Flaubert's Tentation : Remapping Nineteenth-Century French Histories of Religion and Science

This is the first comprehensive study in English of Flaubert's least well-known masterpiece, the final version of his Temptation of Saint Anthony (1874) which, thanks to Foucault, has the reputation of being an arcane and erudite 'fantastic library' or, thanks to genetic criticism, is a 'narrative' of Flaubert's personal aesthetic ('oeuvre de toute ma vie'). By presuming instead no prior knowledge of the text, its versions or its contexts, Mary Orr provides new readings of the seven tableaux which comprise Temptation, and new ways of interpreting the work as a whole, whether the reader is a newcomer to Flaubert or a specialist. Arguing that Flaubert was imagining his own epoch through the eyes of a visionary saint in the fourth century AD, Orr elucidates the dialogues between religion and science that are the dynamic of the work for the first time. She also insists on the meticulous accuracy and imaginative representations of the science of the work, proposing - in the 'remapping' analogy of her subtitle - that Flaubert's Temptation is a paradigm of nineteenth-century French, and indeed European, 'literary science'. For nineteenth-century French and Flaubert specialists, this book then challenges received critical wisdom on a number of fronts. Through his unlikely protagonist-visionary, Flaubert's 'realism', 'anti-clericalism' and 'orientalism' are all given new airings in the religious and scientific evidence of the 1874 Temptation , as indeed in his 'temptation' to write the life of his times. This Is A Comprehensive Study In English Of Flaubert's Least Well-known Masterpiece, The Final Version Of His 'temptation Of Saint Anthony' (1874). Mary Orr Gives New Readings Of The Seven Tableaux In Temptation , And New Ways Of Interpreting The Work As A Paradigm Of 19th Century French, And Indeed European, 'literary Science'. Modern Critical Legacies 7 -- Remapping Literary-critical And Generic Dialogues 10 -- Remapping Forms And Knowledge 18 -- Part I Thinking Religion(s) 25 -- The Egypt Of St Anthony 26 -- Religion In The France Of Flaubert 34 -- The Egypt Of Nineteenth-century France 46 -- 1 Description Of Egypt 52 -- Geographies 53 -- Hagiographies 57 -- Semiologies 67 -- 2 Principalities And Powers 75 -- Turning The Tables: 'nebuchadnezzar's' Feast 76 -- Gifts And Knowledge: The 'queen Of Sheba' 85 -- 3 The Master Disciple 95 -- De-lionizing The Vita 97 -- Imitations Of The Life Of Christ 103 -- 4 Statements Of Faith(s) 115 -- The Universal 'church' 119 -- Angles On Vision 129 -- Remapping The Holy In The Land Of New Religions 135 -- Part Ii Sciences Of The Gods: Gods Of The Sciences 139 -- The Alexandrian Schools 143 -- The Museum National 148 -- Ancients, Antiquities, And Archaeologies Of Knowledge 153 -- 5 A Comedie (sur)humaine 159 -- Remodelling Nature's Gods 161 -- Hilarion's Egyptian Doubles 177 -- Matters Of Life And Death: New Generations In Geological Time 185 -- 6 The Devil In The Detail 189 -- Transports Of The Imagination 192 -- Selective In Finities 197 -- Transforming The Demons: Rethinking The Genesis Of Flaubert's Tentation 202 -- 7 Bones Of Contention 207 -- Family Resemblances 209 -- Marvellous And (m)any-headed Monsters 215 -- Revelations Or Analogues In Dialogue 226 -- Unities Of Composition 240 -- Literary Transformisms 246 -- Remapping Nineteenth-century French Literary-critical Terrains 249 -- Appendix 1 History Of The Early Christian Church; Egypt As Part Of The Roman Empire 300 -- Appendix 2 History Of Nineteenth-century France: State And Religion 302 -- Appendix 3 History Of Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, 1798-1901 305 -- Appendix 4 Key Dates For Franco-egyptian Relatios, 1802-1876 308 -- Appendix 5 History Of Nineteenth-century French Sciences And Scientific Institutes 311. Mary Orr. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [314]-336) And Index.