The Physiology of the Employee

La Comédie Humaine #49

by Honoré de Balzac, Louis Trimolet (Illustrator), André Naffis-Sahely (Translator)

If Honoré de Balzac's Treatise on Elegant Living addressed one crucial pillar of modernity--the "mode" itself, fashion--his Physiology of the Employee examines another equally potent cornerstone to the modern era: bureaucracy, and all of the cogs and wheels of which it is composed. Long before Franz Kafka described the nightmarish metaphysics of office bureaucracy, Balzac had undertaken his own exploration of the dust-laden, stifling environment of the paper-pusher in all of his roles and guises. "Bureaucracy," as he defined it: "a gigantic power set in motion by dwarfs." In this guidebook, published for mass consumption in 1841, Balzac's classic theme of melodramatic ambition plays itself out within the confined, unbreathable space of the proto-cubicle, filtered through the restricted scale of the pocket handbook. The template for such later novels such as The Bureaucrats , and one of the first significant texts to grapple with the growing role of the bureaucrat, this physiology reads like a birding field guide in its presentation of the various classifications of the office employee, from the Intern to the Clerk (all ten species, from Dapper to Bootlicker to Drudger) to Office Manager, Department Head, Office Boy and Pensioner. The job titles may change over the years, and paper-pushing has perhaps evolved into email-forwarding, but the taxonomy remains the same. In our twenty-first-century crisis of employment, jobs continue to be themselves a form of currency, and the question continues to loom: when will it be quitting time?

Genres: Nonfiction, Classics, Literature

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1841

About the author

French writer Honoré de Balzac (born Honoré Balzac), a founder of the realist school of fiction, portrayed the panorama of society in a body of works, known collectively as La comédie humaine .

Honoré de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napoléon in 1815, his magnum opus, a sequence of almost a hundred novels and plays, entitled, presents life in the years.

Due to keen observation of fine detail and unfiltered representation, European literature regards Balzac. He features renowned multifaceted, even complex, morally ambiguous, full lesser characters. Character well imbues inanimate objects; the city of Paris, a backdrop, takes on many qualities. He influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles John Huffam Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac as well as important philosophers, such as Friedrich Engels. Many works of Balzac, made into films, continue to inspire.

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac adapted with trouble to the teaching style of his grammar. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. Balzac finished, and people then apprenticed him as a legal clerk, but after wearying of banal routine, he turned his back on law. He attempted a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician before and during his career. He failed in these efforts From his own experience, he reflects life difficulties and includes scenes.

Possibly due to his intense schedule and from health problems, Balzac suffered throughout his life. Financial and personal drama often strained his relationship with his family, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.

Reviews

[dv · Rating 3 out of 5]

In pratica, una bozza del 1841 destinata a prendere forma più compiuta tre anni dopo in Gli impiegati. Osservazioni ironiche e ciniche che rappresentano forse la prima compiuta critica letteraria della burocrazia e degli impiegati. Col senno di poi, mi dirigerei direttamente verso Gli impiegati, opera letteraria a tutti gli effetti e non solo insieme di bozzetti come queste pagine. Che tuttavia si fanno apprezzare (Balzac è Balzac!):

«Per l’impiegato la natura è l’ufficio. Il suo orizzonte è circoscritto ovunque da pratiche. I fenomeni atmosferici sono per lui l’aria che spira nei corridoi, le esalazioni maschili stagnanti in camere prive di ventilatori, l’odore di carta e penne; il suo territorio è un ammattonato o un impiantito cosparso di varie cose e spruzzato dall’annaffiatoio del fattorino. Il cielo è un soffitto cui manda sbadigli, la polvere è il suo elemento».

[Jason Furman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Balzac's taxonomy of the "employee"--which he spends over one hundred pages defining but appears to constitute a civil servant working in Paris and can be defined as "Someone who needs his salary to live and isn't free to resign as he isn't equipped for anything other than producing endless piles of paperwork." As Balzac notes, the "employee" is not to be confused with the Statesman--"Axiom One: Where the Employee Ends, the Statesman Begins." Thus begins a taxonomy that considers a wide variety of ranks, ranging from "intern" (the translator's term for "supernumerary clerk", which does seem an awful like like a modern intern) to "Head of Department" along with a cross-cutting wide variety of types ranging from "The Dapper" to "The Codger" to "The Bootlicker". All of this is described with a combination of wit and insight that feels much lighter and less deeply philosophical/historical than much of Balzac's anatomy of society. Moreover, much of the description of bureaucracy feels strikingly modern and relevant today.

The Physiology of the Employee in some ways serves as a nonfiction counterpart to Balzac's somewhat obscure novel Bureaucracy.

This particular edition was published by Wakefield Press is a nicely bound, nicely formatted paperback that has 19th century French illustrations that perfectly match the text (it is unclear to me if these illustrations were part of an edition in Balzac's time). Certainly worth a quick, enjoyable read.

[Lance Grabmiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny but also sad in a way. This little book on the ridiculousness of the workplace could have been written yesterday rather than almost 200 years ago. The only difference is that the kind of workplace he discusses here is unique to the civil service in France at the time. Now it has spread to pretty much every work environment.

[Mingamarco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Io mi sono sempre dichiarato religiosamente e zalonianamente impiegato da posto fisso sebbene la mia carriera dica qualcosa di diverso. Dirò di più discendo da un padre archetipo della figura impiegatizia bancario degli anni sessanta settanta qui vituperata dal sommo Balzac in veste di Claudio Lolli ante litteram. Quindi mi sento oggetto della satira dello scritttore e più precisamente probabilmente appartenga nella tipizzazione di Balzac alla categoria dello sgobbone.
Il pamphlet è salace e scritto con eleganza, arguzia e chiarezza di pensiero lampanti, con una modernità impressionante: tanto per citare un episodio la chiarezza con cui si umilia la disefficienza dell’impiegato pubblico verso il privato sembra ripetere la comparazione fra l’attuale numero di dipendenti della guardia forestale della regione Sicilia alla prostituzione a cui si deve sottoporre qualsiasi dirigente di azienda privata prima di farsi deliberare assunzione di qualsivoglia personale.
La parzialità della tesi e l’eccessivo riferimento alle attualità del tempo in cui è scritto il libro ne decrementano il brio, quindi è una lettura che passa e va.
Sicuramente sono deliziose le illustrazioni a cura di tale Trimolet.
Ma forse proprio perchè mi sento punto dal vivo mi viene da dire: ma non sarebbe stata altrettanto ridicola la fisiologia degli scrittori se paragonata a quella degli impiegati?

[Ahmet Enes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitap her ne kadar 1800ler Paris’indeki devlet dairelerini ve memurları anlatıyor olsa da bugünün kamu-özel sektör “beyazyakalı”larıyla neredeyse birebir örtşüyor.

“Yaşamak için maaşına ihtiyaç duyan ve istifa etmekte özür olmayan kişi; çünkü bu kişinin, sonsuz kağıt kalabalığı üretmekten başka hiçbir alanda donanımı yoktur” tarifi be kadar kitapta “çalışan”ın tarifi olarak verilse de bugün kaçımız bu tanımın dışındayız.

[İsmail Kaplan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Modern devlet aygıtının oluşturduğu "küçük insan" yığınlarını ustalıklı bir ironi ile tavsir ediyor Balzac. O küçük insanın hayallerini süsleyen daire başkanlıkları, bakanlıklar, müdürlükler vs. ise devlet aygıtının ne kadar hantal ve işi layıkıyla yapmaktan ne kadar uzak olduğunu gösteriyor. Kitabın yazılmasının üzerinden geçen 180 yılda değişen çok az şey var sanki. Üstelik karakterler de sadece devlette değil, her alanda varlığını sürdürüyor.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Translating supernumerary clerk as "intern" was a master stroke. Weird little mini genre that had its moment. If you enjoy Balzac's broad generalizations, you'll love this. Handsome little volume with nice illustrations.

[Beyza Özdemir · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Bir siyaset fırkacısı, on bin franklık pasaportları cebe indirebilir ve Fransa faturalarını öderken, o yabancı ülkeleri gezebilir. (…) Ve fakat sizin oğlunuz, ilerlemeyi sonsuz hesaplamalarla karıştıran bu medeniyetin döngüsel hareketlerine sıkışmış halde, günde ancak yirmi iki sous kazanabilir!”

[Paolo Calabrò · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depressingly actual and accurate, even after two centuries.

[Jeroen van den Dorpel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wat flauw, maar mogelijk waren zijn grapjes voor een fransman in 1841 beter te begrijpen.

[Çetineus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aday memurluk sınavında okutulacak kitap.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ultimate break down how an office works.the fact that there is no difference between the 19th century and 21st century is pretty alarming. For those who must suffer at work, would surely enjoy this book.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satiric look at the French civil service and government bureaucracy which is as true and accurate today in its description of government bureaucrats and bureaucracy as it was when this essay was originally published in 1841.

[Pedro Almeida Jorge · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun read. Maybe it was due to the translation, but sometimes I felt the jokes were passing me by. Still, it managed to consolidate my good impression about Balzac. I'll make sure to read Goriot.