wasno longer existing. Naturalismin literature viewed the human being asdetermined by geneticsas weU as its The tensionsbetween tradition and modernity are described in Chapter22. The broth- environment, and often looked at the inhabitants of the slums or those who had dwindled ers Grimm in Germany started to collect these folk tales,looking for those that were into poverty,alcoholism or prostitution. The Goncourt brothers defined naturalismin the essentiallyof German origin, and elsewherein Europe, the RussianAlexander Afanasyev prefaceto GerminieLacerteux (1865), a novelwhich centreson a poor countrygirl who, and the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjarnsen andjorgen Moe undertook similar pro- upon coming to Paris,cannot resistthe city's many temptations,has sexualaffairs with jects.While thesegenres were infusedwith the supernatural,regional literature* had .! many men and dies in loneliness.They saw it as a genre which woidd bring the realism similarfunction in crystallizingtraditions in a time when indigenouscultures were vastly of sufferingon the streets,"la souf&ancehumaine", to readers,12even if that truth would disappearing.Focusing on the customsand traditions of the rural population, and stress- be upsettingor hard to digest.Shifting its attentionaway from what Americanauthor ing the oppositionbetween country and city in favourof the former,this local coloui FrankNorris would caU"teacup tragedies"13 to the harshconditions of the urbanpoor, literatureoften helped produce national cohesion. Published in magazines,these regional naturalismin literature underscoredthe need for socialreform. While thesetexts playedan narrativescirculated among groups of readersat geographicaldistances from oneanother. important role in creatingsocial awareness,a novel like Emile Zola's Germinal(1894-95) therebycreating mutual understandingbeyond cultural boundaries. These local colour suggeststhe future potential of the labouring classesto escapetheir fate by joining forces. storieswere sometimesalso translatedinto other languagesand made it acrossEuropean Evenif the miner'sstrike in the novelis unsuccessful,the narrativeexpresses the hope borders,thereby contributing to the riseof a transnationalgenre that negotiated tradi thatone day there will bea majorbreakthrough. Nineteenth-century literature became a tional identities in a modernizing and globalizing world. platformfor rhetoricsupporting the emancipation of various social groups. 232 MargueriteCorporaal and Lottejensen

Thisemancipatory aspect of the novelonce again illustrates the transnationalnature of Europeanliterature in the longnineteenth century. While eachnation had its own 20 Feeling political,social and moral preoccupations, literatures travelled in a transnationalcontext. transferringgenres, modes and trendingtopics to new nationalcontexts. This rendered Anke Gilleir aninternational community of readers,who wereconnected across borders through the books,poems, magazines and storiesthey consumed.

Notes

1 CitedinAlex Drace-Francis,European Identity: A HistoricalReader (Amsterdam: Amsterdam Univer- sity Press,2013), 115. 2 BrianHamnett The Historical Novel in Nineteenth-CenturyEurope: Representations ofReality in History andFiction (Oxford: Oxford University Press,2011). 3 WilkieCoUins, "Portrait of anAuthor, Painted by His Publisher, " AHdie YedfRoMnd (18June, 1859): 184. 4 Henry MacKenzie,Tlie Man of Feeling(London: CasseU & Co., 1886),v. 5 SeeFrank Furedi,"The Media'sFirst Moral Panic," HistoryToday 65. 11 (2015). 6 StephenPrickett, "General Introduction: Of Fragments,Monsters and Translations, " in Ewopeaii -^ ' "^S- ' - \. 'y. i' . ' . ' r/M r',/i'' Romantidsm:A Reader,ed. StephenPrickett (generaleditor) and Simon Haines(London: Blooms- ^ '^"' .^ c bury,2014), 17. ^ f " 7 Virginia Woolf, Mr Bennettand Mrs Broutt(London: L. andV.Woolf, 1924),2. ^ w 8 Tlie PoemsofT. S. Eliot,Volume 1: Collectedand Unmllected Poems, ed. Christopher Ricks and Jim j McCue (London:Faber & Faber,2015), 84. 9 William Wordsworth,"Preface, " in LyricalBallads:With Other Poems (1800), accessed October 1,2016. '% www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/lyrical-ballads-voll/O/ 10 PercyBysshe Shelley, "Mont Blanc," (1817),accessed October 1, 2016,www. mtholyoke.edu/ courses/rschwart/hist256/alps/mont_blanc.htm a 11 Richard Daniel Lehan,Realism and Naturalism:Tlie Novelin an Ageof Transition (Madison, WI: Uni- versity ofWisconsin Press,2005), 5-6. 12 Edmond andjules de Goncourt, GerminieLacerteux (Paris: Belenus, 2008), 8. 13 JosephR. McElrath and DouglasK. Burgess,eds., Tlie ApprenticeshipWritings of FrankNorris, 1S96- 1898,vol. 1 (Philadelphia,PA:The American PhilosophicalSociety, 1996), 86. ^