THE MEDAN MATRIX: HUYSMANS AND MAUPASSANT FOLLOWING ZOLA’S MODEL OF NATURALISM DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jennifer Kristen Wolter, B.A., M.A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2003 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Charles D. Minahen, Adviser Professor Christiane Laeufer ______________________________ Adviser Professor Mihaela Marin Department of French and Italian Copyright by Jennifer Kristen Wolter 2003 ABSTRACT Comparable to a matrix, the Médan group incarnates a system for the production of naturalist literature with Emile Zola serving as the model for a select handful of writers. Nourished by the scientific developments of the nineteenth century, Zola’s theories and successful practice of naturalism drew Joris-Karl Huysmans and Guy de Maupassant, among others, to the movement. Yet, they soon diverged from Zola’s model of naturalism, as did Zola himself at times. The first chapter of this dissertation seeks to reveal the inherent discrepancies within the theory of naturalism that prevent a true fusion of science and art in the novel. Les Soirées de Médan, a collection of stories about the Franco-Prussian War, united the writers in a show of adherence to the naturalist movement. While the work garnered the reputation of a manifesto, the stories belie the deviations from naturalism that were present and growing in Huysmans, Maupassant, and even Zola. Chapter two approaches the Médan group from its foundation in support of an aesthetic ideal to the contradictory display of naturalist and non-naturalist features in Les Soirées de Médan. The untenability of the Médan group is confirmed by the members’ attraction to various literary styles. Chapters three and four examine Huysmans’s A rebours and Maupassant’s “Le Horla,” hailed as exemplars of ii the decadent and fantastic genres. Themes of artifice in A rebours and the supernatural in “Le Horla” overturn the conventional subject matter of naturalism. It is a mistake, however, to distance these works entirely from the naturalist theories that ground them. Even so, both writers choose to depict some of the most unnatural aspects of human existence. Overall, the interplay of naturalist and non-naturalist elements in Huysmans and Maupassant blurs the lines of classification to affirm that the writers possess unique talents independent of their initial allegiance to Zola’s campaign of naturalism. Indeed, Zola recognized the individuality of artistic genius and embraced diversity in the Médan group. The metaphor of the matrix therefore is not to force each writer into the same mold, but rather to provide a template for the exploration of humanity in literature. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I wish to thank my adviser, Charles D. Minahen, for his guidance and support each step of the way. I treasure the generous gifts of his time, commitment, and positive spirit that he brought to this undertaking. I thank him for offering insightful and inspiring suggestions throughout the process and for challenging me always to pursue ideas and develop my thoughts to the fullest. I am grateful to Christiane Laeufer and Mihaela Marin for encouraging me at all times and for having faith in my project. I sincerely appreciate their enthusiastic participation in my dissertation committee. Additionally, I thank all my professors in the Department of French and Italian at Ohio State for providing me with the means and the motivation to complete my doctoral studies. The congenial spirit of my fellow graduate students has made the journey a most enjoyable one. I am happy to recognize in particular my friends and colleagues in the Individualized Language Learning Center, who have been a constant source of encouragement and camaraderie. I would like to acknowledge the editorial board of the journal Excavatio for having published my article on Les Soirées de Médan, which was drawn from the second chapter of this dissertation. Moreover, the AIZEN association has been very instrumental in fostering my desire to study Zola and naturalism. iv Finally, I wish to thank those who have served as mentors throughout my French education, including the faculty members of Ohio Wesleyan University and Middlebury College. Un grand merci goes to Jean Faustman for being my sounding board through countless e-mails since our days at Middlebury. My heartiest thanks, in the end, are reserved for my family, especially my brother Kurt and my parents, who helped me to persevere. I am most privileged to be a part of this matrix. v VITA March 30, 1973 . Born - Toledo, Ohio 1995 . B.A. French and English, summa cum laude, University Honors, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio 1996 . M.A. French Language, Literature, and Civilization, Middlebury College Graduate French School, Middlebury, Vermont and Paris, France 1996-2001 . Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of French and Italian, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1999-2001 . Peer Teaching Supervisor and Course Coordinator, Department of French and Italian, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1999-2001 . Assistant Director of the Undergraduate French Language Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 2001-present . Graduate Research Associate, Individualized Language Learning Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS “Viewing Au Bonheur des Dames in the Context of Occupied France.” Excavatio 14 (2001): 140-53. “Les Soirées de Médan: The Beginning and/or End of the Médan Group.” Excavatio 17 (2002): 135-47. vi FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: French and Italian Concentrations in Nineteenth-Century Literature, Film Studies, and Linguistics vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract . ii Acknowledgments . .. iv Vita . .. vi Introduction . 1 Chapters: 1. Naturalism in Theory and in Practice: Introducing Science into the Art Form of the Novel . 9 The Modern Concept of Naturalism . 14 Human Nature: Painting Life through the Artistic Temperament . 22 The Scientific Language and Theories of Naturalism . 30 The Master Plan: Subjective In(ter)vention in Naturalist Writing . 46 Surveying the Critical (Battle)Field of Naturalism . 56 2. Tales from the Battlefield: Les Soirées de Médan and the Campaign of Naturalism . 66 Advancing the Naturalist Cause . 71 The Médan Matrix . 84 Les Soirées de Médan: A Naturalist Manifesto of War? . 98 “L’Attaque du moulin”: Bearing the Banner . 110 “Boule de suif”: The Silver Star . 119 “Sac au dos”: Beating a Hasty Retreat . 135 The Aftermath . 148 viii 3. Naturalism’s Own Decadence: Huysmans Against Nature and Naturalism in A rebours . 153 Deconstructing the “Natural Naturalist” . 159 The Novel(ty) of Decadence . 173 A Modern Hybrid: The Cross-Breeding of Decadence and Naturalism . 186 Naturalism’s Own Decadence . 196 The Singular Nature of Writer and (Anti-)Hero . 212 Following Huysmans’s Model of Naturalism . 235 4. The Fantastic Illusion of Reality: Maupassant’s Naturalism and (the) Beyond in “Le Horla” . 240 Maupassant’s Fantasia: Compositions of the Master Illusionist . 245 Autour du “Roman”: The Multiplicity of Illusionism . 257 Street Theater: Illusions of Modern Life . 266 Modern Revisions of the Fantastic, Part I: Disillusion . 277 Modern Revisions of the Fantastic, Part II: Delusion . 295 Illusions of Self and Other(s) . 307 Following Maupassant’s Model of Naturalism . 325 Conclusion . 331 Bibliography . 341 ix INTRODUCTION Comparable to a matrix, the Médan group incarnates a system for the production of naturalist literature with Emile Zola serving as the model for a select handful of promising young writers. While Zola’s influence extended to more than a few artists of his time, I have chosen in this study to concentrate on those who took part in publishing Les Soirées de Médan along with Zola in 1880. More specifically, the two most notable writers in this grouping are Joris-Karl Huysmans and Guy de Maupassant, whose affiliation with the Médan group poses a significant point of comparison to their work as independent artists. Starting with an examination of the theory of naturalism and the contributions of Zola, Maupassant, and Huysmans in Les Soirées de Médan, I intend to provide the means for considering these and other of their works both inside and outside the matrix of naturalism. Nourished by the scientific developments of the nineteenth century, naturalism came into shape in Zola’s volumes of theoretical writings that include Le Roman expérimental (1880). By introducing science into the art form of the novel, Zola proposes a methodology for presenting a realistic rendering of the society of his times, as is evident in the subtitle to his twenty-volume series of novels, Les Rougon-Macquart: Histoire naturelle et sociale d’une famille sous le Second Empire. Yet, Zola’s talent for transfiguring the real outshines his 1 scientific aims. In applying his theoretical works to the practice of his fiction, we essentially find an internal battle of the thinker and the writer. The first chapter of this dissertation, then, seeks to reveal the inherent discrepancies in the theory of naturalism that may prevent a true fusion of science and art in the novel. Certain profound dictums make up the credo of naturalism, such as Zola’s reference to a work of art as “un coin de la nature vu à travers un tempérament” and his advice to young writers to “découvrir votre coin de vérité, grâce à la méthode.” These statements leave the door open to interpretation and allow for a large role to be given to the temperament and originality of the artist. Accordingly, in a work like Les Soirées de Médan, one finds a union of quite diverse talents that overwhelm the professed intentions of the authors to show their common “tendances littéraires” and “affinité de tempéraments.” While that publication and its surrounding documents situate the work as a sort of manifesto of naturalism, the contents of the stories about the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 display an osmosis of naturalist and non-naturalist elements.