ÉCRITURE ARTISTE and the IDEA of PAINTERLY WRITING in NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE by ALEXANDRA SLAVE a DISSERTATION Presented To
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ÉCRITURE ARTISTE AND THE IDEA OF PAINTERLY WRITING IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE by ALEXANDRA SLAVE A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Romance Languages and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2017 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Alexandra Slave Title: Écriture Artiste and the Idea of Painterly Writing in Nineteenth-Century France This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Romance Languages by: Evlyn Gould Chairperson Nathalie Hester Core Member Alexandre Albert-Galtier Core Member George J. Sheridan Institutional Representative and Sara D. Hodges Interim Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded September 2017 ii © 2017 Alexandra Slave iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Alexandra Slave Doctor of Philosophy Department of Romance Languages September 2017 Title: Écriture Artiste and the Idea of Painterly Writing in Nineteenth-Century France My interdisciplinary dissertation, Écriture Artiste and the Idea of Painterly Writing in Nineteenth-Century France, studies the notion of écriture artiste as an ideologically charged aesthetic doctrine that provides a better understanding of the rapports between art and the socio-historical context of mid nineteenth-century France. Specifically, using a case study approach, I examined four encounters between writers and painters, including Gustave Flaubert, Gustave Moreau, the Goncourt brothers, Eugène Delacroix, Émile Zola, Édouard Manet, J.-K. Huysmans and Odilon Redon. I analyzed how these pairings, each illustrative of a different facet of écriture artiste, highlight extratextual realities of the time through aesthetic embellishments. Findings show that some of these artists refashion the existing hierarchy of academically legislated rules on style by purposefully obscuring legibility in order to valorize artistic productions as alternatives to, not copies of, nature. Moreover, they reshape cultural views by staging the coexistence of lyrical and positivist elements, thus encouraging an array of subjective interpretations. I conclude that écriture artiste provides a valid framework for analyzing a self-conscious type of art that uses symbolic power to shape public taste. In turn this provides alternatives to a monolithic model upheld by legitimate culture. The central contribution of my project is its analysis of écriture artiste as a concept that does not fit neatly specific categories of iv genre or literary movements. This research was funded by departmental grants and a fellowship from the Oregon Humanities Center. My work intervenes in extant debates on literature and the visual arts in the latter half of the nineteenth century by challenging the critical tradition that considers écriture artiste as a pedantic descriptive style. My dissertation broadens the scope of écriture artiste beyond the work of the Goncourt brothers. This expansion of the field also reveals that this type of art theory is developed with an acute consciousness about the power of art and the artist to reach a changing readership, prompted by the shifting ideological climate of the time. This dissertation includes previously published material. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Alexandra Slave GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene University of Bucharest, Romania DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Romance Languages, 2017, University of Oregon, Eugene Master of Arts, French Literary Translation, Department of Foreign Languages, (coursework completed in June 2009; defense: June 2011) University of Bucharest, Romania Master of Arts, Department of Romance Languages, 2010, University of Oregon, Eugene Bachelor of Arts, Department of Foreign Languages, 2007, University of Bucharest, Romania AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Modern and Contemporary 19th -20th century French and Francophone Literature Visual Culture and Aesthetic Theory Translation Studies Second Language Acquisition, Theory and Practice Eastern-European Studies, post 1985 Cinema Studies PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Employee, University of Oregon, September 2008-June 2017 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: James T. and Mary A. Wetzel, Graduate Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2016-17 Graduate Research Support Fellowship, Oregon Humanities Center, 2015-16 vi Nicolette B. Weicker Memorial Scholarship, University of Oregon, 2015-16 Graduate Research Award, University of Oregon, 2014-15 James T. and Mary A. Wetzel, Graduate Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2013-14 Bakony Professional Development Grant for Innovation in Teaching, Yamada Language Center, University of Oregon, 2012-13 University of Oregon Beall Graduate Dissertation Scholarship in Lyon, France, University of Oregon, August-December 2012 Università per Stranieri, Scholarship for Italian Language Study in Perugia, Italy, University of Oregon, June-July 2012 PUBLICATIONS: Slave, Alexandra.“Revolutionary Violence and the Encounter with the Other in Hubert Aquin’s Prochain épisode.” Forthcoming, Dalhousie French Studies. ---.“‘La lucidité de somnambule’: Zola’s Allegorical Depiction of Paris in L’Œuvre.” Rurality Versus Urbanity in Zola. Excavatio 25 (2015): 10-20. Sorel, Georges. Reflecții asupra violenței. Trans. Alexandra Slave and Maria Petrescu. București: Humanitas, 2012. Print. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my advisor and mentor Professor Evlyn Gould. Her vast knowledge, constant support, and immense patience have guided me through the strenuous process of researching and writing my Ph.D. thesis. Without her impetus to abandon the “isms” and to think outside of the box, this project would not have existed in its current form. Besides my advisor, I would like to extend my deepest regards to Professor Nathalie Hester for her dedication and for her invaluable assistance at all levels of the research project. She has been an exceptional interlocutor and a perpetual source of positive energy. A very sincere thanks goes to Professor Alexandre-Albert Galtier, whose intimate knowledge of French artists and painters has greatly expanded my understanding of the visual arts. His enthusiasm and mastery of the subject have added considerably to my research endeavor. My profound gratitude goes to Professor George Sheridan who has generously agreed to join the project as the external reader. His insightful historical comments have widened my perspectives and yielded stimulating bibliographic leads. I would like to thank my graduate colleagues and friends Ana Maria M’Enești and her husband Milan, Jenny Odintz, Sandra Mefoude, Elizabeth Cogan, Natalie Brenner, and Anthony Tribit for generously dedicating their time to discuss my work. Over the years, Eva Serfozo and Brandon Rigby, with whom I shared an office, have been my very helpful sounding boards. viii I would like to acknowledge the University of Oregon Humanities Center and the Romance Languages Department for their financial contributions to the present research. I am deeply indebted to my family: Angelica, Victor, and Jeni who have provided unconditional support and who have encouraged me to pursue my aspirations. They are and always will be the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel” in my life. I am also grateful to my honorary parents, Alexandra Heath and Steve White, who have generously assisted me, and provided invaluable advice. Last but not least, many thanks to my uncle, Professor Paul Miclău, and to Professor Laurențiu Zoicaș who have been the first to inspire my academic pursuit of écriture artiste. ix I dedicate this dissertation with love and gratitude to my mother, Angelica, and to my father, Alexandru-Victor, who are a constant source of strength. x TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION: ÉCRITURE ARTISTE: WRITING LIKE AN ARTIST IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE .............................................. 1 II. THE SUBVERSION OF ACADEMIC FRAMEWORKS IN THE JOURNALS OF THE GONCOURT BROTHERS AND EUGÈNE DELACROIX .................. 9 The Goncourt’s Annexation of Delacroix as an Affirmation of their Artistic Freedom ................................................................................................................ 16 The Academic Doctrine on Literature and the Visual Arts and its Discontents During the Nineteenth Century ............................................................................. 28 Delacroix, the Official Painter .............................................................................. 41 Edmond and Jules de Goncourt’s Clashes with Academia ................................... 50 Japonisme as an Expression of Anti-Academicism .............................................. 66 The Goncourt Academy ........................................................................................ 72 III. MODES OF RECEPTION IN GUSTAVE FLAUBERT’S SALAMMBÔ AND GUSTAVE MOREAU’S SALOME CYCLE ........................................................ 79 Framework, Theories, and Flaubert’s Response to Contemporary Reception ..... 85 Common Artistic practices in Salammbô and the Salome Cycle .......................... 99 The Fluid Nature of Interpretation and Modes of (Self)-Representation ............. 120 IV. ZOLA’S L’ŒUVRE, A ROMAN À PIÈCES ........................................................ 127 Zola’s Experimental