Explosive Narratives

Terrorism and Anarchy in the Works of Emile Zola
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-90-420-3064-0
Verlag: Brill | Rodopi

Buch, Englisch, Band 350, 198 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 323 g

Reihe: Faux Titre

Explosive Narratives: Terrorism and Anarchy in the Works of Emile Zola explores the genealogy of modern day terrorism through a close study of the anarchist figure in three of Emile Zola’s novels: Germinal, Paris, and Travail. The study links the crisis of representation registered at the end of the 19th century with the rise of terrorism embodied in the bomb-throwing anarchist. It thereby traces Zola’s evolving thoughts on anarchy from the terrorist to the humanitarian reformer, from class warfare to a peaceful artisan commune, from a naturalist depiction of an elusive reality to a utopian writing fleeing the contingencies of the historical. The volume brings together aesthetic, political, urban, and scientific debates of Belle Epoque France and it will thus be of great interest not only to Zola scholars, but also to students of late 19th-century politics and art.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturkritik: Hermeneutik und Interpretation
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Romanische Literaturen Französische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Anarchy, Entropy, Naturalism
Anarchy
Entropy
Naturalism
Chapter 1: Souvarine’s Vanishing Act: The Effacement of Anarchy in Germinal
The Ambiguous Politics of Germinal
The Resurgence of Anarchy from the Underground Mine
Undermining Narratives: The Sub-text of Anarchy
Chapter 2: Anarchy as Narrative Capital: The Emplotment of Terrorism in Paris
The Political Discourse in Paris
Anarchy as Narrative Capital
Towards Utopia: Taking the Bite Out of Anarchy
Chapter 3: The Anarchic Commune as World’s Fair in Travail
Ideological Welding: Fourier and Anarchism
Revolutionary Rape as Entropic Heat Death
Beyond Narrative Entropy: Utopia
The Anarchic Commune as World’s Fair
Epilogue: Zola’s Dream
Bibliography
Index