In Wikisource.
Zola's tombstone in the Pantheon
As the highest point of Zola’s political biography, his participation in the Dreyfus affair, which exposed the contradictions of France in the 1890s, should be noted - the famous “J’accuse” (“I accuse”), which cost the writer exile to England ().
Zola died in Paris from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the official version - due to a malfunction of the chimney in the fireplace. His last words to his wife were: “I feel bad, my head is pounding. Look, the dog is sick. We must have eaten something. Nothing, everything will pass. There is no need to disturb anyone...” Contemporaries suspected that it could be a murder, but irrefutable evidence of this theory could not be found.
A crater on Mercury is named after Émile Zola.
Creation
Zola's first literary appearances date back to the 1860s. - “Tales to Ninon” (Contes à Ninon,), “Claude’s Confession” (La confession de Claude,), “The Testament of the Dead” (Le vœu d’une morte,), “The Mysteries of Marseilles.” The young Zola quickly approaches his main works, the central hub of his creative activity - the twenty-volume series “Rougon-Macquarts” (Les Rougon-Macquarts). Already the novel “Thérèse Raquin” contained the main elements of the content of the grandiose “Natural and social history of one family in the era of the Second Empire”.
Zola spends a lot of effort to show how the laws of heredity affect individual members of the Rougon-Macquart family. The entire huge epic is connected by a carefully developed plan based on the principle of heredity - in all the novels of the series there are members of the same family, so widely branched that its branches penetrate both the highest layers of France and its deepest bottoms.
The last novel in the series includes the Rougon-Macquart family tree, which is intended to serve as a guide to the extremely intricate labyrinth of family relationships that form the basis of the grandiose epic system. The real and truly deep content of the work is, of course, not this side associated with problems of physiology and heredity, but those social images that are given in Rougon-Macquart. With the same concentration with which the author systematized the “natural” (physiological) content of the series, we must systematize and understand its social content, the interest of which is exceptional.
Zola's style is contradictory in its essence. First of all, this is a petty-bourgeois style in an extremely bright, consistent and complete expression - “Rougon-Macquart” is not by chance a “family novel” - Zola gives here a very complete, immediate, very organic, vital revelation of the existence of the petty bourgeoisie in all its elements . The artist’s vision is distinguished by exceptional integrity and capacity, but it is the bourgeois content that he interprets with the deepest penetration.
Here we enter the realm of the intimate - from the portrait, which occupies a prominent place, to the characteristics of the subject environment (remember the magnificent interiors of Zola), to those psychological complexes that appear before us - everything is given in extremely soft lines, everything is sentimentalized. This is a kind of “pink period”. The novel “The Joy of Living” (La joie de vivre,) can be considered as the most holistic expression of this moment in the style of Zola.
There is also a desire to turn to the idyll in Zola's novels - from real everyday life to a kind of bourgeois fantasy. The novel “Page of Love” (Une page d’amour) gives an idyllic depiction of the petty-bourgeois environment while maintaining real everyday proportions. In “The Dream” (Le Rêve,) the real motivation has already been eliminated, and an idyll is given in a naked fantastic form.
We encounter something similar in the novel “The Crime of Abbot Mouret” (La faute de l’abbé Mouret,) with its fantastic Parade and fantastic Albina. “Philistine happiness” is given in the style of Zola as something falling, being repressed, receding into oblivion. All this is under the sign of damage, crisis, and has a “fatal” character. In the named novel “The Joy of Living”, next to the holistic, complete, deep disclosure of petty-bourgeois existence, which is poeticized, the problem of tragic doom, the impending death of this existence is given. The novel is structured in a unique way: the melting of money determines the development of the drama of the virtuous Chantos, the economic catastrophe that destroys “philistine happiness” seems to be the main content of the drama.
This is expressed even more fully in the novel “The Conquest of Plassans” (La conquête de Plassans,), where the collapse of bourgeois prosperity and economic catastrophe are interpreted as a tragedy of a monumental nature. We encounter a whole series of such “falls” - constantly perceived as events of cosmic importance (a family entangled in insoluble contradictions in the novel “The Beast Man” (La bête humaine), old Baudu, Bourra in the novel “Ladies’ Happiness” (Au bonheur) des dames, )). When his economic well-being collapses, the tradesman is convinced that the whole world is collapsing - such specific hyperbolization marks economic catastrophes in Zola’s novels.
The petty bourgeois, experiencing his decline, receives full and complete expression from Zola. It is shown from different sides, revealing its essence in an era of crisis; it is presented as a unity of diverse manifestations. First of all, he is a petty bourgeois who is experiencing the drama of economic collapse. Such is Mouret in The Conquest of Plassans, this new bourgeois Job, such are the virtuous rentiers of Chanteau in the novel The Joy of Living, such are the heroic shopkeepers swept away by capitalist development in the novel The Happiness of Ladies.
Saints, martyrs and sufferers, like the touching Pauline in “The Joy of Living” or the unfortunate Rene in the novel “The Prey” (La curée, 1872), or the gentle Angelique in “The Dream”, which Albina so closely resembles in “The Crime of Abbe Mouret”, - here is a new form of the social essence of Zola’s “heroes”. These people are characterized by passivity, lack of will, Christian humility, and submission. All of them are distinguished by idyllic beauty, but they are all crushed by cruel reality. The tragic doom of these people, their death, despite all the attractiveness, the beauty of these “wonderful creatures”, the fatal inevitability of their gloomy fate - all this is an expression of the same conflict that determined the drama of Mouret, whose economy was collapsing, in the pathetic novel “The Conquest of Plassans” " The essence here is the same; only the form of the phenomenon is different.
As the most consistent form of the psychology of the petty bourgeoisie, Zola's novels provide numerous truth-seekers. They are all striving somewhere, filled with some kind of hope. But it immediately becomes clear that their hopes are vain and their aspirations are blind. The hunted Florent from the novel "The Belly of Paris" (Le ventre de Paris,), or the unfortunate Claude from "Creativity" (L'œuvre,), or the vegetating romantic revolutionary from the novel "Money" (L'argent,), or the restless Lazarus from “The Joy of Living” - all these seekers are equally groundless and wingless. None of them can achieve, none of them rise to victory.
These are the main aspirations of Zola's hero. As you can see, they are versatile. All the more complete and concrete is the unity in which they converge. The psychology of the falling petty bourgeois receives an unusually deep, holistic interpretation from Zola.
New human figures also appear in Zola's works. These are no longer bourgeois Jobs, not sufferers, not vain seekers, but predators. They succeed. They achieve everything. Aristide Saccard - a brilliant rogue in the novel "Money", Octave Mouret - a high-flying capitalist entrepreneur, owner of the "Ladies' Happiness" store, bureaucratic predator Eugene Rougon in the novel "His Excellency Eugene Rougon" () - these are new images.
Zola gives a fairly complete, versatile, expanded concept of him - from a predatory money-grubber like Abbe Fauges in The Conquest of Plassans to a real knight of capitalist expansion, which is Octave Mouret. It is constantly emphasized that despite the difference in scale, all these people are predators, invaders, displacing respectable people of that patriarchal bourgeois world, which, as we have seen, has been poeticized.
The image of a predator, a capitalist businessman, is given in the same aspect with the material image (of the market, exchange, store), which occupies such a significant place in the system of Zola’s style. The assessment of predation extends to the material world. Thus, the Parisian market and department store become something monstrous. In Zola's style, the object image and the image of the capitalist predator must be considered as a single expression, as two sides of the world, cognizable by the artist, adapting to the new socio-economic structure.
In the novel "Ladies' Happiness" there is a clash of two entities - bourgeois and capitalist. A huge capitalist enterprise arises on the bones of bankrupt small shopkeepers - the entire course of the conflict is presented in such a way that “justice” remains on the side of the oppressed. They are defeated in the struggle, virtually destroyed, but morally they triumph. This resolution of the contradiction in the novel “Ladies' Happiness” is very characteristic of Zola. The artist bifurcates here between the past and the present: on the one hand, he is deeply connected with a collapsing existence, on the other, he already thinks of himself in unity with the new way of life, he is already free enough to imagine the world in its actual connections, in the fullness of its content.
Zola’s work is scientific; he is distinguished by his desire to raise literary “production” to the level of scientific knowledge of his time. His creative method was substantiated in a special work - “The Experimental Novel” (Le roman expérimental,). Here you can see how consistently the artist pursues the principle of unity of scientific and artistic thinking. “The ‘experimental novel’ is a logical consequence of the scientific evolution of our century,” says Zola, summing up his theory of the creative method, which is a transfer of scientific research techniques into literature (in particular, Zola relies on the work of the famous physiologist Claude Bernard). The entire Rougon-Macquart series is carried out in terms of scientific research, carried out in accordance with the principles of the “Experimental Novel”. Zola's scholarship is evidence of the artist's close connection with the main trends of his era.
The grandiose series “Rougon-Macquart” is oversaturated with elements of planning; the scheme of scientific organization of this work seemed to Zola to be an essential necessity. The plan of scientific organization, the scientific method of thinking - these are the main provisions that can be considered the starting points for Zola's style.
Moreover, he was a fetishist of the scientific organization of the work. His art constantly violates the boundaries of his theory, but the very nature of Zola's planning and organizational fetishism is quite specific. This is where the characteristic mode of presentation that distinguishes the ideologists of the technical intelligentsia comes into play. They constantly accept the organizational shell of reality as the whole of reality; form replaces content. Zola expressed in his hypertrophies of plan and organization the typical consciousness of an ideologist of the technical intelligentsia. Approaching the era was carried out through a kind of “technization” of the bourgeois, who realized his inability to organize and plan (for this inability he is always castigated by Zola - “The Happiness of Ladies”); Zola's knowledge of the era of capitalist rise is realized through planned, organizational and technical fetishism. The theory of the creative method developed by Zola, the specificity of his style, revealed in moments addressed to the capitalist era, goes back to this fetishism.
The novel “Doctor Pascal” (Docteur Pascal), which concludes the “Rugon-Macquart” series, can serve as an example of such fetishism - issues of organization, systematics, and construction of the novel stand out in the first place here. This novel also reveals a new human image. Dr. Pascal is something new in relation to both the falling philistines and the victorious capitalist predators. The engineer Gamelin in “Money”, the capitalist reformer in the novel “Labor” (Travail,) - all these are varieties of the new image. It is not sufficiently developed in Zola, it is just emerging, it is just becoming, but its essence is already quite clear.
The figure of Dr. Pascal is the first schematic sketch of the reformist illusion, which expresses the fact that the petty bourgeoisie, the form of practice of which Zola’s style represents, “technically” reconciles itself with the era.
Typical features of the consciousness of the technical intelligentsia, primarily the fetishism of plan, system and organization, are transferred to a number of images of the capitalist world. Such, for example, is Octave Mouret from The Happiness of Ladies, not only a great predator, but also a great rationalizer. Reality, which until recently was assessed as a hostile world, is now perceived in terms of some kind of “organizational” illusion. The chaotic world, the brutal cruelty of which was recently proven, is now beginning to be presented in the rosy garb of a “plan”; not only the novel, but also social reality is planned on a scientific basis.
Zola, who always gravitated towards turning his work into an instrument of “reform”, “improvement” of reality (this was reflected in the didacticism and rhetoric of his poetic technique), now comes to “organizational” utopias.
The unfinished series “Gospels” (“Fertility” - “Fécondité”, “Labor”, “Justice” - “Vérité”) expresses this new stage in Zola’s work. Moments of organizational fetishism, always characteristic of Zola, receive particularly consistent development here. Reformism is becoming an increasingly exciting, dominant element here. In “Fertility,” a utopia about the planned reproduction of humanity is created; this gospel turns into a pathetic demonstration against the falling birth rate in France.
In the interval between the series - “Rougon-Macquart” and “The Gospels” - Zola wrote his anti-clerical trilogy “Cities”: “Lourdes”, “Rome”, “Paris” (Paris). The drama of Abbé Pierre Froment, seeking justice, is presented as a moment of criticism of the capitalist world, opening up the possibility of reconciliation with it. The sons of the restless abbot, who took off his cassock, act as evangelists of reformist renewal.
Emile Zola in Russia
Zola gained popularity in Russia several years earlier than in France. Already “Contes à Ninon” was noted with a sympathetic review (“Notes of the Fatherland”, vol. 158, pp. 226-227). With the advent of translations of the first two volumes of Rougon-Macquart (Bulletin of Europe, books 7 and 8), its assimilation by a wide readership began.
The novel “Le ventre de Paris”, translated simultaneously by “Delo”, “Bulletin of Europe”, “Notes of the Fatherland”, “Russian Bulletin”, “Iskra” and “Biblical. cheap and public access.” and published in two separate editions, finally established Zola’s reputation in Russia.
Zola's latest novels were published in Russian translations in 10 or more editions simultaneously. In the 1900s, especially after, interest in Zola subsided noticeably, only to be revived again after. Even earlier, Zola’s novels received the function of propaganda material (“Labor and Capital”, a story based on Zola’s novel “In the Mines” (“Germinal”), Simbirsk,) (V. M. Fritsche, Emil Zola (To whom the proletariat erects monuments), M. , ).
Bibliography
- Complete works of E. Zola with illustrations, Bibliothèque-Charpentier, P.,
- L'Acrienne,
- Tales of Ninon,
- Dedication to Claude,
- Thérèse Raquin,
- Madeleine Ferat,
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- Experimental Novel, Naturalism in the Theatre, s. a.
- Temlinsky S., Zolaism, Critical. sketch, ed. 2nd, rev. and additional, M., .
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- Arsenyev K. (in "Bulletin of Europe", , VIII; , VI; , XI; , VI; , IV, and in "Critical Studies", vol. II, St. Petersburg., )
- Andreevich V. (in "Bulletin of Europe", VII)
- Slonimsky L. Zola (in "Bulletin of Europe", , IX)
- Mikhailovsky N.K. (in Complete collected works, vol. VI)
- Brandes G. (in “Bulletin of Europe”, X, k in Collected works)
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- Fritsche V. M., E. Zola, M.,
- His, Essay on the development of Western European literature, Guise, M.,
- Eichenholtz M., E. Zola ( -), “Print. and rev.”, , I
- Rod E., A propos de l'Assomoir,
- Ferdas V., La physiologie expérimentale et le roman expérimental. Claude Bernard et E. Zola, P.,
- Alexis P., Emile Zola, notes d'un ami, P.,
- Maupassant G., de, Emile Zola,
- Hubert, Le roman naturaliste,
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- Gaufiner, Étude syntaxique sur la langue de Zola, Bonne,
- Lotsch F., Wörterbuch zu den Werken Zolas und einiger anderen modernen Schriftsteller, Greifswald,
- A. Laporte, Zola against Zola, P.,
- J.L. Moneste, Real Rome: replica of Zola,
- Rauber A. A., Die Lehren von V. Hugo, L. Tolstoy und Zola,
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- F. Brunetje, After the trial,
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- Macdonald A., Emil Zola, a study of his personality,
- Vizetelly E. A., With Zola in England,
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- Conrad M. G., Von Emil Zola bis G. Hauptmann. Erinnerungen zur Geschichte der Moderne, Lpz.,
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- Vizetelly E. A., Zola, novelist and reformer,
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- Oehlert R., Emil Zola als Theaterdichter, Berlin,
- Rostand E., Deux romanciers de Provence: H. d’Urfé et E. Zola,
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- France A., La vie littéraire, v. II (La pureté d’E. Zola, pp. 284–292),
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Film adaptations
- The Beast Man (La bête humaine), 1938
- Thérèse Raquin, 1953
- Other people's wives (Pot-Bouille), 1957
- Zandali, 1991 (based on "Thérèse Raquin")
Links
| Emile Zola in Wikiquote |
Writer Emile Zola was born on April 2, 1840 in Paris and grew up in an Italian-French family. Emil spent his childhood and school years in Aix-en-Provence. When he was not yet 7 years old, his father died and the family found itself in a very difficult financial situation. Madame Zola, counting on the support of her late husband's friends, moved to Paris with her son in 1858.
At the beginning of 1862, Emil got a job at the Ashet publishing house, where he earned good money and could spend his free time on literary pursuits. Zola reads avidly, follows new publications, writes reviews of the latest book releases for magazines and newspapers, makes acquaintances with popular writers, and tries his hand at prose and poetry.
Zola worked at the publishing house for about 4 years and quit, hoping that he could live off his literary talent. And in 1864 he published his debut book, “Tales of Ninon,” which combined stories from different years. This period of creativity is characterized by the influence of romanticism.
In November 1865, his first novel, “Claude's Confession,” was published, which he dedicated to his friends, Paul Cézanne and Baptistin Bayle. Cézanne, who arrived in Paris from Aix, introduced Zola to the circle of painters; together they visited the workshops of Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, and met with Edouard Manet and many artists. Emile Zola energetically joined the struggle of talented masters who challenged the traditional academic school with their original creativity.
The novels “The Confession of Claude”, “The Testament of the Deceased”, “The Mysteries of Marseilles” show a story of sublime love, the opposition of reality and dreams, and the character of an ideal hero is conveyed.
The novel “Claude’s Confession” deserves special attention. This is a brutal and thinly veiled autobiography. This controversial book made Emil’s personality scandalous and brought long-awaited popularity.
Emile Zola. Portrait by Edouard Manet. 1868
In 1868, Emile had the idea of writing a series of novels that would be dedicated to one family - the Rougon-Macquarts. The fates of these people have been studied for several generations. The first books in the series did not really interest readers, but volume 7, “The Trap,” was doomed to great success. He not only increased Zola's fame, but also his fortune. And all subsequent novels in the series were greeted by fans of this French writer with great enthusiasm.
Twenty volumes of the large Rougon-Macquart cycle are Zola's most important literary achievement. But earlier he still managed to write “Thérèse Raquin.” After his stunning success, Emil published 2 more cycles: “Three Cities” - “Lourdes”, “Rome”, “Paris”; as well as “The Four Gospels” (there were 3 volumes in total). Thus, Zola became the first novelist to create a series of books about members of the same family. The writer himself, naming the reasons for choosing such a cycle structure, argued that he wanted to demonstrate the operation of the laws of heredity.
Zola worked on this cycle for more than 20 years. The origins of the concept of Zola’s epic were O. de Balzac’s “Human Comedy”, however, Zola contrasts Balzac’s study of the social and moral springs that control man with the study of temperament, physiological constitution, heredity in combination with the influence of social, “environmental” factors - origin, upbringing, living conditions.
Zola introduces into the literature data from natural science discoveries: medicine and physiology (works of physiologists and psychiatrists C. Bernard, C. Letourneau), social Darwinism and the aesthetics of positivism (E. Renan, I. Taine). The truly epic coverage of all aspects of public and private life is noticeable, first of all, in the thematic diversity of the cycle. Here are the Franco-Prussian War (“The Capture of Plassin”, “The Defeat”), and the peasantry and rural life (“Land”), and the work of miners and the socialist movement (“Germinal”), and the life of bohemia, the first speeches of impressionist artists against academicism (“Creativity”), and the stock exchange and finance (“Money”), and trade (“Ladies’ Happiness”, “The Belly of Paris”), and courtesans and “ladies of the demimonde” (“Nana”), and the psychology of religious feelings (“Nana”). Dream"), and crimes and pathological tendencies ("Man-Beast").
Maupassant called the novel "Creation" "amazing." Russian critic Stasov wrote “How accurately the artistic world of modern France is depicted! How faithfully the diverse characters and personalities of contemporary artists are represented!”
"Creation" - the fourteenth novel in the series - Zola began writing in May 1885 and finished nine months later. On February 23, 1886, he informed his friend Cear: “My dear Cear, just this morning I finished with “Creativity”. This is a book in which I captured my memories and poured out my soul...”
The scope of "Creativity", as Zola defined it in a plan drawn up in 1869, is " art world; the hero is Claude Duval (Lantier), the second child of a working-class couple. The bizarre effect of heredity."
The plot of "Creativity" was based on some real events and facts from the life of the writer and his friends - Cezanne and Bayle, as well as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet and many others. The content of the novel is related to the controversy that the writer waged in the 60s in defense of a group of young painters. In 1866, on the eve of the opening of the Salon - a traditional exhibition of fine arts - two sensational articles by the then little-known critic Emile Zola appeared in print. In these articles, he reproached the jury that selected the paintings for the exhibition for not wanting to give the public the opportunity to see " bold, full-blooded paintings and sketches taken from reality itself". At the Salon, Zola pointed out, the paintings of talented painters are not presented only because their work denies the ossified traditions of the academic school and thereby undermines the prestige of the influential caste.
There has been a lot of debate about the prototypes of the main characters in "Creation". It was argued that Sandoz was a portrait of Zola himself (in handwritten notes to “Creation,” Zola indicated that “Sandoz was introduced in order to illuminate my ideas about art”); in Fagerolles they saw both Paul Bourget and Guimet, in Jory's criticism they saw a portrait of Paul Alexis, in the image of Bongrand they found a lot of Manet, but even more of Flaubert. As for Claude Lantier, in his handwritten notes to “Creation” Zola writes: "Claude, who committed suicide in front of his unfinished creation, is Manet, Cezanne, but more Cezanne."
However, Creativity should not be viewed as a history of impressionism. Zola's novel, first of all, is a novel about the relationship of art to reality, in response to the beliefs of critics that art and real life are incompatible. Zola came out in defense of the art of truth in life. Using the tragic example of the fate of Claude Lantier, he showed that “Only the creators of life triumph in art, only their genius is fruitful...” This conclusion of the writer confirms the inconsistency of the subjectively idealistic view of art.
Emile Zola's novel lifts the curtain on the world of people who are wholeheartedly devoted to art, people who daily experience both hell and heaven, who are not afraid to challenge a world frozen in monotony.
Excerpt from the novel “Creativity”
“A blinding flash of lightning illuminated her again, and she immediately fell silent, opened her eyes wide, and began to look around in horror. Shrouded in a purple haze, an unfamiliar city stood before her, like a ghost. The rain has stopped. On the other bank of the Seine, on the Quai des Ormes, there were small, gray houses covered with signs with uneven rooflines; behind them the horizon expanded, brightened, it was framed to the left by the blue slate roofs on the towers of the town hall, to the right by the lead dome of the Cathedral of St. Pavel. The Seine in this place is very wide, and the girl could not take her eyes off its deep, black, heavy waters, rolling from the massive arches of the Marie Bridge to the airy arches of the new Louis Philippe Bridge. The river was dotted with some strange shadows; there was a sleeping flotilla of boats and yawls; and a floating laundry and dredging machine were moored to the quay; on the opposite shore stood barges filled with coal, scows loaded with building stone, and a giant crane towered above everything. The lightning light faded. Everything has disappeared."
Read the novel in full
Republican and DemocratZolacollaborated with the opposition press, wrote and distributed articles exposing the French military and the reactionary regime of Napoleon.
When Zola intervened in the scandalous Dreyfus affair, it became a sensation. Emil was convinced that Alfred Dreyfus, an officer of the French general staff, who was Jewish, had been unfairly convicted in 1894 of selling military secrets to Germany. So the writer exposed the army leadership, pointing out their responsibility for the miscarriage of justice. Zola formalized his position in the form of an open letter and sent it to the President of the Republic with the heading “I Accuse.” The writer was sentenced to a year in prison for libel. But Emil fled to England and returned to his homeland in 1899, when Dreyfus was finally acquitted.
Zola became second after Victor Hugo in the popularity rating of French writers. But on September 28, 1902, the writer died suddenly in his own Paris apartment due to an accident. He suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. But, most likely, this was set up by his political enemies. Emile Zola was a passionate defender of humanism and democracy, for which he paid with his life.
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Emile Zola. Biography and review of creativity
1840-1902
Emile Zola is a writer who most fully reflected the life of French society in the second half of the 19th century. Zola continued the traditions of “great French literature” - Stendhal, Balzac, Flaubert.
French critical realism in this era did not escape the influence of reactionary bourgeois ideology, losing many of its achievements. That is why Engels wrote that he considered Balzac “... a much greater master of realism than all the Zolas of the past, present and future...” But at the same time, the development of realism did not stop, it acquired new qualities, new themes.
Zola was a son of his era. And this was reflected in the contradictions of his worldview and creativity. He sought to “enrich” realism with the techniques of naturalism, which, in his opinion, met the requirements of modernity. This was a delusion of Zola, who did not understand the flawed foundations of naturalism.
Zola was one of the theorists of naturalism, but Zola's aesthetics cannot be reduced to the doctrine of naturalism. She is contradictory. Realistic and naturalistic tendencies struggle in it. In Zola's work, although it pays tribute to naturalism, the realistic tradition triumphs. This allowed M. Gorky to say that “an entire era can be studied from the novels of Emile Zola.”
There is constant controversy surrounding the name Zola, which began during his lifetime. The reaction will never forgive the great writer for his incriminating works, tireless and passionate struggle in the name of justice, democracy, and humanism. Progressive criticism strives to fully disclose and explain Zola's contradictions, pointing to the main direction of the writer's creative activity.
Biography of Zola
Emile Zola was born on April 2, 1840 in Paris, but he spent his childhood in the south of France, in the Provençal town of Aix. His father, an Italian, was a talented engineer, a railroad and canal builder, and an inventor. He died in 1847, leaving his family completely unprovided for.
In 1858 E. Zola moved to Paris. An attempt to complete my education by passing the baccalaureate exam was unsuccessful. The difficulties of a miserable life began, without a permanent job, in a huge, indifferent city. But Zola stubbornly continued to write poetry, poems, although, as Maupassant noted, they were “languid and impersonal.”
With difficulty, Zola managed in 1862 to get a permanent job at a book publishing house as a packer in a warehouse. During these years, Zola began writing chronicles and literary criticism for newspapers. Journalism turned out to be a very useful school, developing in him an attention to reality. Soon he left the publishing house, completely devoting himself to literary work.
In 1864, Zola published a collection of short stories, Tales of Ninon. Zola's early novels, such as "The Confession of Claude" (1865), "The Testament of the Dead" (1866), "The Mysteries of Marseilles" (1867), are not distinguished by their originality. But gradually Zola freed himself from the epigonic adherence to romanticism characteristic of his early works. The passion for the poetry of the romantics is replaced by a growing interest in the work of the realists Balzac, Flaubert, and in the naturalistic theories of the critic and literary historian Hippolyte Taine.
In Thérèse Raquin (1867) and Madeleine Ferat (1868), Zola creates examples of a naturalistic novel. In the first of them, the writer set the task of “clinically exploring” the feeling of remorse possessing Teresa, who, together with her lover, killed her husband. Despite some realistic moments that attract the reader, the novel is naturalistic. Zola was constantly developing the theory of naturalism. He wrote many literary critical articles, most fully outlining the principles of naturalism in “The Experimental Novel” (1880), “Naturalist Novelists,” and “Naturalism in the Theater” (1881).
Zola's creative heritage is very diverse. It consists of several collections of stories, collections of literary criticism and journalistic articles, several dramatic works (the play “The Heirs of Rabourdin”, 1874 is especially famous), but the first place in it in terms of significance and volume is occupied by novels.
Zola comes up with the idea of a grandiose epic, like Balzac’s “Human Comedy”. He decides to create “a natural and social history of one family during the Second Empire,” while at the same time trying to embody in it the principles of naturalism. For about 25 years he has been working on the epic Rougon-Macquart, which reflected the history of French society from 1851 to 1871.
Over the many years of work on Rougon-Macquart, Zola's views on life changed significantly. The social contradictions of the reality of the Third Republic forced Zola, the naturalist theorist, to abandon objectivism in his best works, actively intervene in life, and focus not on the biological, “natural,” but on the social history of society. Zola proved himself to be a remarkable realist artist, creating with his novels, according to Gorky, “an excellent history of the Second Empire. He told it as only an artist can tell a story... He knew perfectly everything that needed to be known: financial scams, the clergy, artists, in general he knew everything, the whole predatory epic and the whole collapse of the bourgeoisie, which was first victorious in the 19th century and then in the laurels of a decaying victory.”
The events of the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune had a huge influence on the writer. The events of the Franco-Prussian War were directly captured by the writer in the novel “The Defeat” (1892), as well as in the famous short story “The Siege of the Mill,” which was included along with Maupassant’s “Donut” in the collection “Evenings of Medan” (1880). In this short story, he showed with great love ordinary people: the miller Uncle Merlier, his daughter Francoise, the young man Dominic - modest and selfless patriots of France.
But bourgeois narrow-mindedness prevented the writer from fully understanding his people, who were fighting for freedom. He did not accept the Paris Commune, although the bloody terror of the Versailles people drew sharp condemnation from Zola.
Zola’s participation in the Dreyfus affair, his famous letter to the President of the Republic F. Faure “I Accuse” (1898) is evidence of Zola’s courage and passionate hatred of the enemies of truth and justice, militarists and clerics. The progressive public of the whole world warmly supported Zola, but the reaction subjected him to persecution. To avoid imprisonment, Zola was forced to leave France for a year.
In the 90s and 900s, after finishing work on Rougon-Macquart, Zola created two more series of novels: the anti-clerical trilogy “Three Cities” (1894-1898) and the cycle “The Four Gospels” (1899-1902), which reflected the author’s passion for socialist ideas. Due to reformist delusions, Zola did not see the correct path for the development of society and was unable to come to scientific socialism, the ideas of which spread at the end of the 19th century. in France. And yet, Zola And in his last works raised a number of the most pressing social issues of our time, concluding: “The bourgeoisie is betraying its revolutionary past... It is uniting with reaction, clericalism, militarism. I must put forward the basic, decisive idea that the bourgeoisie has finished its role, that it has gone over to reaction in order to maintain its power and its wealth, and that all hope lies in the energy of the people. Salvation lies only in the people.”
Zola's creative and social activities were suddenly interrupted: he died in 1902 from intoxication. In 1908, the writer's ashes were transferred to the Pantheon. The French people honor the memory of the great writer. His best novels - “Germinal”, “The Trap” - are still the most popular books in public libraries.
Zola's aesthetic views
Formation of aesthetic views
Zola begins in the 60s. In 1864, he declared that of the three “screens” of art: classical, romantic, realistic, he preferred the last one. In his early collection of articles “My Hate,” Zola defended the realistic art of Stendhal, Balzac, Courbet, and others. In his subsequent speeches, Zola spoke about the advantages and disadvantages, from his point of view, of the artistic method of Stendhal and Balzac. He sees their strength in their closeness to reality, in its truthful reflection, in “the powerful ability to observe and analyze, to depict their era, and not fictitious fairy tales.” However, Zola’s constant desire for realism in aesthetics is often limited to a one-sided perception of the artistic method of the great realists, the desire to find support for naturalistic theory from them. Zola sometimes denies their strongest sides. Admiring Balzac, especially his “precise analysis,” he considers the weakness of this great artist to be “unbridled imagination.” Deep generalizations, “exceptional” characters, which serve as realistic typification in Balzac, seem to Zola to be an excessive “exaggeration”, a game of fiction." He also condemns the constant presence of the author’s assessment in Balzac’s novels, preferring the “dispassionate” manner of Flaubert, in whom, as Zola seems, , “only a statement of facts is given.”
Paying tribute to the great realists, he finds much in their method outdated.
For Zola, it seems impossible to develop modern realism without using advances in science. An appeal to science could play a positive role if it were not based on the pseudoscientific idealistic philosophy of positivism.
The theories of vulgar materialism, which distorted the achievements of the natural sciences and transferred the laws of nature to human society, also had a negative impact on Zola.
In an effort to connect literature with the natural sciences, Zola was interested in the works of natural scientists and physicians: Claude Bernard (“Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine”), Letourneau (“Physiology of the Passions”), the theories of heredity of Luc, Lombroso, etc.
In his theory of the “experimental novel,” Zola argued that the writer must be a scientist. The task of the novelist is to create a kind of scientific psychology to complement scientific physiology. But as a result of this “scientific research,” the social nature of the human psyche was not taken into account, physiology was brought to the fore, the image of the “man-beast” appeared, and the humanity in man was belittled.
According to the theory of naturalism, a writer, when creating a novel, conducts a kind of scientific experiment. Observing, documenting everything with strictly verified facts, he studies the impact of the environment on the hero. But the concept of environment is deprived of social meaning here and is determined only by biological, partly everyday, structures. The theory of heredity, favored by naturalists, which asserts the innateness of vices, is also connected with such a narrow concept of environment.
Zola himself, in his artistic practice, and in his aesthetic performances, often went beyond naturalism and determinism, understanding the environment as a social factor. Even in “The Experimental Novel” he wrote that “the main subject of our study is the constant influence of society on man and man on society.” This reflected the contradictory views of Zola, the beneficial influence on him of the aesthetics of the great realists with their constant attention to the social conditions that shape the character of the hero. In most of Zola's novels, the understanding of the environment is undoubtedly social.
Rougon-Macquart
The epic "Rougon-Macquart" (1871-1893) - Zola's most outstanding creation - consists of 20 novels. The idea for this grandiose epic arose in 1868. The impetus for the work was a fascination with the fashionable theory of heredity. The writer decided to consider four generations of one family. But from the very beginning of his work, he did not limit himself only to biological problems. The author set two goals: 1) “to study, using the example of one family, issues of blood and environment,” 2) “to depict the entire Second Empire, from the coup d’etat to the present day.” Trying to accomplish the first, he compiled a family tree of the Rougon-Macquart family, giving each family member a detailed medical profile in terms of hereditary characteristics.
Having decided to write the history of several generations of Rougon-Macquarts, Zola sought to show the position of various classes and social groups of French society - the people, the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy, the clergy. It is no coincidence that the ramifications of the Rougon-Macquart family penetrate all social strata of France. But Zola is not satisfied with this. Oi populates his novels with a huge number of characters (the total number of characters in the series is about 1200), sometimes with no family ties to the Rougon-Macquarts. And this is done by the artist to more fully capture reality.
“It was necessary to study life perfectly in order to create an excellent history of the Second Empire, in order to lead the reader into all the nooks and crannies of the modern world...”1 wrote the pre-October Pravda about Zola.
For his epic, the novelist chose one of the most reactionary periods in the history of France. This is the “era of shame and madness” - the 50-60s, when the reactionary bourgeoisie and the government of Napoleon III, which served its interests, mercilessly fought against any manifestation of free thought, revolutionary traditions, and freedom of the press. Fearing the people, the bourgeoisie created a “strong government” that gave it unlimited opportunities to plunder the country.
The second empire collapsed. Its history ended with the tragic war and the Paris Commune. As a result of these events, much changed in Zola's views. The social line in Rougon-Macquart gradually strengthened at the expense of the biological line.
Rougon-Macquart is a complex and multifaceted work. It is possible to highlight the leading themes and outline the main lines, although they will not cover the entire content of the epic. This is the depiction of the bourgeoisie in the novels “The Rougons' Career”, “Prey”, “The Belly of Paris”, “Scum”, “Money”, etc. The life of the people is in the novels “Trap”, “Germinal”, “Earth”. The anti-clerical theme is in the novels “The Conquest of Plassans”, ♦ The Misdemeanor of Abbot Mouret” and others. The theme of art and creativity is the novel “Creativity”.
There are also works in the series that focus on... devoted to the problem of heredity - “The Man-Beast”, “Doctor Pascal”.
Novels about the bourgeoisie. "Career of the Rougons"
In the first novel, “The Rougon Career” (1871), the pedigree lines of the Rougon-Macquart family are outlined. The matriarch of the family is the nervously ill Adelaide Fook, whose life is deeply tragic. The novel features Adelaide's children and grandchildren from her first marriage to the peasant Rougon and from her second marriage to the tramp and drunkard Macquart. The author traces
in the future, the influence of heredity, neurosis and alcoholism of parents on the offspring, although this does not become the main thing. The Rougon branch is associated with the bourgeoisie. Makkarov is mainly with the people.
In the preface to the novel, Zola states: “The family that I am going to study is characterized by the uncontrollability of desires, the powerful desire of our age, eager for pleasure.” The artist reveals these typically bourgeois, predatory features of the Rougon family in the behavior of the heroes in the events that decided the fate of France in 1851. The main conflict of the novel is the clash between the Republicans and the Bonapartists, the social meaning of the novel is in the truthful depiction of the monarchical coup, the reprisal against the Republic in the small provincial town of Plassans, on south of France. Essentially, in Zola’s depiction, this town personifies the whole of France.
The novel was mainly written during the empire, when Zola combined his hatred of Bonapartism with an ardent faith in the Republic.
In an inert, provincial town, all affairs are run by the bourgeoisie, nobles, and clergy. Minor differences between them disappear at the slightest threat from the people. Unite to “finish off the Republic” - this is the slogan of all who tremble for “their purses.” In the world of wealthy Plassan inhabitants, the family of the former shopkeeper Rougon and his wife, the cunning, ambitious Felicite, stands out for their special hatred of the Republic and monstrous greed.
Rougon's sons, Eugene and Aristide, not satisfied with the scale of Plassans, go to Paris. The crimes of these predators in Paris are as natural under the conditions of the empire as the prosperity of their parents in the provinces. Here, on a more modest scale, but with no less cruelty, the elder Rougons act. Thanks to connections with his son Eugene, who moves in the political elite, they learn about the impending Bonapartist coup and seize power in the city. They become “benefactors”, “saviors” of the city from the “republican infection”. They are showered with favors by the victorious empire; they have seized the “state pie”.
Zola depicts the “menagerie”, the “yellow salon”, Rougon, uniting people who have nothing sacred except money. Pierre Rougon's cruelty towards his old, sick and robbed mother is characteristic. It is no coincidence that Doctor Pascal, the third son of the Rougons, “has nothing to do with the family,” while observing the “yellow salon”, likens its visitors to insects and animals: the Marquis de Carnavan reminds him of a large green grasshopper, Vuillet - a dull, slippery toad, Roudier - a fat ram .
The novel uniquely combines angry satire with high pathos, fanned by the breath of revolution. It combines a satirical depiction of the Bonapartist clique with the romance of a popular uprising, dull gray colors with purple, the color of blood and banners.
The artist's ardent sympathy is on the side of the Republicans. He especially vividly describes the movement of the Republicans towards Plassan, where the workers joined them. This procession of people seems grandiose and majestic. The nobility and unselfishness of the Republicans are visible in “the faces transformed by spiritual elation,” “in the heroic strength,” “in the simple-minded gullibility of the giants.” The revolutionary impulse of the people is expressed by the writer hyperbolically, as something that embraces nature itself, gigantic, sublime, romantic. Here for the first time the artist’s skill in depicting the rebellious people is demonstrated.
In this novel, Zola connects the fate of his positive heroes - Adelaide's grandson Silver and his lover, young Miette - with the Republicans. Silver's purity, his selflessness, and kindness distinguish this young man from the Rougon-Macquart family. He is the only one in the whole family who cares for a sick old woman, his grandmother. Silver becomes a Republican, although this poor man, like many others, discovered during the years of the Republic born in 1848 that “not everything is for the best in this best of republics.”
The death of Silver and Miette seems to personify the death of the Republic. The family participates in their murder: Aristide sees Silver being led to execution and does not prevent it. Distraught with grief at the death of her grandson, Adelaide curses her children, calling them a pack of wolves who devoured her only child.
Production
Having shown in “The Rougons' Career” the ways in which the bourgeoisie comes to power, Zola in his next novel, “Extraction” (1871), painted a picture of a society “saved” from the revolution, which “was blissful, rested, slept under the protection of firm power.” Among the triumphant bourgeoisie, the son of the Rougons is Aristide Saccard. He stands out for his ability to deftly swim in the murky waves of speculation that gripped French society, especially during the Crimean War. "A rich upstart speculating on the sale of houses and land in connection with the reconstruction of Paris, Aristide Saccard is devoid of any moral principles. , with him everything is subordinated to money, profit. The dying wife of Sakkara is her husband’s conversation about his plans for a new marriage because of 100 thousand.
Having robbed his second wife (for Saccard she was “a bet, working capital”), he seeks to cash in on his son by marrying him well. The Sakkara family is a center of vice and depravity.
The typicality of this image, with which Zola continues the line of Balzac's hoarding heroes, is emphasized by the entire febrile atmosphere of profit and robbery that gripped the “Parisians of the era of decline*.
The artist uses vivid means to expose the triumphant big bourgeoisie that is tormenting France. The new house of Aristide Saccard, representing a mixture of all styles, resembles “the important and stupid face of a rich upstart.” The description of the magnificent table setting, the living room, where “everything flowed with gold” exposes not only bad taste, but also the looting that flourishes in defeated France.
The stamp of decline and decay has already marked the triumphant caste of the bourgeoisie. It is no coincidence that the writer compares Renee, Aristide’s wife, with Phaedra Euripides, although he ironically notes that her criminal passion for her stepson is a parody of the tragedy of the ancient heroine.
The vicious world of decline and decay, depicted by the artist, is crowned by the image of Napoleon III - lifeless, with his deathly pale face and leaden eyelids covering his dull eyes.” The writer more than once mentions these “dull eyes, yellow-gray eyes with a clouded pupil,” creating the image of a cruel and stupid predator.
Showing the horrific depravity of the ruling classes, Zola sometimes gets carried away with naturalistic details. And yet the reader is convinced that already in Zola’s first novels there is no place for the dispassionate attitude towards bourgeois reality, for which he advocated in naturalistic aesthetics. They are full of anger and sarcasm, they are a kind of political pamphlets of enormous power.
Belly of Paris
The novel “The Belly of Paris” (1873) was created by Zola during the years of the Third Republic, which he initially welcomed. Remaining for a long time a supporter of bourgeois republicanism, the writer, with his characteristic observation, was forced to state already in the first years that the bourgeois republic changed almost nothing in the country.
The focus of the writer in this novel is the petty bourgeoisie, its behavior during the era of the empire, its attitude towards the republic. The Parisian market depicted in the novel is the personification of “fat-bellied Paris,” which “grew fat and quietly supported the empire.” These are the “fat people” who devour the “skinny ones”. The philosophy of these “decent”, “peaceful” people is most fully expressed by the shopkeeper Lisa Quenu, whose beliefs are determined by profit. The empire provides the opportunity to profit, trade, and she is for the empire.
This calm, beautiful, discreet woman is capable of any abomination, any betrayal and secret crime for the sake of profit.
A convict appears in Lisa’s family, her husband’s brother, Florent. In the December days of 1851, when the people of Paris were fighting for the Republic on the barricades, Florent accidentally found himself on the street. This was enough to get him to hard labor, about the horrors of which he tells a fairy tale to the little girl Polina. Florent is a dreamer. He does not even realize that the republican conspiracy, the organization of which he is absorbed in, is known to police agents from the very beginning.
If Zola condemns Florent for being groundless, then he denounces the other members of the republican group as ambitious, demagogues, traitors, as typical bourgeois republicans (teacher Charvet, shopkeeper Gavard, etc.).
In the conflict between the “fat” shopkeepers and the “skinny” Florent, the “decent” people win, who, one after another, rush to report him to the police prefecture. “However, what scoundrels all these decent people are!” - the author concludes his novel with these words of the artist Claude Lantier.
To show the “fullness” of the prosperous bourgeoisie, Zola paints a picture of material abundance, a picture of the Parisian market. The generosity of his colors is reminiscent of Flemish still lifes. He devotes entire pages to describing the fish and meat rows, mountains of vegetables and fruits, conveying all the shades, all the colors, all the smells.
His Excellency Eugene Rougon
In the novel “His Excellency Eugene Rougon” (1876), Zola again returns, as in “Extraction,” to showing the ruling circles of the empire. Over the several years of the existence of the Third Republic, Zola saw politicians, adventurers and intriguers who were ready to change their political orientation at any moment. This contributed to the creation of a bright, satirical one. the image of the political businessman Eugene Rougon. "
To get to power and maintain it, all means are good for Rougon - hypocrisy, intrigue, gossip, bribery, etc. The hardened politician de Marcy, deputies, and ministers are similar to him. The only difference between Rougon is that, like a big pointer dog on a hunt, he manages to grab the largest piece of prey. In terms of scale, Rougon can only be compared with the leader of this Bonapartist pack - the emperor himself.
Rougon is a cunning politician playing a complex game. He is ready to outdo the emperor himself in reactionary behavior, demanding the destruction of parliament, already deprived of its rights. Zola very subtly notices Rougon's characteristic sycophancy towards superiors and contempt for inferiors, hypocrisy, narcissism, and the cult of his own personality.
When Rougon speaks about the people, he is full of hatred and malice. His ideal is tyranny: “to control people with a whip, like some kind of herd,” “to rule by holding a whip in your hand.” He is sure that “the crowd loves the stick”, that “there is no salvation for France outside the principle of strong power.”
Under pressure from the people, the emperor was forced to carry out minor liberal reforms. The turn that Rougon, this supporter of the fist and strong power, makes is amazing even for seasoned bourgeois politicians. From now on, in order to maintain power, Rougon acts as a defender of the emperor's liberal policies.
The novel about Eugene Rougon is a topical, sharp political pamphlet directed against supporters of “strong power.”
Nana, Scum
Since the end of the 70s, the position of the Third Republic has strengthened; reactionary attempts to return the monarchy ended in failure. The bourgeois republicans won the elections of 1877. But the position of the people in the bourgeois Third Republic remained as difficult as during the years of the empire.
The influence of bourgeois reality and reactionary ideology on literature was reflected in these years in a decrease in criticism and in the strengthening of naturalistic tendencies.
The predominance of naturalistic features and some adaptation to the tastes of the bourgeois reader led to the fact that in the novel “Nana” (1880), according to Saltykov-Shchedrin, the “female torso” came first. The writer sought to show the immorality of the upper echelons of France/the collapse of the ruling classes, making the image of the courtesan Nana a symbol of all this. But sometimes Zola's critical position was not clearly expressed.
“Scale” (1882) shows the world of the middle bourgeoisie and officials. These are the inhabitants of one house, which outwardly has a “stately appearance, full of bourgeois dignity.” In fact, behind this hypocritical bourgeois respectability lies the most rabid depravity, corruption, and cruelty.
The impudent treatment of a sick, old woman who washes stairs for pennies and does the dirtiest work has a symbolic meaning. Its exploitation personifies the attitude of the bourgeoisie towards the people.
Zola was distinguished by his ability to feel and capture the “spirit of the times”, to guess new trends in the development of society. He reflected the beginning of the era of imperialism earlier than other French writers. Zola manages to realistically show the growth of monopolies and the process of ruin of small owners in the novel Ladies' Happiness (1883). Large capital, represented here by the Ladies' Happiness department store, mercilessly crushes the owners of small stores. The fate of the clothier Uncle Bodiu and his family, the old man Bourret and other small traders is tragic. The artist conveys the inevitability of their death by constantly contrasting the huge, bright, crowd-attracting store “Ladies' Happiness” with the dark “hole” of Uncle Bodu. The reasons for the success of Octave Mouret, the owner of Ladies' Happiness, are that he operates with huge capital, introduces new trading methods, makes extensive use of advertising, and ruthlessly exploits store workers. Octave Mouret is merciless towards his subordinates; he is not touched by the tragedies of the ruined people he destroyed. He lives and acts in the name of profit.
The features of a predator, an entrepreneur of a new era, are clearly outlined by Zola in the image of Octave Mouret. But the writer’s attitude towards the owner of “Ladies’ Happiness” is ambivalent. Observing the intensive development of capitalism, Zola believed that it contributed to the progress of society and the improvement of general well-being. This was influenced by bourgeois positivism. Therefore, the writer does not unconditionally condemn Octave Mouret, believing that “he is simply fulfilling the task facing his age.” All the activities of Octave Mouret are given in the novel through the perception of Denise Baudu, who is in love with him, idealizing the hero. Octave Mouret appears as the “poet” of his craft, bringing fantasy into commerce, and a man of exceptional energy. In the novel “Scum,” Octave Mouret is a depraved young man, but here the author ennobles his hero, giving him the ability to truly love the poor girl Denise. What is unexpected is that the owner of “Ladies’ Happiness” goes along with Denise’s desires to improve the situation of the employees, her dream of “a huge ideal store - a phalanstery of trade, where everyone deserves to receive their share of the profits and where, according to the contract, they are guaranteed a comfortable future.”
Faith in the civilizing mission of capitalist entrepreneurship, borrowed from the positivist O. Comte and other bourgeois sociologists, is also characteristic of Zola’s other novel about monopolies—Money. The writer artificially separates money from production and social relations, fetishizes it as a special, unrelated force, as a “factor of progress.”
By idealizing money, the writer elevates the main character of the novel, Aristide Saccard, although he shows the crime of the stock exchange, with which all his activities are connected. It's been twenty years since this financial crook was featured in Prey. But if then Zola had only a negative attitude towards his hero, now the image of Saccard is ambivalent.
Saccard undertakes a scam by creating a “World Bank” without his own capital. He is fascinated by projects for the development of the Middle East, the construction of communications routes, mines, etc. Through various advertising tricks, thousands of gullible people are captured and become small holders of bank shares. Exchange fraud is shown truthfully in the novel. In competition with the solid bank of the millionaire Gunderman, the inflated bank of Saccard collapses. It is typical that large shareholders cleverly save their capital; the entire burden of ruin falls on the shoulders of the poor. The tragedy for many disadvantaged families is devastating. Objectively, the conclusion follows that money associated with capitalist activity leads to crime and misfortune.
But to Zola it seems that the community of science and money drives progress, even if it is carried out through blood and suffering. In this regard, the image of Aristide Saccard is idealized. He is energetic, proactive, and cares about the poor children of the orphanage. This is a man who is supposedly passionate about his work for the sake of it. Having failed with the World Bank, he continues his activities in Holland, draining the seashore.
In his novel Germinal, written in the mid-80s, Zola exposed monopoly capital, the joint-stock Company that owns the mines. There are no longer any illusions about the creative role of capitalism.
Novels about the people "Trap"
The theme of the people had its own tradition in French literature before Zola. Suffice it to recall the works of O. Balzac, J. Sand, V. Hugo. But the significance of this topic is special; increased significantly in the 70-80s due to the growth of revolutionary activity of the masses. Zola’s novel “The Trap” (1877) is dedicated to the life of the people, the life of Parisian artisans. In the concept of the novel, the author partly proceeded from naturalistic principles, trying to show "how the hereditary vice of alcoholism destroys Gervaise Macquart and her husband, the roofer Coupeau. However, the plan already reflects the writer's desire to avoid lies in the portrayal of the people, to tell the truth, "to explain the morals of the people, the vices , fall, moral and physical deformity by the environment, the conditions created for workers in our society.” Zola wanted to recreate reality with absolute accuracy, so that the picture contained “morality in itself.”
The appearance of the novel caused a storm in bourgeois criticism. He was considered immoral, rude, dirty.
Zola turned to depicting unbearable living conditions that give rise to vices. The heroine of the novel is Gervaise Macquart. hardworking woman, loving mother. She dreams of working quietly, having a modest income, raising children, and “dying on her bed.” Gervaise makes incredible efforts to achieve prosperity for her family. But everything is in vain. Misfortune - Coupeau's fall from the roof - destroys all of Gervaise's dreams. Having been injured, Coupeau no longer works as before, he falls into a trap - Uncle Colomb's tavern, and turns into an alcoholic. Poverty gradually destroys the family; Depressed by her failures, Gervaise begins to drink with Coupeau. Both of them die. What is the reason for the death of these honest workers? In the heredity of the defect, in an accident or in the conditions of their life? There is no doubt that the novel exposes the social injustice of bourgeois society, the tragic deprivation of the people; His impoverishment leads to the corruption and death of the worker.
The hardest work does not provide people in bourgeois society with confidence in the future. It's not just alcoholics who become beggars. Painter Uncle Bru, who lost his sons in the Crimea, and worked honestly for fifty years, dies a beggar under the stairs.
And yet the artist did not fully understand the reasons for the plight of the people.
Zola limited his conclusions to philanthropic purposes. He wrote: “Close the taverns, open the schools... Alcoholism is destroying the people... Improve the health of working-class neighborhoods and increase wages.”
A. Barbusse rightly wrote: “There is a huge gap in this exciting work: the playwright does not indicate the true causes of evil, and this prevents him from seeing the only means of its destruction, it follows from this that the book leaves the impression of hopelessness, hopelessness, there is no indignation against the vile order.”
The desire to evoke compassion for the people among the ruling classes forced the artist to aggravate the shadow sides. He endows workers with all sorts of vices, which led to the writer being accused of discrediting the working class. In fact, Zola believed in the purity of the people. Evidence of this is the images of Gervaise, the blacksmith Gouget, Uncle Bru and others.
Paul Lafargue also noted that Zola’s mistake is that he portrays the people as passive, not fighting, and is only interested in their way of life.
Earth
The picture of French society would be incomplete without showing the life of the peasantry. The novel “Earth” (1887) recreates a real picture of peasant life. The persistent, inhuman labor of the peasants does not relieve them of want in bourgeois society. To stay on the surface, the peasant stubbornly clings to a piece of land.
The possessive psychology divides the peasants, forces them to stick to everything familiar and inert, and determines the savagery of their morals. The desire to hold onto the land at all costs pushes the peasant Buteau and his wife Lisa to commit crimes: they kill the old man Fouan and kill Lisa’s sister Françoise.
Having realistically reflected the conditions of existence of the French village, Zola, however, thickened the dark colors in his depiction of the peasants. Roman suffers from excessive physiology.
The book was condemned by critics from various points of view. The attacks of bourgeois criticism are explained primarily by the fact that Zola touched upon a forbidden topic - the life of the people. Progressive criticism, on the contrary, appreciated the writer’s courage, but was harsh on the naturalism of the work. However, positive images of the novel were found precisely among the people.
Despite the inhumane conditions, humanity remains in the peasants Jean, Françoise, and old Foin. Subsequently, in the novel “Devastation,” the peasant Jean, first depicted in “Earth,” becomes the embodiment of the healthy strength of the entire nation, an exponent of Zola’s positive ideals.
Anti-clerical novels
All his life Zola struggled with reaction in all its manifestations. Therefore, an important place in the Rougon-Macquart series is occupied by the exposure of the clergy and the Catholic religion.
In the novel “The Conquest of Plassans” (1874), in the image of the Jesuit Abbot Faujas, Zola presented a cunning politician, an energetic adventurer who serves the empire of Napoleon III. Appearing in Plassans as an unknown, poor priest with a dark past, Abbot Faujas soon becomes all-powerful. Abbe Faujas deftly removes all the obstacles that prevent him from promoting the deputy the government of Napoleon III needs to parliament. He quickly finds a common language with representatives of various political parties in the city. Even among the bourgeoisie of Plassans, Abbé Faujas stands out for his acumen.
The novel “The Misdemeanor of Abbe Mouret,” which appeared in 1875, is based on the opposition of an ascetic, religious worldview and a philosophy of a joyful perception of life. The embodiment of the church dogmas hated by the writer, asceticism brought to the point of absurdity, is the caricatured figure of “God’s gendarme,” the monk Brother Arcanzhia. He is ready to destroy all living things, full of disgust for the very manifestation of life. The complete opposite of this “freak” is the philosopher Jeanberia, a follower of the 18th century enlighteners.
The last novel of the epic, Doctor Pascal (1893), sums up the development of four generations of Rougon-Macquarts. Dr. Pascal follows the history of his family, studying the problem of heredity. But even in the novel, where this problem is given much attention, it is not the main one. Doctor Pascal himself, beloved by the people, a noble man, is not connected with his family, devoid of its negative traits; people simply call him “Doctor Pascal,” but not Rougon.
The novel glorifies life, love, alien to the world of proprietary interests. The ending of the novel is symbolic, in which the child of the deceased Pascal, “raising his little hand up like a banner, seems to be calling for life.”
But the true conclusion of the Rougon-Macquart epic is the novel “Rout”, although it is the penultimate, nineteenth, in the series.
Destruction
This novel was created at a time of intensifying reaction, the dominance of the military and monarchists, who especially showed themselves in the famous Dreyfus affair. He exposes the reactionary ruling circles, who are ready to seek salvation from the threat of revolution in military adventures. That is why the novel was received with hostility by the reaction. Zola was accused of anti-patriotism.
"Devastation" (1892) completes the social history of the Second Empire. The novel depicts the tragedy of France - the defeat of the French army near Sedan, defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. These events were reflected in Maupassant, Hugo and other writers, but Zola tried to cover them in full, to find out the reasons for the defeat. The writer devoted a lot of time to studying the history of the war, documents, was interested in the stories of its participants, and became acquainted with the area where the battles took place.
In depicting events and battle scenes, Zola followed the realistic tradition of Stendhal and L. Tolstoy, discarding the deceitful manner of embellishing the war. This did not stop Zola from paying tribute to the patriotism of the French people, the French soldiers. He excitedly spoke about the exploits of the defenders of desecrated France. Among them are ordinary soldiers - Corporal Jean, artilleryman Honore, dying on a cannon carriage, heroic defenders of Bazeille - worker Laurent and employee Weiss, and many other ordinary people. These are patriotic officers who are ready to honestly fulfill their duty - Colonel de Veil and General Marguerite. All the author’s sympathies are on their side; in them he sees the best forces of his people.
The people are not to blame for France's defeat. Zola saw the cause of the military catastrophe in the betrayal of the ruling classes, in the rotten political regime of the country. The symbol of the decayed regime is the puppet figure of the emperor, who with his huge retinue only gets in the way of the army. Zola denounces the unpreparedness of the leadership for war, the lack of coordination of actions, and the careerism of the officers. The betrayal of the upper classes is determined by their greed and proprietary interests. The manufacturer Delaherche and his wife quickly find a common language with the occupiers. The kulak farmer Fouchard spares a piece of bread for his soldiers, but cooperates with the Germans.
The army masses are depicted in a differentiated manner; vivid images of soldiers and officers are remembered - this is the great advantage of the novel.
Having shown the depravity of the political regime of France, which led it to disaster, the writer, however, rejected the solution chosen by the people of Paris - the Commune. The final two chapters of the novel depict the battles of the Versailles troops with the Communards. The writer did not understand the Paris Commune; he considered it the result of demoralization caused by the war. His favorite hero, the peasant Jean, whom Zola considered “the soul of France,” is forced to shoot the Communards. Maurice, Jean's friend, becomes a Communard, but the whole appearance of this hero is not characteristic of the true defenders of the Commune. He is only an anarchist fellow traveler of the Commune. Maurice is killed by a shot from his friend Jean.
The ending of the novel expresses the views of Zola, who chose the reformist path. Jean returns to the land, “ready to take on the great, difficult task of rebuilding all of France.”
Three cities
In the 90s, fighting the Catholic reaction, Zola created the anti-clerical series of novels “Three Cities”.
The first novel in the trilogy, Lourdes (1894), depicts a small town in the south that churchmen have turned into “a huge bazaar where masses and souls are sold.” The peasant girl Bernadette, suffering from hallucinations, dreamed of the Virgin Mary at the spring. The Church created a legend about the miracle, organized a pilgrimage to Lourdes, and founded a new profitable enterprise.
The priest Pierre Froment accompanies a sick girl, Marie de Guersin, a childhood friend, to Lourdes. Marie is healed. But Pierre understands that Marie’s healing is not the result of a miracle, but of self-hypnosis, which is completely explainable by science. Seeing the deception, the scam of the “holy fathers”, the depravity of the city in which the “holy spring” destroyed patriarchal morals, Pierre Froment painfully experiences a spiritual crisis, losing the remnants of faith. He believes that “Catholicism has outlived its usefulness.” Pierre dreams of a new religion.
In the next novel, Rome (1896), Pierre Froment breaks with the church.
In the third novel, “Paris” (1898), Pierre Froment tries to find his calling and solace in philanthropy. In this regard, Zola draws glaring social contradictions, an abyss between the rich and the poor. Being a man of reason, Pierre is convinced of the helplessness of philanthropy.
And yet, rejecting the revolutionary path of changing intolerant social conditions, Zola believes that gradual evolution will play a decisive role. He places his hopes on science and technological progress. This revealed the reformist errors of the writer, who did not accept the revolutionary path.
The “Three Cities” trilogy, exposing the dark machinations of the clergy and the intrigues of the Vatican, was included by the Catholic Church in the index of banned books.
Four Gospels
Zola's next series of novels, The Four Gospels, was a response to the strengthening of the revolutionary labor movement and the spread of socialist ideas. “Whenever I now undertake any research, I come across socialism,” wrote Zola.
The series includes novels: Fertility (1899), Labor (1901), Truth (1903) and the unfinished Justice.
The most significant novel in this series is “Labor.” The work strongly exposes capitalist reality and exposes class contradictions. I remember the realistic description of hard labor and the monstrous exploitation of workers at the Bezdna plant. These conditions give rise to general depravity - the degeneration of the bourgeoisie from excesses and luxury, the workers from hopeless poverty.
Zola is looking for ways to change inhuman relations. He understands the need for socialism, but considers its achievement possible only through reformism. The novel reveals the outdated social-utopian ideas of Fourier, which Zola was keen on at that time.
The main character, engineer Luc Froment, son of Pierre Froment, is guided by the reformist idea of the community of “labor, capital and talent.” He finds support and capital from a wealthy scientist - physicist Jordan. This is how the metallurgical plant in Kreshri arises on a new basis; around him, isolated from the whole world, is a socialist city, where new relationships and a new way of life are being created.
Labor becomes free. Kreshri's influence extends to The Abyss. The love of young people from working-class families and wealthy city dwellers erases social barriers. The “abyss” disappears, what remains is a happy society.
The weakness and illusory nature of such a utopia are obvious. But it is characteristic that Zola connects the future of humanity with socialism.
Zola and Russia
In the preface to the French edition of the collection “The Experimental Novel,” Zola wrote that he would forever retain his gratitude to Russia, which, during the difficult years of his life, when his books were not published in France, came to his aid.
Zola's interest in Russia was awakened, undoubtedly, under the influence of I. S. Turgenev, who lived in France in the 60s and 70s. With the assistance of Turgenev, Zola became an employee of the Russian magazine "Bulletin of Europe", where from 1875 to 1880 he published many correspondence and literary critical articles.
Zola was a popular writer among Russian progressive readers, who saw in him a representative of the “natural realistic school.” But the demanding Russian reader, as well as progressive criticism, condemned Zola’s passion for naturalism in such novels as “Nana” and “Earth”.
In the 90s, E. Zola’s struggle with reaction, participation in the Dreyfus affair, his courage and nobility aroused the ardent sympathy of the progressive Russian public, the writers Chekhov and Gorky.
The largest French writer, was born in Paris on April 2, 1840 in the family of an Italian civil engineer who accepted French citizenship. Emil spent his childhood and adolescence in Aix-en-Provence. In 1847, when the boy was not even seven, his father died, after which his relatives found themselves in an extremely difficult financial situation. Hoping that the friends of the late husband would be able to support them, their small family moved to the French capital in 1858.
Emile Zola received his education at the Lyceum, after which he worked in a merchant’s office and in a bookstore. Starting in 1862, he worked for about 4 years at the Ashet publishing house, which is why he decided to leave there, take up writing and thus earn a living. His rise to fame began with journalism, and subsequently his connection with it was never interrupted. Without distancing himself from the socio-political life of the country, Zola from time to time acted as a publicist, although he gained less fame in this field than as a creator of works of art.
In 1864, his debut collection of stories entitled “Tales of Ninon” was published, and in 1865 his first novel, “Claude’s Confession”, was published, which was, in fact, autobiographical and made the author notorious. This reputation was supported by a review of an art exhibition in 1866, in which Emile Zola passionately defended the creative style of the artist E. Manet, a representative of impressionism. Zola had a special sympathy for this new direction, which was reflected in the books “My Salon”, “What I Hate”, “Edouard Manet”. He also showed himself to be a supporter of the naturalistic school (preface to the drama “Thérèse Raquin” (1867)), which in practice was manifested in the introduction into the fabric of works of art of materials related to medicine, physiology, and discoveries in natural science. Zola was convinced that the biological principle plays the dominant role in human life.
Around 1868, Zola planned to write a series of novels, the heroes of which would be one family, represented by four or five generations. Of the novelists, he was the first to devote an entire series of works to one family. The Rougon-Macquart cycle. Natural and social history of one family in the era of the Second Empire" was written over twenty-two years (1871-1893) and became the most significant work in the creative biography of Emile Zola. The public did not immediately show interest in him, but after the 7th volume, the novel “The Trap,” written in 1877, the writer became famous and wealthy, and bought a house not far from the capital, in Meudon. The next novels in the series were highly anticipated, they were admired, they were subjected to severe criticism, but there were no indifferent people. In total, 20 volumes were written within the framework of Rougon-Macquart, which brought world fame and the status of the largest national writer after Victor Hugo.
But even fame did not help the writer to be sentenced to 1 year in prison on charges of libel. In 1898, Zola intervened in the so-called. the case of Alfred Dreyfus, unjustly convicted of betraying military secrets to a foreign state. In 1898, the writer addressed the president of the republic with an open letter “I accuse,” as a result of which he had to urgently leave for England. With the situation changing in favor of the convicted officer, the writer was able to return to France.
In the last years of his life, Zola worked on two cycles - “Three Cities” and “The Four Gospels” (the novels “Fertility”, “Labor”, “Truth” and “Justice”, of which the latter remained unfinished). Death found Emile Zola in Paris on September 28, 1902. The official cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning due to a malfunctioning chimney. The writer's contemporaries had reason to believe that he became a victim of political opponents, but no one was able to prove the version of the accident being staged.
Biography from Wikipedia
Emile Zola(French Émile Zola; April 2, 1840 (18400402), Paris - September 29, 1902, ibid.) - French writer, publicist and politician.
One of the most significant representatives of realism of the second half of the 19th century is the leader and theorist of the so-called naturalistic movement in literature. He is best known for his large-scale 20-volume series “Rougon-Macquart,” in which he described all layers of French society during the Second Empire. His works have been adapted into films and television many times.
He played a significant role in the high-profile “Dreyfus Affair”, because of which he was forced to emigrate to England.
Childhood and youth in Provence
Emile Zola was born on April 2, 1840 in Paris, in the family of an engineer of Italian origin, François Zola (in Italian the surname is read as Zola), who accepted French citizenship, and the mother of a French woman. In 1843, Emile's father received a contract to build a canal in Aix-en-Provence and moved his family there. Together with financial partners, he creates a company to implement planned projects in Provence. Work on the construction of a canal and dam to supply the city with water began in 1847, but in the same year Francois Zola died of pneumonia.
After the death of her husband, Emil's mother is in great need, living on a meager pension. In 1851, she returned with her son to Paris to follow a lawsuit brought by creditors against the company of the late François Zola. In 1852, the company was declared bankrupt, and the following year the canal changed owners.
Emil begins to receive education relatively late for that time - at the age of seven. His mother places him in a boarding school at the College of Bourbon in Aix-en-Provence, where he studies for five years. In Provence, Zola also received religious education - he received his first communion in 1852.
In Aix-en-Provence, one of Emile Zola's closest friends was the artist Paul Cézanne, with whom he would maintain friendship until the mid-1880s. At the same time, Zola became interested in the works of Alfred de Musset, Alfred de Vigny and Victor Hugo. He himself tries to write poetry, but it is now lost. The town of Aix-en-Provence and the entire region will become the source for many scenes and plots in his future novels from the Rougon-Macquart series. The very image of the city is depicted in books under a fictitious name Plassans.
Bohemian life
With regret for himself, in 1858 Emil moved to his mother in Paris. They live in fairly modest conditions. Zola's mother planned a career as a lawyer for her son, but he failed his bachelor's exam twice.
During the winter of 1860-1861, Emile begins a love affair with a girl named Bertha, whom he himself called “une fille à parties,” i.e., a prostitute. He nurtured the idea of “pulling her out of the stream”, introducing her to a decent occupation, but this idealism could not withstand the realities of life in Paris. This failure will serve as the basis for his first novel, The Confession of Claude (1865). Later, the plot will be partially retold by Emile in his Rougon-Macquart cycle. Among the characters in his works there will arise a similar supporter of religious education and a similar desire for a life without obligations.
At this time, Zola comprehends humanistic culture, reading Moliere, Montaigne and Shakespeare, and also falls under the influence of the more modern Jules Michelet. He is also interested in painting and is close to the impressionists: Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Jan Barthold Jongkind. Edouard Manet painted several portraits of Zola, and Paul Cézanne continued to be his closest friend. For many decades, the writer and artist will maintain warm relations, help each other financially, and conduct extensive correspondence. But after the publication of the novel “Creation”, in which Cezanne unpleasantly recognizes himself in the image of the artist Claude Lantier, their friendship ends. Cézanne sent his last letter to Zola in 1886 and since then they have not seen each other again.
First publications
Zola began his literary career as a journalist (collaboration with L’Evénement, Le Figaro, Le Rappel, Tribune); many of his first novels are typical “feuilleton novels” (“Mysteries of Marseilles” ( Les Mystères de Marseille, 1867)). Throughout the subsequent course of his creative career, Zola maintained contact with journalism (collections of articles “What I Hate” ( Mes haines, 1866), "Hike" ( Une campagne, 1882), “New Campaign” ( Nouvelle campagne, 1897)). These speeches are a sign of his active participation in political life.
Zola stood at the center of the literary life of France in the last thirty years of the 19th century and was associated with the largest writers of that time (“Lunches of Five” (1874) - with the participation of Gustave Flaubert, Ivan Turgenev, Alphonse Daudet and Edmond Goncourt; “Evenings of Medan” (1880) - a famous collection that included works by Zola himself, Joris Karl Huysmans, Guy de Maupassant and a number of minor naturalists such as Henri Cear, Léon Ennick and Paul Alexis).
In the last period of his life, Zola gravitated toward a socialist worldview, without going beyond radicalism. As the highest point of Zola’s political biography, his participation in the Dreyfus affair, which exposed the contradictions of France in the 1890s, should be noted - the famous article “J’accuse” (“I accuse”), for which the writer paid with exile in England (1898).
In 1901 and 1902, member of the French Academy Marcelin Berthelot nominated Emile Zola for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Death
Zola died in Paris from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the official version - due to a malfunction of the chimney in the fireplace. His last words to his wife were: “I feel bad, my head is pounding. Look, the dog is sick. We must have eaten something. It’s okay, everything will pass. There is no need to disturb anyone...” Contemporaries suspected that it could be a murder, but irrefutable evidence of this theory could not be found.
In 1953, journalist Jean Borel published an investigation in the newspaper Libération entitled “Was Zola Killed?” stating that Zola's death may have been a homicide rather than an accident. He based his assertions on the revelations of the Norman pharmacist Pierre Aquin, who said that the chimney sweep Henri Bouronfosse confessed to him that the chimney of Emile Zola's apartment in Paris was deliberately blocked.
Personal life
Emile Zola was married twice; from his second wife (Jeanne Rosero) he had two children.
Memory
A crater on Mercury is named after Emile Zola.
In the Paris metro there is a station called Avenue Emile Zola on line 10 next to the street of the same name.
Creation
Zola's first literary performances date back to the 1860s - Tales of Ninon ( Contes a Ninon, 1864), "Confession of Claude" ( La Confession de Claude, 1865), “Testament of the Dead” ( Le vœu d'une morte, 1866), “The Mysteries of Marseilles” ( Les Mystères de Marseille, 1867).
Young Zola quickly approaches his main works, the central hub of his creative activity - the 20-volume Rougon-Macquart series ( Les Rougon-Macquart). Already the novel “Thérèse Raquin” ( Thérèse Raquin, 1867) contained the main elements of the content of the grandiose “Natural and Social History of a Family during the Second Empire.”
Zola spends a lot of effort to show how the laws of heredity affect individual members of the Rougon-Macquart family. The entire epic is connected by a carefully developed plan based on the principle of heredity - in all the novels of the series there are members of the same family, so widely branched that its branches penetrate both the highest strata of France and its lower strata.
Portrait by Manet
Unfinished series “Four Gospels” (“Fruitfulness” ( Fécondite, 1899), “Labor”, “Truth” ( Verite, 1903), "Justice" ( Justice, not completed)) expresses this new stage in Zola’s work.
In the interval between the Rougon-Macquart and Four Gospels series, Zola wrote the Three Cities trilogy: Lourdes ( Lourdes, 1894), "Rome" ( Rome, 1896), "Paris" ( Paris, 1898).
Emile Zola in Russia
Emile Zola gained popularity in Russia several years earlier than in France. Already “Tales of Ninon” were noted by a sympathetic review (“Notes of the Fatherland”. 1865. T. 158. - P. 226-227). With the appearance of translations of the first two volumes of Rougon-Macquart (Bulletin of Europe, 1872. Books 7 and 8), its assimilation by a wide readership began. Translations of Zola's works were published with cuts for censorship reasons; the circulation of the novel "Prey", published in the publishing house. Karbasnikova (1874) was destroyed.
Gravestone remaining as a cenotaph on the site of Zola's original grave in Montmartre Cemetery, moved on June 4, 1908 to the Panthéon
The novel “The Belly of Paris”, translated simultaneously by “Delo”, “Bulletin of Europe”, “Notes of the Fatherland”, “Russian Bulletin”, “Iskra” and “Biblical. cheap and public access.” and published in two separate editions, finally established Zola’s reputation in Russia.
In the 1870s Zola was absorbed mainly by two groups of readers - the radical commoners and the liberal bourgeoisie. The first were attracted by sketches of the predatory morals of the bourgeoisie, which were used in our fight against the enthusiasm for the possibilities of capitalist development in Russia. The latter found in Zola material that clarified their own position. Both groups showed great interest in the theory of the scientific novel, seeing in it a solution to the problem of constructing tendentious fiction ( Boborykin P. Real romance in France // Otechestvennye zapiski. 1876. Book 6, 7).
The Russian Messenger took advantage of the pale depiction of the Republicans in The Rougons' Career and The Belly of Paris to combat the hostile ideology of the radicals. From March 1875 to December 1880, Zola collaborated with the Vestnik Evropy. The 64 “Paris Letters” published here were composed of social and everyday essays, stories, literary critical correspondence, art and theater criticism and set out for the first time the foundations of “naturalism”. Despite its success, Zola's correspondence caused disillusionment among radical circles with the theory of the experimental novel. This entailed, with little success in Russia of such works of Zola as “The Trap”, “Page of Love”, and the scandalous fame of “Nana”, a decline in Zola’s authority ( Basardin V. The latest Nana-turalism // Business. 1880. Book. 3 and 5; Temlinsky S. Zolaism in Russia. M., 1880).
Since the early 1880s. Zola’s literary influence became noticeable (in the stories “Varenka Ulmina” by L. Ya. Stechkina, “Stolen Happiness” by Vas. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, “Kennel”, “Training”, “Young” by P. Boborykin). This influence was insignificant, and most of all it affected P. Boborykin and M. Belinsky (I. Yasinsky).
In the 1880s and the first half of the 1890s. Zola's novels did not enjoy ideological influence and were circulated primarily in bourgeois reading circles (translations were published regularly in the Book of the Week and the Observer). In the 1890s. Zola again acquired major ideological influence in Russia in connection with the echoes of the Dreyfus affair, when a noisy controversy arose around the name of Zola in Russia (“Emile Zola and Captain Dreyfus. A New Sensational Novel,” issues I-XII, Warsaw, 1898).
Zola's latest novels were published in Russian translations in 10 or more editions simultaneously. In the 1900s, especially after 1905, interest in Zola noticeably waned, only to revive again after 1917. Even earlier, Zola’s novels received the function of propaganda material (“Labor and Capital”, a story based on Zola’s novel “In the Mines” (“Germinal”) ), Simbirsk, 1908) (V. M. Fritsche, Emil Zola (To whom the proletariat erects monuments), M., 1919).
Works
Novels
- Confession of Claude ( La Confession de Claude, 1865)
- Testament of the deceased ( Le vœu d'une morte, 1866)
- Teresa Raquin ( Thérèse Raquin, 1867)
- Marseille secrets ( Les Mystères de Marseille, 1867)
- Madeleine Fera ( Madeleine Ferat, 1868)
Rougon-Macquart
- Career of the Rougons ( La Fortune des Rougon, 1871)
- Production ( La Curée, 1872)
- Belly of Paris ( Le Ventre de Paris, 1873)
- Conquest of Plassans ( La Conquête de Plassans, 1874)
- Abbot Mouret's offense La Faute de l"Abbé Mouret, 1875)
- His Excellency Eugene Rougon ( Son Excellence Eugene Rougon, 1876)
- Trap ( L"Assommoir, 1877)
- Love Page ( Une Page d'amour, 1878)
- Nana ( Nana, 1880)
- Scale ( Pot-Bouille, 1882)
- Ladies' happiness ( Au Bonheur des Dames, 1883)
- Joy of life ( La Joie de vivre, 1884)
- Germinal ( Germinal, 1885)
- Creation ( L'Œuvre, 1886)
- Earth ( La Terre, 1887)
- Dream ( Le Rêve, 1888)
- Beast Man ( La Bête humaine, 1890)
- Money ( L'Argent, 1891)
- Defeat ( La Débâcle, 1892)
- Doctor Pascal ( Le Docteur Pascal, 1893)
Three cities
- Lourdes ( Lourdes, 1894)
- Rome ( Rome, 1896)
- Paris ( Paris, 1898)
Four Gospels
- Fertility ( Fécondite, 1899)
- Labor ( Travail, 1901)
- Truth ( Verite, 1903)
- Justice ( Justice, not completed)
Stories
- Siege of the mill ( L'attaque du moulin, 1880)
- Mrs. Sourdis ( Madame Sourdis, 1880)
- Captain Bührl ( Le Capitaine Burle, 1882)
Novels
- Tales of Ninon ( Contes a Ninon, 1864)
- New Tales of Ninon ( Nouveaux contes à Ninon, 1874)
Plays
- Heirs of Rabourdin ( Les heritiers Rabourdin, 1874)
- Rosebud ( Le bouton de rose, 1878)
- Rene ( Renée, 1887)
- Madelena ( Madeleine, 1889)
Literary and journalistic works
- What I hate ( Mes haines, 1866)
- My salon ( Mon Salon, 1866)
- Edouard Manet ( Edouard Manet, 1867)
- Experimental novel ( Le Roman experimental, 1880)
- Naturalist novelists ( Les romanciers naturalistes, 1881)
- Naturalism in the theater ( Le Naturalisme au theater, 1881)
- Our playwrights ( Nos auteurs dramatiques, 1881)
- Literary documents ( Documents littéraires, 1881)
- Hike ( Une campagne, 1882)
- New campaign ( Nouvelle campagne, 1897)
- Truth walks ( La verité en marche, 1901)
Editions in Russian
- Collected works in 18 volumes. – M.: Pravda, 1957. (Library “Ogonyok”).
- Collected works in 26 volumes. – M.: State Publishing House of Fiction, 1960–1967. - 300,000 copies.
- Collected works in 20 volumes (16 books). – M.: Golos, 1992–1998.
- Collected works in 12 volumes. – M.–Tver: Fiction, Alba, 1995–2000.
- Collected works in 20 volumes. – M.: Terra, 1996–1998.
- Collected works in 16 volumes. – M.: Book Club “Knigovek”, 2011.
- Teresa Raquin. Germinal. – M.: Fiction, 1975. (Library of World Literature).
- Career of the Rougons. Extraction. – M.: Fiction, 1980. (Library of classics).
- Trap. Germinal. – M.: Fiction, 1988. (Library of classics).
Selected literature about Zola
- Complete works of E. Zola with illustrations. - P.: Bibliothèque-Charpentier, 1906.
- L'Acrienne. - 1860.
- Temlinsky S. Zolaism, Critical. sketch, ed. 2nd, rev. and additional - M., 1881.
- Boborykin P. D.(in “Domestic Notes”, 1876, “Bulletin of Europe”, 1882, I, and “Observer”, 1882, XI, XII)
- Arsenyev K.(in "Bulletin of Europe", 1882, VIII; 1883, VI; 1884, XI; 1886, VI; 1891], IV, and in "Critical Studies", vol. II, St. Petersburg, 1888)
- Andreevich V.// "Bulletin of Europe". - 1892, VII.
- Slonimsky L. Zola. // "Bulletin of Europe". - 1892, IX.
- Mikhailovsky N.K.(in Complete collected works, vol. VI)
- Brandes G.// "Bulletin of Europe". - 1887. - X, to the Collection. composition
- Barro E. Zola, his life and literary activity. - St. Petersburg, 1895.
- Pelissier J. French literature of the 19th century. - M., 1894.
- Shepelevich L. Yu. Our contemporaries. - St. Petersburg, 1899.
- Kudrin N. E. (Rusanov). E. Zola, Literary and biographical sketch. - “Russian Wealth”, 1902, X (and in the “Gallery of Modern French Celebrities”, 1906).
- Anichkov Evg. E. Zola, “God’s World”, 1903, V (and in the book “Forerunners and Contemporaries”).
- Vengerov E. Zola, Critical-biographical essay, “Bulletin of Europe”, 1903, IX (and in “Literary Characteristics”, book II, St. Petersburg, 1905).
- Lozinsky Evg. Pedagogical ideas in the works of E. Zola. // “Russian Thought”, 1903, XII.
- Veselovsky Yu. E. Zola as a poet and humanist. // “Bulletin of Education”, 1911. - I, II.
- Fritsche V. M. E. Zola. - M., 1919.
- Fritsche V. M. Essay on the development of Western European literature. - M.: Giza, 1922.
- Eichenholtz M. E. Zola (1840-1902). // “Press and Revolution”, 1928, I.
- Rod E. A propos de l'Assomoir. - 1879.
- Ferdas V. La physiologie expérimentale et le roman expérimental. - P.: Claude Bernard et E. Zola, 1881.
- Alexis P. Emile Zola, notes d'un ami. - P., 1882.
- Maupassant G.de Emile Zola, 1883.
- Hubert. Le roman naturaliste. - 1885.
- Wolf E. Zola und die Grenzen von Poesie und Wissenschaft. - Kiel, 1891.
- Sherard R.H. Zola: biographical and critical study. - 1893.
- Engwer Th. Zola als Kunstkritiker. - B., 1894.
- Lotsch F.Über Zolas Sprachgebrauch. - Greifswald, 1895.
- Gaufiner. Étude syntaxique sur la langue de Zola. - Bonne, 1895.
- Lotsch F. Wörterbuch zu den Werken Zolas und einiger anderen modernen Schriftsteller. - Greifswald, 1896.
- Laporte A. Zola vs Zola. - P., 1896.
- Moneste J.L. Real Rome: Zola's replica. - 1896.
- Rauber A. A. Die Lehren von V. Hugo, L. Tolstoy und Zola. - 1896.
- Laporte A. Naturalism or the eternity of literature. E. Zola, Man and Work. - P., 1898.
- Bourgeois, a work by Zola. - P., 1898.
- Brunetje F. After the trial, 1898.
- Burger E. E. Zola, A. Daudet und andere Naturalisten Frankreichs. - Dresden, 1899.
- MacDonald A. Emil Zola, a study of his personality. - 1899.
- Vizetelly E. A. With Zola in England. - 1899.
- Ramond F.C. Characters Roujon-Macquart. - 1901.
- Conrad M. G. Von Emil Zola bis G. Hauptmann. Erinnerungen zur Geschichte der Moderne. - Lpz., 1902.
- Bouvier. L'œuvre de Zola. - P., 1904.
- Vizetelly E. A. Zola, novelist and reformer. - 1904.
- Lepelletier E. Emile Zola, sa vie, son œuvre. - P., 1909.
- Patterson J. G. Zola: characters of the Rougon-Macquarts novels, with biography. - 1912.
- Martino R. Le roman réaliste sous le second Empire. - P., 1913.
- Lemm S. Zur Entstehungsgeschichte von Emil Zolas "Rugon-Macquarts" und den "Quatre Evangiles". - Halle a. S., 1913.
- Mann H. Macht und Mensch. - Munich, 1919.
- Oehlert R. Emil Zola als Theaterdichter. - B., 1920.
- Rostand E. Deux romanciers de Provence: H. d'Urfé et E. Zola. - 1921.
- Martino P. Le naturalisme français. - 1923.
- Seillère E.A.A.L. Emile Zola, 1923: Baillot A., Emile Zola, l’homme, le penseur, le critique, 1924
- France A. La vie littéraire. - 1925. - V. I. - Pp. 225-239.
- France A. La vie littéraire. - 1926. - V. II (La pureté d’E. Zola, pp. 284-292).
- Deffoux L. et Zavie E. Le Groupe de Médan. - P., 1927.
- Josephson Matthew. Zola and his time. - N.Y., 1928.
- Doucet F. L'esthétique de Zola et son application à la critique, La Haye, s. a.
- Bainville J. Au seuil du siècle, études critiques, E. Zola. - P., 1929.
- Les soirées de Médan, 17/IV 1880 - 17/IV 1930, avec une préface inédite de Léon Hennique. - P., 1930.
- Piksanov N.K., Two centuries of Russian literature. - ed. 2nd. - M.: Giza, 1924.
- Mandelstam R. S. Fiction in the assessment of Russian Marxist criticism. - ed. 4th. - M.: Giza, 1928.
- Laporte A. Emile Zola, l'homme et l'œuvre, avec bibliographie. - 1894. - Pp. 247-294.
Film adaptations
- Victims of alcohol / Les victimes d’alcoolisme (France, 1902) (based on the novel “The Trap”)
- In a black country / Au pays noir (France, 1905) (based on the novel “Germinal”)
- The Trap / L’assommoir (France, 1909)
- Trap / Faldgruben (Denmark, 1909)
- The attack on the mill (USA, 1910)
- Victims of alcohol / Les victimes d’alcoolisme (France, 1911) (based on the novel “The Trap”)
- In the Land of Darkness / Au pays des ténèbres (France, 1912) (based on the novel “Germinal”)
- Page of Love / Una pagina d'amore (Italy, 1912)
- The Man-Beast (France, 1912) (possibly unrelated to Zola's novel)
- Germinal / Germinal (France, 1913)
- Limit the Nations / Gränsfolken (Sweden, 1913)
- Miracle / Miraklet (Sweden, 1913) (based on the novel “Lourdes”)
- Money / Penge (Denmark, 1914)
- Slaves of luxury and fashion (Russia, 1915) (based on the novel “Ladies' Happiness”)
- Destruction (USA, 1915) (based on the novel “Labor”)
- Therese Raquin / Therese Raquin (Italy, 1915)
- Frozen / The marble heart (USA, 1916) (based on the novel “Thérèse Raquin”)
- A man and the woman (USA, 1917) (based on the novel “Nana”)
- Pleasure / La cuccagna (Italy, 1917) (based on the novel “Prey”)
- Drunkenness / Drink (UK, 1917) (based on the novel “The Trap”)
- Labor (Russia, 1917)
- Man-Beast (Russia, 1917)
- Money / A penz (Hungary, 1919)
- Nana / Nana (Hungary, 1919)
- Femme fatale / Una donna funesta (Italy, 1919)
- Teresa Raquin (Russia, 1919)
- Labor / Travail, (France, 1919)
- Maddalena Ferrat (Italy, 1920)
- The Man-Beast / Die bestie im menschen (Germany, 1920)
- The Trap / L’assommoir (France, 1921)
- Earth / La terre (France, 1921)
- The Dream / La reve (France, 1921)
- Ladies' happiness / Zum paradies des damen (Germany, 1922)
- For a night of love / Pour une nuit d’amour (France, 1923)
- Page of Love / Una pagina d'amore (Italy, 1923)
- Nantas / Nantas (France, 1925)
- Nana / Nana (France, 1926)
- Money / L'argent (France, 1928)
- Therese Raquin / Therese Raquin (Germany, 1928)
- The Beast Man (La bête humaine), 1938
- Thérèse Raquin, 1953
- Gervaise, 1956
- Other people's wives (Pot-Bouille), 1957
- The Prey (La curée), 1966
- Misdemeanor of Abbe Mouret, 1970
- Zandali, 1991 (based on "Thérèse Raquin")
- Germinal, 1993
- At the End of the World / Na koniec świata (Poland, 1999) - based on the novel “Therese Raquin”, starring Justyna Stechkowska and Alexander Domogarov
- “The Age of Maupassant. Tales and stories of the 19th century", television series, series based on the novel “For a Night of Love” (“Pour une nuit d’amour”), 2009 (France)
- Ladies' Happiness (TV series), 2012
- Teresa Raquin ( In Secret) is a 2013 film directed by Charlie Stratton.