Naturalist Fiction: The Entropic Vision

by David Baguley

Overview

This is the first major study of naturalist fiction as a distinct literary genre. The author focuses mainly on French naturalist literature, but also draws examples from other national traditions, particularly from the English novel. Professor Baguley questions many traditional assumptions on important theoretical issues such as the nature of literary history, the concepts of "realism" and "naturalism," and the relations between science and literature. He also analyzes a number of key works in detail. He demonstrates that, far from merely recording the external aspects of reality, naturalist fiction employs the strategies of realist art to convey a profoundly disturbing vision of that reality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521021623
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/03/2005
Series:	Cambridge Studies in French , #28
Edition description:	Paperback Version ed.
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	5.47(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Histories; 2. Theories: realism, naturalism, genre; 3. The founding texts; 4. The tragic model; 5. Comic strains; 6. In the ironic modes: naturalist satire and parody; 7. The 'scandal' of naturalism; 8. Naturalist description; 9. The entropic vision; 10. By way of conclusion: two English examples; Notes; Translations; Select bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...brilliant, richly detailed new introduction to naturalist fiction...It is impossible to give here an adequate idea of this book's rich complexity, subtlety, depth, sophistication, formal beauty. Baguley, master bibliographer as well as critic that he is, has read absolutely everything, or so it would seem...A product of the golden summer of contemporary criticism—full-blown, matured, mellowed, it exemplifies all that is best in it." Philip Walker, Nineteenth-Century French Studies

"David Baguley has performed a real service to scholars of French literature and Naturalism with this work....takes a bold look at traditional and contemporary criticism, and exposes a vast array of naturalist texts in a manner that will not fail to captivate its reader." Marcia J. Thompson Diamond, French Review

From the Publisher