We are delighted to share the news that听Dr Claire White, Associate Professor of French in the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics, and Fellow of Girton College, 密桃视频, has published her new book,听Zola鈥檚 Dream: Idealism on Trial, with 密桃视频 University Press.
The study takes as its starting point 脡mile Zola鈥檚听Le R锚ve听(The Dream), first published in 1888, a work which baffled many of Zola鈥檚 readers at the time. With its apparently innocent fairytale quality,听Le R锚ve听stood in sharp contrast to Zola鈥檚 preceding novel,听La Terre, notorious for its scandalous depiction of peasant life. Critics accused Zola of inconsistency, even duplicity. One famously remarked: 鈥淢. Zola must make up his mind: he cannot be at once Zola and something other than Zola.鈥�
Dr White鈥檚 book revisits this apparent contradiction in Zola鈥檚 career. Through close readings of four key novels 鈥斕�Germinal听(1885),听Le R锚ve听(1888),听Lourdes听(1893), and听痴茅谤颈迟茅听(1902) 鈥� she examines how Zola engaged with 鈥渋dealism鈥�: not simply as a foil for his naturalism, but as a mode of thought and writing that continued to attract him, even offering possible solutions to the social and political questions that preoccupied him.
In doing so,听Zola鈥檚 Dream听casts a new light on Zola鈥檚 late career and on the broader cultural history of the late nineteenth century, a period in which naturalism and idealism were understood not only as literary categories but as rival worldviews.
Read more about the book on the听.
Dr White has also written a blog post for CUP reflecting on the project:听.
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