Émile Zola: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #639

by Brian Nelson

Émile Zola was the leader of the literary movement known as 'naturalism' and is one of the great figures of the novel. In his monumental Les Rougon-Macquart (1871-93), he explored the social and cultural landscape of the late nineteenth century in ways that scandalized bourgeois society. Zola opened the novel up to a new realm of subjects, including the realities of working-class life, class relations, and questions of gender and sexuality, and his writing embodied a new freedom of expression, with his bold, outspoken voice often inviting controversy.

In this Very Short Introduction, Brian Nelson examines Zola's major themes and narrative art. He illuminates the social and political contexts of Zola's work, and provides readings of five individual novels (The Belly of Paris, L'Assommoir, The Ladies' Paradise, Germinal, and Earth). Zola's naturalist theories, which attempted to align literature with science, helped to generate the stereotypical notion that his fiction was somehow nonfictional. Nelson, however, reveals how the most distinctive elements of Zola's writing go far beyond his theoretical naturalism, giving his novels their unique force. Throughout, he sets Zola's work in context, considering his relations with contemporary painters, his role in the Dreyfus Affair, and his eventual murder.


ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Literature, 21st Century, History

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Brian Nelson graduated from Cambridge and Oxford, teaching philosophy and cultural studies in Paris and Wales.

Since the 1980s, Nelson has taught at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, on French literature and cultural studies. From 2008 he has been Professor Emeritus of French Studies. Nelson also edits the Australian Journal of French Studies.

As well as his critical writings on French literature, Nelson has been one of the core translators of Oxford World's Classics' projects to translate all of Emile Zola's "Rougon-Macquart" cycle. Nelson translated 8 of the 20 books between 1995 and 2021 as part of their complete series.

Reviews

[Helga · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had but one passion: the truth.

I love Zola and his lyrical, realist and sometimes hyper-realist style, telling it how it is, showing us things we would prefer not to see; making it impossible for us to look the other way; talking the language of the common people; representing workers, prostitutes, artists and criminals as they really were.

“Zola was a moment in the history of the human conscience.”
Anatole France

This book is a great introduction to Zola and his works.
But a word of warning for those who haven’t but want to read Zola : This book is full of spoilers, specifically for The Belly of Paris, The Sin of Abbé Mouret, The Drinking Den, Nana, Pot Luck, The Ladies' Paradise, Germinal, TheEarth and Doctor Pascal.

[Emmeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does what it says on the packet. Following Thérèse Raquin and Germinal I felt like learning a bit more about Zola's context, as I am quite vague on non-English literature from earlier centuries. This was helpful for orienting me in the space and time, and served as a brief introduction to Zola's major works.

The explanations of major texts aren't exhaustive (the discussion of Germinal wasn't nearly as good as the introduction to my Oxford World Classics version), but it does give you a flavour for what they're about. I added a few to my list -- L'Assommoir, The Belly of Paris, Nana. Rather typically, my in-person book club has elected to read a Zola next, and it isn't any of those. But no matter; I'm glad to have an excuse to continue on this path for a little while.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good intro and overview, though replete with plot spoilers if you care about such things. Nelson is probably our greatest living translator of Zola into English, so has a lot of good stuff to say. Recommended after you have a read a couple of Les Rougon-Macquart are are planning to do more.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are good reasons to read this book: if you know nothing about Émile Zola, Brian Nelson's Very Short Introduction will convince you to add Zola to your TBR; and if you've read Zola in a general reader's kind of way, the VSI enhances your knowledge of the author and his books, making you want to read or re-read more of this author.

This VSI also explains why you might not want to read the Rougon-Macquart cycle in the chronological order that I used, because themes reveal themselves differently if you read the novels in publication order.  The VSI also provides the historical context for the novels in a way that you might not have understood if you don't have the OUP editions with their excellent introductions.  (Some of the novels were not available in OUP editions when I first started reading Zola, a problem since rectified.  See my post 'The Art of Book Introductions, or Why You Should Always Buy the Oxford Editions of Zola'.)

Brian Nelson, Emeritus Professor of French Studies and Translation Studies at Monash University here in Melbourne, translated some of the recent editions of the Rougon-Macquart cycle, and wrote the introductions.  His style, as you will know if you have read the OUP editions that he translated, is clear, free of pedantry and academic jargon, and easy for a general reader to enjoy.  I was really pleased to add this edition to my collections of VSIs.

Zola, (1840-1902) like his predecessor Balzac (1799-1850), used storytelling to examine his society, but Zola's focus was the changing cultural landscapes of the late 19th century.  He was a novelist of modernity driven by industrial capitalism.  He was interested in the new shapes of the city, new forms of social practice and economic organisation, and the heightened political pressures of the era.  One of the innovative features of his novels is the portrayal of crowds, a feature of the emerging mass society.

Committed to a literature of truth, and to a new freedom of expression, he introduced a new realm of subjects: urban poverty and the working class; class consciousness and class relations; sexuality and gender.  Truth, for him, was not just a matter of personal integrity, but also an aesthetic principle.  He believed in telling it like it is, with no aspect of human experience out of bounds.  He believed [and I do too] that a writer plays a social role.  What Zola shows is the lives of ordinary people but within the context of change: how they were affected by the growth of the city, by the abuse of power, by the growth of consumer culture, by banking, crime, poverty and prostitution.

His style was not documentary but ironic and satiric.  Zola was provocative, combative, critical and subversive.  He was the most criticised and maligned writer of his day, but also the most popular.  Today he is recognised as a narrative artist, a craftsman, a storyteller and a fabulist.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/02/18/e...

[Jeroen van Deelen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really want to read some Zola now, so I guess that’s mission accomplished for professor Brian Nelson!

[Melissa Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published by Oxford University Press in 2020, Brian Nelson's nonfiction book, "Émile Zola: A Very Short Introduction," is an excellent beginner's guide to the life and works of one of the most famous authors of all time, Émile Zola (1840-1902).

I knew *nothing* about Zola before a friend loaned me Zola's 1885 novel, "Germinal," to read, and I found myself enthralled. I wanted to read a lot more about Zola than what I could find online. Since my public library is not allowing Inter-Library Loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nelson's book was the only work on Zola I could afford to purchase online.

I'm so glad I was able to get my hands on this book. I enjoyed every page. This is a slim, dense volume, and I read the book twice. I read the section about the Dreyfus Affair, and Zola's probable murder by the far-right Ligue des Patriotes (League of Patriots), three times. Nelson does a remarkable job of explaining all of this material in succinct, accessible prose.

In 1908, Zola's remains were transferred to the Panthéon monument in Paris. "He was only the fourth French writer to be buried in the Panthéon, following Voltaire (1791), Rousseau (1794), and Victor Hugo (1885)." (pg 122) After reading that, I looked up pictures of Zola's tomb online.

Zola is a phenomenal writer. Nelson's prose about Zola's work is terse and restrained, and while he certainly praises Zola, he doesn't gush. I would have read a whole treatise on Zola that was nothing but hyperbolic fawning, but I appreciate that Nelson spared me from my own ridiculous impulses.

Five Zola-loving stars. Highly recommended for anyone interested in learning more about this author.

[Antonomasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adequate, though not exactly comprehensive. Focused on highlights - childhood, lots of space given over to a handful of key novels, Dreyfus Affair, death. Most VSIs I've read (usually focused on a topic rather than an individual) manage to pack more info into their short space than this one does.

There would seem to be scope for a better, and slightly longer but still shortish, modern biography of Zola in English, one that isn't just a book about the Dreyfus Affair, but it probably doesn't exist as the market would be quite limited. (There are a couple of dry OOP ones from the 80s and 90s, then Michael Rosen's 2018 book on Dreyfus.)

[Michael Jarvie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid introduction which focuses primarily on the novels in the Rougons-Macquart series, in particular the pivotal ones such as The Belly of Paris, L'Assommoir, Nana, The Ladies' Paradise, Germinal, and Earth. This is followed by a section discussing Zola's involvement in the Dreyfus affair through the publication of his polemical article "J'Accuse!"

[Dayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Nelson gives a delightful introduction of the greatness of Emile Zola. I am hereby declaring that my reading lists should always include Zola’s 20-book set of the Rougon-Macquart family.