Zola's Works for the Musical Stage

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Zola's Works for the Musical Stage Zola’s works for the musical stage Jean-Sébastien Macke Centre Zola (ITEM-CNRS) Zola met the composer Alfred Bruneau in 1888, and this meeting marked the beginning of a long and close friendship as well as a creative collaboration between the two. Studies of the works of Alfred Bruneau generally deal only with his operas written during Zola’s lifetime and in close association with him, a period which was indeed the most productive and the richest in bold in-novation. But lyric naturalism, although it originated at that time, did not end with the death of the writer in 1902. Bruneau suffered profound grief at the loss of his friend, even thinking of abandoning his career. However, he got through this difficult time, and after composing the music of Lazare , he decided to continue to seek his musical inspiration in the works of Zola. Three lyrical dramas, Naïs Micoulin , La Faute de l’abbé Mouret and Les Quatre Journées, emerged in Monte Carlo at the Odéon and the Opéra-Comique between 1907 and 1916. They were followed by other subjects, which did not get beyond the libretto stage: Miette et Silvère and La Fête à Coqueville. With these new lyric dramas, Alfred Bruneau became his own librettist, thus fulfilling a desire that Zola had expressed some years earlier, to have one person as both librettist and musician. Lyric naturalism was thus able to continue after the death of one of its creators, and even to reach a sort of apotheosis in La Faute de l’abbé Mouret, produced in the Théâtre-Libre by André Antoine, who established the credentials of Naturalist drama. This was the beginning of a new era for Bruneau. Close study of this period shows how lyric naturalism was able to survive and evolve at the beginning of the twentieth century, and sheds light on some little-known texts and musical scores, giving new life to a musical practice that disappeared in the ruins of the First World War. Bruneau had barely finished writing La Faute de l’abbé Mouret when he had a new idea for an opera. He decided to set to music Une page d’amour, the eighth volume of the Rougon-Macquart series. This novel had already been adapted for the stage, so the rights associated with the subject needed careful attention. The project was re-launched by an American actress, Miss Nethersole, who was eager to take it on, but first the copyright issues had to be explained to Madame Zola, and her permission obtained. The prospect of conquering America, after reaching across Europe and into Russia, opened up new perspectives for Bruneau. Full of enthusiasm, he re-read Zola’s novel: ‘I spent all Sunday reading the book [...]. It is prodigiously splendid and has a penetrating and haunting sadness about it. How the devil did an American actress come to fall in love with such a subject ?’ 1 However, the composer immediately saw difficulties ahead, like how to get the child, an absolutely essential character, on to the stage, and also the tableaux of Paris scattered through the book : ’How difficult this is to put on in the theatre! There is a tremendous child role. Where will we find someone to act the part?’ In the end the plan would not come to fruition, but it clearly shows how Bruneau still remained just as enthusiastic and open to all suggestions in order to continue his work in homage to Emile Zola. Lazare , the vicissitudes of a creation (1902-1986) Pedro Gailhard advised Bruneau to produce Lazare for concert performance, leaving open the possibility of a later staging. But that was not what Bruneau had in mind. Soon after Zola’s death, when he returned to the composition of the score, he imagined a grandiose production in an opera worthy of the im-portance of the subject. A first notion was to propose Lazare for the Munich Opera House. Bruneau was in fact in that city in the early part of 1903, putting on Messidor . Rehearsals went very well indeed; the orchestra was excellent and the resources put into the production were simply enormous, so he mentioned the idea to Zumpe, the conductor of the Orchestra of the Munich Opera, to whom he outlined the story of Lazare , suggesting that he might put it on at the Munich Opera House. However, Bruneau wrote in January 1903: [...] unfortunately there is a law in Germany against presenting Jesus in the theatre. But he [Zumpe] was staggered at the magnificence of the subject. He kept throwing himself back in his chair, shouting 'Colossal! Colossal! A huge success!' All of this, anyway, is merely hypothetical for now, but it augurs well for the future. (Ph, Jan. 15, 1903) The project did not materialize, perhaps because of that German ban on the presentation of Jesus on stage. Lazare turned up again a few months later, when the orchestral score was finished, in a conversation with Madame Zola mentioned by Bruneau in a letter in July: ‘I spoke to her [Madame Zola] about Lazare , since Bourgeau had told me it was rumoured that I’d be performed next year at Béziers.’ This idea — of a performance in the ancient theatre of Béziers — was another that would never see the light of day, but one that came very close to one long dreamed of by Zola and Bruneau — to have a performance in such a place. The Lazare project was still waiting its turn when the decision was taken to transfer Zola’s ashes to the Panthéon. It had been talked about since 1906, and it was Philippine Bruneau who suggested a new idea, swiftly taken up by Bruneau, of having Lazare performed at the Panthéon. What better homage could there be, indeed, than to present this drama, this ultimate gesture to Zola from Bruneau, in a ceremony celebrating the man of letters and his political commitment to the defence of truth and justice? But once again the plan would not succeed. The work would certainly have been considered too long for such a ceremony, but Bruneau would still appear on the programme since the symphonic entracte from Messidor would be played. The most serious plan for a production of Lazare began at last to appear in the summer of 1908. In a letter of May 23, 1908, Antony Réal, the co-director (with Ange Chambon) of the ancient theatre of Orange, wrote to confirm a visit to Alfred Bruneau in the company of the mayor of the city, Auguste Lacour. They wished to discuss the possibility of producing Lazare in that city where there had been a music festival since 1869 — one which still exists today in the form of the ‘Chorégies’ of Orange. Nothing certain or definitive emerged from this first meeting on August 24, but we can follow step by step the vicissitudes of the project thanks to the correspondence between Réal, Lacour and Bruneau, preserved in the Puaux-Bruneau archives. It turned out to be a financial problem that stood in the way of the production of Lazare . The work requires choirs and soloists as well as the orchestra, and it seemed very expensive to bring together so many people for a work that lasts barely half-an- hour. Such an addition to the programme would add considerably to the expense of the evening. A possible solution was suggested to Bruneau by the Mayor of Orange. Eager to support the project, and recalling the success of an international choral competition held at Orange some years before, he suggested organising a similar competition for the folowing year, under the direction of Bruneau, whose lyric composition could then receive its first performance. For Bruneau, however, this was a rather poor suggestion; it was not the sort of solution he envisaged. He had nothing against such popular events for amateur music societies (he made frequent contributions himself to the conferences of the North Pas-de-Calais Music Federation), but he was hoping for serious recognition of this work which was one of the last remaining testimonies to his friendship with Zola. So he refused the offer, and asked La-cour to keep his promise. A whole series of fruitless moves attended these negotiations, with, on the one hand, festival directors with little experience of musical productions, and on the other, an Alfred Bruneau eager to protect his own interests and those of the family of Emile Zola. The whole affair, already quite complex enough, became further complicated by a political row. On December 5th 1909, Alfred Bruneau came upon a staggering item in the gossip columns of Gil Blas: The ancient theatre of Orange and the Artillery barracks — The Official Newspaper has latterly forgotten the list of towns to be endowed with artillery barracks to house the new contingents expected as a result of recent staff increases. Among the favoured cities, Orange, famous for its ancient theatre, figures prominently. In fact, the artillery barracks in Orange have not yet been built, but they already have a history. When the government decided to apply to the two Chambers for the increase in manpower for the artillery, the councils of the cities with no garrison were upset and made a fuss. The mayor of Orange took care not to neglect the interests of his city and came to Paris where he made manifold appeals and applications. He obtained the support of all the politicians of his department, and soon every section of the Ministry of War had become acquainted with the Mayor of Orange. But at that time General Picquart was the Minister of War, and the offices of the Ministry were leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to woo the Minister.
Recommended publications
  • Tolstoy and Zola: Trains and Missed Connections
    Tolstoy and Zola: Trains and Missed Connections Nina Lee Bond Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2011 © 2011 Nina Lee Bond All rights reserved ABSTRACT Tolstoy and Zola: Trains and Missed Connections Nina Lee Bond ŖTolstoy and Zolaŗ juxtaposes the two writers to examine the evolution of the novel during the late nineteenth century. The juxtaposition is justified by the literary critical debates that were taking place in Russian and French journals during the 1870s and 1880s, concerning Tolstoy and Zola. In both France and Russia, heated arguments arose over the future of realism, and opposing factions held up either Tolstoyřs brand of realism or Zolařs naturalism as more promising. This dissertation uses the differences between Tolstoy and Zola to make more prominent a commonality in their respective novels Anna Karenina (1877) and La Bête humaine (1890): the railways. But rather than interpret the railways in these two novels as a symbol of modernity or as an engine for narrative, I concentrate on one particular aspect of the railway experience, known as motion parallax, which is a depth cue that enables a person to detect depth while in motion. Stationary objects close to a travelling train appear to be moving faster than objects in the distance, such as a mountain range, and moreover they appear to be moving backward. By examining motion parallax in both novels, as well as in some of Tolstoyřs other works, The Kreutzer Sonata (1889) and The Death of Ivan Il'ich (1886), this dissertation attempts to address an intriguing question: what, if any, is the relationship between the advent of trains and the evolution of the novel during the late nineteenth century? Motion parallax triggers in a traveler the sensation of going backward even though one is travelling forward.
    [Show full text]
  • Le Naturalisme, Le Déterminisme Et L‟Étude Du Milieu Dans Germinal D‟Émile Zola Et Sub Terra De Baldomero Lillo
    Le Naturalisme, le Déterminisme et l‟Étude du Milieu dans Germinal d‟Émile Zola et Sub Terra de Baldomero Lillo by Marie-Anne Valente A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Approved April 2012 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Frédéric Canovas, Chair Markus Cruse David Foster ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2012 ABSTRACT Émile Zola is considered one of the fathers of 19th century French Naturalist literature. He is famous for his eloquence, sarcasm and is well known for being a provocateur. He wants to follow the principles of science: observation of his characters in their living environment (or milieu). He holds that individuals inherit physical and personality traits from their ancestors, such as atavism, which can be passed from grandfather to father and father to son. This assumption leads to Social Darwinism and impacted Zola like many other European intellectuals who believed in the new social sciences. Religion was going extinct on the old continent and the trend was to apply these theories to literature and humanities. The author also captures the political and social unrest of a struggling working class in his novel Germinal, where starving miners rebel against the bourgeois class that exploits them. Baldomero Lillo is a Chilean naturalist follower of Émile Zola who found inspiration in Germinal to write Sub Terra–short stories depicting the grim life of the coal miners. The author knows them well since he shared his existence with the miners in Lota, in the southern region of Santiago. Unlike Zola, Lillo, who was less educated and less inclined to trust science, opts for a compassionate Naturalism which relates more to his culture and personal inclinations.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Cincinnati
    UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI _____________ , 20 _____ I,______________________________________________, hereby submit this as part of the requirements for the degree of: ________________________________________________ in: ________________________________________________ It is entitled: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Approved by: ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ POCHÉ PARISIENNE: THE INTERIOR URBANITY OF NINETEENTH CENTURY PARIS A Thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in the Department of Architecture of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning 2001 by Sudipto Ghosh Dip. Arch (B. Arch), C.E.P.T, Ahmedabad, India, 1997 Committee Chair: John E. Hancock Poché Parisienne: The Interior Urbanity of Nineteenth Century Paris ABSTRACT The “Haussmannization” of Paris was characterized as much by what it ‘defined’, as by what it excluded. The thesis focuses on the apartment houses, the brothels, and the sewers as embodiments of those exclusions that were part of the process of Paris’s modernization between 1852 and 1870. By analyzing the representations of these spaces in architectural drawings, photographs and the literary novel, the paper posits that poché, an architectural drawing technique of defining and excluding, was implicitly a part of that process. For Haussmann and Napoleon III, the image of progress was built upon the elimination of all that could not be observed, decoded, or homogenized. In attacking the hidden pockets of private spaces of the apartment houses of the lower classes, the brothels, sewers and catacombs as disorderly, unhygienic and immoral, the State promoted notions of progress as scientific, hygienic and moral.
    [Show full text]
  • 29 the Influence of Emile Zola's Naturalism on The
    29 THE INFLUENCE OF EMILE ZOLA'S NATURALISM ON THE NOVELS OF VICENTE BLASCO IBAREZ THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State Teachers College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS By Carolee Blackburn, B. A. Denton, Texas August, 1938 9803 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE Pag. Chapter I. ZOLA'S NATURALISM . ,. * . II. THE LITERARY ATMOSPHERE DURING THE FORMA- TIVE PERIOD OF VICENTI BLASCO IBANEZ. 16 III. THE NOVELS OF BLASCO IBANEZ'S FIRST PERIOD OF WRITING. 24 IV. THE NOVELS OF BLASCO IBANEZ'S SECOND PERIOD OF WRITING. 48 V. CONCLUSION. 84 BIBLIOGRAPBY. -.-## *-*- . 92 iii PREFACE It is on the idea that Vicente Blasco Ibgiez's writings were influenced by Emile Zola that this study is based. Because the novels of the Spanish author contain many suggestions of the Zolaesque theory of Naturalism, many literary critics have assumed that he did obtain much of his inspiration from this source; they have even called him the "Spanish Zola." In working up this thesis, I have read and studied the thirteen novels included in Blasco Ib9"ez's first two literary periods. The reason for my excluding his later work is that, after the completion of the second series, his novels cease to be purely Spanish and become international. I shall try to determine how much he imitated Zola's Naturalism, and to show to what extent it is correct to call him the "Spanish Zola." CHAPTER I ZOLA'S NATURALISM It is my purpose in this thesis to show any influence that Emile Zola's Naturalism had on the novels of Blasco IbAiiez.
    [Show full text]
  • Le Naturalisme Sur La Scène De L'opéra Lyrique
    Université Lumière Lyon 2 Le Naturalisme sur la scène de l’Opéra lyrique Roxane SIFFER Sous la Direction de Mme Sophie PAPAEFTHYMIOU Août-Septembre 2010 Table des matières Remerciements . 5 Introduction. 6 PREMIERE PARTIE : LE THEATRE LYRIQUE COMME MOYEN D’EXPRESSION: LE PROLONGEMENT ET L’ACHEVEMENT DU COMBAT NATURALISTE . 20 SECTION PREMIERE : Genèse et collaborations du couple fondateur : Zola-Bruneau . 20 A°) L’acte de naissance du naturalisme : la rencontre d’Emile Zola et d’Alfred Bruneau . 20 B°) L’œuvre singulière d’Alfred Bruneau . 26 SECTION DEUXIEME : La confusion entre le naturalisme et les Dreyfusards . 33 A°) D’une coopération artistique à l’engagement politique : l’affaire Dreyfus en toile de fond . 33 B°) La prise de position de Bruneau en faveur de Zola . 37 SECTION TROISIEME : L’Affaire Dreyfus : une affaire politique dans les coulisses de l’opéra . 38 A°)Le combat naturaliste sur la scène lyrique : le prolongement du combat dreyfusard . 38 B°)Triomphes et de défaites du naturalisme musical . 40 C°) Un répertoire trop figé historiquement: du mépris à l’oubli . 43 DEUXIEME PARTIE : LE NATURALISME LYRIQUE: UN MOUVEMENT MUSICAL CONTESTE ET INCOMPRIS . 46 SECTION PREMIERE : Les difficultés techniques et l’absence de réelle identité musicale . 46 A°) L’influence du wagnérisme: un héritage romantique indubitable . 46 B°) Style et registres de langue du naturalisme: la négation des canons de l’opéra lyrique . 50 SECTION SECONDE : Les élites de l’univers musical réservées à l’égard du naturalisme lyrique . 59 A°) Des journaux hostiles à l’avènement d’un genre “profane” sur la scène lyrique: . 59 B°) Les directeurs des théâtres lyriques nationaux, majoritairement hostiles aux opéras naturalistes .
    [Show full text]
  • Calendrier Republicain
    CALENDRIER REPUBLICAIN A U T O M N E H Y V E R VENDÉMIAIRE BRUMAIRE FRIMAIRE NIVÔSE PLUVIÔSE VENTÔSE er me me me me me 1 Mois 2 Mois 3 Mois 4 Mois 5 Mois 6 Mois 1re Décade 1re Décade 1re Décade 1re Décade 1re Décade 1re Décade 1 Raisin 1 Pomme 1 Raiponce 1 Tourbe 1 Lauréole 1 Tussilage 2 Safran 2 Céleri 2 Turneps 2 Houille 2 Mousse 2 Cornouiller 3 Châtaignes 3 Poire 3 Chicorée 3 Bitume 3 Fragon 3 Viollier 4 Colchique 4 Betterave 4 Nefle 4 Soufre 4 Perce-neige 4 Troêne 5 Cheval 5 Oye 5 Cochon 5 Chien 5 Taureau 5 Bouc 6 Balsamine 6 Héliotrope 6 Mache 6 Lave 6 Laurier-thym 6 Asaret 7 Carottes 7 Figue 7 Chou-fleur 7 Terrevégétale 7 Amadouvier 7 Alaterne 8 Amaranthe 8 Scorsonnère 8 Miel 8 Fumier 8 Mézéréon 8 Violette 9 Panais 9 Alisier 9 Genièvre 9 Salpètre 9 Peuplier 9 Marceau 10 CUVE 10 CHARRUE 10 PIOCHE 10 FLÉAU 10 COIGNÉE 10 BÊCHE 2me Décade 2me Décade 2me Décade 2me Décade 2me Décade 2me Décade 11 Pome de terre 11 Salsifis 11 Cire 11 Granit 11 Ellébore 11 Narcisse 12 Immortelle 12 Macre 12 Raifort 12 Argile 12 Bracoli 12 Orme 13 Potiron 13 Topinambour 13 Cèdre 13 Ardoise 13 Laurier 13 Fumeterre 14 Réséda 14 Endive 14 Sapin 14 Grès 14 Avelinier 14 Vélard 15 Ane 15 Dindon 15 Chevreuil 15 Lapin 15 Vache 15 Chèvre 16 Belle de nuit 16 Chervi 16 Ajonc 16 Silex 16 Buis 16 Epinards 17 Citrouille 17 Cresson 17 Cyprès 17 Marne 17 Lichen 17 Doronic 18 Sarrasin 18 Dentelaire 18 Lierre 18 Pierre à chau 18 If 18 Mouron 19 Tournesol 19 Grenade 19 Sabine 19 Marbre 19 Pulmonaire 19 Cerfeuil 20 PRESSOIR 20 HERSE 20 HOYAU 20 VAN 20 SERPETTE 20 CORDEAU 3me
    [Show full text]
  • The Fate of Invention in Late 19 Century French Literature
    The Fate of Invention in Late 19th Century French Literature Ana I. Oancea Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2015 ©2014 Ana I. Oancea All rights reserved ABSTRACT The Fate of Invention in Late 19th Century French Literature Ana I. Oancea This dissertation reads the novels of Jules Verne, Albert Robida, Villiers de l’Isle-Adam and Emile Zola, investigating the representation of inventors who specialize in electricity. The figure appears as the intersection of divergent literary movements: Zola, the father of Naturalism and leading proponent of a ‘scientific’ approach to literature, Villiers de l’Isle-Adam, decadent playwright and novelist, Robida, leading caricaturist and amateur historian, and Verne, prominent figure in the emerging genre of anticipation, all develop the inventor character as one who succeeds in realizing key technological aspirations of the 19th century. The authors, however, take a dim view of his activity. Studying the figure of the inventor allows us to gain insight into fundamental 19th century French anxieties over the nation’s progress in science and technology, its national identity, and international standing. The corpus casts science as a pillar of French culture and a modern expression of human creativity, but suggests that social control over how progress is achieved is more important than pure advancement, no matter the price of attaining control. There is a great desire for progress in this period, but as society’s dependence on scientific advancement is becoming apparent, so is its being ignorant of the means through which to achieve it.
    [Show full text]
  • The Novel Map
    The Novel Map The Novel Map Space and Subjectivity in Nineteenth-Century French Fiction Patrick M. Bray northwestern university press evanston, illinois Northwestern University Press www.nupress.northwestern.edu Copyright © 2013 by Northwestern University Press. Published 2013. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data are available from the Library of Congress. Except where otherwise noted, this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. In all cases attribution should include the following information: Bray, Patrick M. The Novel Map: Space and Subjectivity in Nineteenth-Century French Fiction. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2013. The following material is excluded from the license: Illustrations and the earlier version of chapter 4 as outlined in the Author’s Note For permissions beyond the scope of this license, visit www.nupress.northwestern.edu An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high-quality books open access for the public good. More information about the initiative and links to the open-access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Author’s Note xiii Introduction Here
    [Show full text]
  • Appropriations of Gregorian Chant in Fin-De-Siècle French Opera: Couleur Locale – Message-Opera – Allusion?
    Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 145/1, 37–74 doi:10.1017/rma.2020.7 Appropriations of Gregorian Chant in Fin-de-siècle French Opera: Couleur locale – Message-Opera – Allusion? BENEDIKT LESSMANN Abstract This article compares three French operas from the fin de siècle with regard to their appropriation of Gregorian chant, examining their different ideological and dramaturgical impli- cations. In Alfred Bruneau’s Le rêve (1891), the use of plainchant, more or less in literal quotation and an accurate context, has often been interpreted as naturalistic. By treating sacred music as a world of its own, Bruneau refers to the French idea of Gregorian chant as ‘other’ music. In Vincent d’Indy’s L’étranger (1903), a quotation of Ubi caritas does not serve as an occasional illustration, but becomes essential as part of the leitmotif structure, thus functioning as the focal point of a religious message. Jules Massenet’s Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (1902) provides a third way of using music associated with history and Catholicism. In this collage of styles, plainchant is not quoted literally, but rather alluded to, offering in this ambiguity a mildly anti-clerical satire. Thus, through an exchange, or rather through a bizarre and unfortunate reversal, church music in the theatre is more ecclesiastical than in the church itself. Camille Bellaigue1 In an article in the Revue des deux mondes of 1904, the French critic Camille Bellaigue described the incorporation of church music into contemporary opera, referring to anticipated examples by Meyerbeer and Gounod; to works less well known today, such as Lalo’s Le roi d’Ys (which quotes the Te Deum); and also (quite extensively) to Wagner’s Parsifal, the ‘masterpiece […] or the miracle of theatrical art that is not only Email: [email protected] I am grateful to Stefan Keym for his support and advice with my doctoral studies and beyond.
    [Show full text]
  • Zola's "La Joie De Vivre": a Critical Study
    ZOLA 'B "LA JOIE DE VIVRE" :.. A CRITICATi STUDY / ,. ZOLA tg ItLA JOIE DE VIVRE": ,A CRITICllli OTUDY By DAVID BOND, BoA~ A Thesis Submi tted to the Facul t'y of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of tl1e Requirements f0r the Degree f'1aster of Arts McMaster University May 1968 M.t\8 frER OF AHT8 (1968) r1cr11Î.GrJ~:r:;;n . urnVETI[3ITY (Homance Languae;es) Hamilton ,. Ontélrio TITLE: Zolo.'IJ "La Joie do Vivre": A Criticsl Gtudy AUTHOR!_ Dav-icl Bond, B.A. (London) 8UPERVISOR: Professor O.R.Morcon Nu~mER OF PAGES: iv, 125 nCOIJE AND CONTENTS:. A critical analysis of Zola'o Ln Joie de Vivre tocether with certain biographicQI ïnformotion and details of Zola's methodo of composi·tionO' ii l shoulcl like to thal1.k Professor rlorfSon for his help and" criticism in the prel>oration of thin study. iiï TABEE OF CONTEN"TS INTRODUCTION 1 1. A BIOGRAPHTCl\I, NO~~E IT.. ZOLA t J] r'JETIIOD OF COMPOGITION 16 TIT.> THE ROUGON-MACQUART CYCLE END LA JOIE DE VIVRE 22 IV. DECAY,.· DEA TH AND PE:3GIMIGN IN LA JOIE DE VIVRE 29 A. A Reflection aï the Ace 29 B 0" The Influence of Schopenhauer Ll-O V.,.. THE CHARKCTERS 54- AG Zola Vs Metliod of Charact'erisat:ton 54 B .... The Frinïcïpal Charact"ers 61 C .. The .Geconël."ary Characters: 88 VI_ Tlffi COJWOSITION AND STYLE OF LA JOIE DE VIVRE 103 CONCLUSION 116 BIBLIOGRAPHY 123 ï'v IN'I\I~ODUCTJON The purposo of this D1ïudy is to eXDmino one of Zola's lesser-known novels, La Joio de Vivre, nnd the li[';ht which it thro\r>JS on the author' s methods of composition.
    [Show full text]
  • Female Sexuality in French Naturalism and Realism, and British New Woman Fiction, 1850 – 1900
    Female Sexuality in French Naturalism and Realism, and British New Woman Fiction, 1850 – 1900 Submitted by Ana Rosso to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English In December 2012 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………………………………………….. 2 3 Abstract The Victorian need to compartmentalise and define women’s sexuality in terms of opposing binaries was paralleled by the vague idea that the period’s French and British literatures were at odds with one another. Elucidating the deep connections between, and common concerns shared by, French Naturalist and Realist and British New Woman authors, this thesis shatters the dichotomies that attempted to structure and define women’s sexuality in the mid- to late- nineteenth century. The thesis focusses on novels and short stories by French authors Émile Zola and Guy de Maupassant, and New Woman authors Sarah Grand, Ménie Muriel Dowie and Vernon Lee. In a time during which the feminist movement was gaining momentum, and female sexuality was placed at the heart of a range of discourses, and scrutinised from a number of different angles – not only in literature, but in medicine, psychology, sexology, criminology – the consideration of the female sexual self and her subjectivity brings together the work of authors whose oeuvres have been largely considered as antithetical.
    [Show full text]
  • The Negro in France
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge Black Studies Race, Ethnicity, and Post-Colonial Studies 1961 The Negro in France Shelby T. McCloy University of Kentucky Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation McCloy, Shelby T., "The Negro in France" (1961). Black Studies. 2. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_black_studies/2 THE NEGRO IN FRANCE This page intentionally left blank SHELBY T. McCLOY THE NEGRO IN FRANCE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY PRESS Copyright© 1961 by the University of Kentucky Press Printed in the United States of America by the Division of Printing, University of Kentucky Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 61-6554 FOREWORD THE PURPOSE of this study is to present a history of the Negro who has come to France, the reasons for his coming, the record of his stay, and the reactions of the French to his presence. It is not a study of the Negro in the French colonies or of colonial conditions, for that is a different story. Occasion­ ally, however, reference to colonial happenings is brought in as necessary to set forth the background. The author has tried assiduously to restrict his attention to those of whose Negroid blood he could be certain, but whenever the distinction has been significant, he has considered as mulattoes all those having any mixture of Negro and white blood.
    [Show full text]