Subversions of the verisimilitude : reading narrative from Balzac to Sartre

Subversions of Verisimilitude focuses on the ways in which a number of French literary narratives written in the realist tradition show a dynamic balance between the desire of the author/narrator to present a verisimilar world and the need for aesthetic balance. While the works studied-narratives by Balzac, Flaubert, Zola, Colette, Proust, and Sartre-range over the course of a century, from 1835 to 1938, they share a perspective on the relations between and the need to engage questions of realist verisimilitude and narrative interest and aesthetics. The book discusses some of the subversive paths taken in realism and, specifically, in canonical narratives solidly anchored in the tradition. The goal here is to analyze these realist texts, regardless of the narrative mode chosen, in order to see the deviations and detours from realism, mostly for aesthetic ends.The book contributes to our understanding of nineteenth- and twentieth-century narrative and furthers our knowledge of the ways in which critical theory illuminates such canonical works. Subversions of Verisimilitude focuses on the ways in which a number of French literary narratives written in the realist tradition show a dynamic balance between the desire of the author/narrator to present a verisimilar world and the need for aesthetic balance. While the works studied-narratives by Balzac, Flaubert, Zola, Colette, Proust, and Sartre-range over the course of a century, from 1835 to 1938, they share a perspective on the relations between and the need to engage questions of realist verisimilitude and narrative interest and aesthetics. The book discusses some of the subversive paths taken in realism and, specifically, in canonical narratives solidly anchored in the tradition. The goal here is to analyze these realist texts, regardless of the narrative mode chosen, in order to see the deviations and detours from realism, mostly for aesthetic ends. The book contributes to our understanding of nineteenth- and twentieth-century narrative and furthers our knowledge of the ways in which critical theory illuminates such canonical works SUBVERSIONS OF VERISIMILITUDE: Reading Narrative from Balzac to Sartre......Page 4 Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 SUBVERSIONS OF VERISIMILITUDE......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 Le Contrat de mariage: Enallages of Person......Page 24 La Maison Nucingen: Twisted Plots and Plot Twists......Page 43 ‘‘Sarrasine’’: The Portcullis of Genders......Page 59 Flaubert and the Art of Self-Subversion......Page 71 Food for Thought: Le Ventre de Paris......Page 100 Deipnomachy, or Cooking with Zola......Page 120 Colette and Androcentrism......Page 137 Proust and the Ethics of Narration......Page 154 Proustian Astonishment......Page 168 Sartre’s Autodidacticism......Page 182 Body Parts......Page 199 Epilogue......Page 211 1. Balzac: Enallages and Twists......Page 214 2. Flaubert and Zola: Challenges to Verisimilitude......Page 221 3. Colette and Proust: Queering Modernism......Page 231 4. Sartre’s Bodies......Page 239 Bibliography......Page 244 Index......Page 250 SUBVERSIONS OF VERISIMILITUDE: Reading Narrative from Balzac to Sartre 4 Contents 8 Preface 10 SUBVERSIONS OF VERISIMILITUDE 12 Introduction 14 1. Balzac: Enallages and Twists 24 Le Contrat de mariage: Enallages of Person 24 La Maison Nucingen: Twisted Plots and Plot Twists 43 ‘‘Sarrasine’’: The Portcullis of Genders 59 2. Flaubert and Zola: Challenges to Verisimilitude 71 Flaubert and the Art of Self-Subversion 71 Food for Thought: Le Ventre de Paris 100 Deipnomachy, or Cooking with Zola 120 3. Colette and Proust: Queering Modernism 137 Colette and Androcentrism 137 Proust and the Ethics of Narration 154 Proustian Astonishment 168 4. Sartre’s Bodies 182 Sartre’s Autodidacticism 182 Body Parts 199 Epilogue 211 Notes 214 Introduction 214 1. Balzac: Enallages and Twists 214 2. Flaubert and Zola: Challenges to Verisimilitude 221 3. Colette and Proust: Queering Modernism 231 4. Sartre’s Bodies 239 Bibliography 244 Index 250