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Book Reviews261 The second part of the book is devoted to Foscolo's democratic ideology, as it transpires through his Dei Sepolcri (1807) and his archaeological search thereof; to the role of archaeology in the Risorgimento debate, represented by the contrasting conceptions ofMazzini and Gioberti; and to the archaeological imagery immediately preceding and following the 1848 revolutions in Italy: "The changing view of the monuments, and of their value in political propaganda, is reflected in the patterns of archaeological patronage of Pius IX in the years that follow his restoration" (169). The lack of a conclusive chapter and of a separate comprehensive bibliographical list at the end of the volume is partially compensated for by copious endnotes for each chapter. Springer's extensive background research is evident throughout her work. A table of selected chronology (1768-1871) which guides the reader through European political milestones of those years is also very helpful. Printed with welcome paucity of rivers, The Marble Wilderness will interest Italianists, art historians, historians, and specialists in comparative literatures. A fresh interdisciplinary approach to Romanticism is always welcome, and Springer is able to explore her theme effectively from a new point of view. ILONA KLEIN Loyola College in Maryland H. MEILI STEELE. Realism and the Drama ofReference: Strategies of Representation in Balzac, Flaubert, and James. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988. 162 p. H. Meili Steele'swork stands as a significant contribution to the way in which we read the works of three major novelists who have been somewhat loosely classified as "realists" by traditional criticism. Steele should be applauded for applying a rigorous critical approach to the works in question in order to show not only what they have in common but how they differ in their attempts to represent the world. Rather than accepting a hypothetical, stable world which the author posits in his attempt to show how certain characters interact with it, Steele examines how "language calls the world into being" (131). The "drama of reference" thus revolves around how the discontinuity encoded in the texts of Flaubert and James leads the reader beyond the unchallenged acceptance ofthe fixed ontology ofBalzac towards the linguistic discovery of selfand world. Steele's book is divided into eight chapters, an introduction, and conclusion, as well as helpful notes. The introduction sets the critical framework for the study, defining "realism" as "a set of discourse strategies that encourage the reader to believe in the text's referential power, not an imitation ofthe external world" (5). The study thus uses Balzac's Illusionsperdues as an example ofhow characters and narrator work within a seemingly pre-existing social and linguistic system without ever questioning its validity. Language becomes a tool for obtaining power and respectability, thus being a means to an end and 262Rocky Mountain Review not an object of fascination in and of itself. Mastery of the code and coherent use of knowledge allow Balzac's characters to refer to a world that is mutually agreed upon by the other characters. Against the backdrop of Balzac's presuppositions about language and the world, Steele goes on in the first part ofthe study to examine Flaubert's L'Education sentimentale, and, in part two, James's The Golden Bowl. Therefore, no separate chapter is devoted to Balzac, although the discussions ofFlaubert and James hinge quite closely on his work. Both parts of Steele's study are divided into four chapters entitled in each instance: "Setting," "Speech and Knowledge," "Narrator," and "Character." This parallel organization helps keep the reader on track since many of the same points are reconsidered but as they pertain to a different author. Although we cannot hope to summarize Steele's argument in each of these sections, it is possible to mention some of the more interesting points. After demonstrating how Flaubert "irrealizes" the ontologically secure world ofBalzac by refusing to attribute the power of knowledge to objects, names, and descriptions, Steele proceeds to an examination of speech in a chapter entitled "Language Without Subjects." Since both works are bildungsromans, the young character acquires knowledge of and admission to society through his contacts with others. While Balzac's Lucien may find himself in a Parisian society...

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