L'Année balzacienne 2008 (review)

Although this is the 50th volume of L'Année balzacienne, it remains as significant and as innovative as when it was launched in 1960. With its cluster on 'Balzac critique', its inclusion of hitherto under-exploited letters, fresh information about Balzac's publication procedures and new forays into thematic criticism, the collection consistently evidences an increasingly dynamic, interactive Balzac. The Balzac text is shown to be the product of an engagement with a variety of so-called 'others', whether these are his correspondents, publishers and readers, the ultimate other that is fictional or actual death—or that internal other: himself. The 'Balzac critique' section shows Balzac distinguishing himself from Sainte-Beuve (Patrick Labarthe), Eugène Sue (Alex Lascar) and, via his correspondence, Astolphe de Custine (with some interesting comments from the latter on Balzac and Catholicism) (Roger Pierrot), whilst he also develops as a modern, cultural critic charting the pace and nature of literary change (José-Luis Diaz). Balzac's ongoing internal self-appraisals are also illustrated, whether by showing varied perspectives on the 'poet-critic', Lucien de Rubempré (Patrick Berthier) or by pointing to simultaneous revivals and critiques of the pre-revolutionary religious past (Scott Sprenger on Sarrasine). A second, 'Synthèses' section, has Max Andréoli asking whether time in Balzac is objective or subjective, Alex Lascar's finely illustrated survey of marital relationships (divorce is, he notes, rarely mentioned in Balzac) and Maren Lackner on the interaction between Balzac and his increasingly sexually and socially aware female correspondents. In a final 'Analyses. Documents' grouping, Balzac's internal and external others take different if related forms such as debased literary language (as with Lucien), architectural descriptions and expiation/ death: Danielle Dupuis shows how the poetic realism of César Birotteau encompasses and transcends the vacuous or venal language of the 1820s bourgeoisie; Jean-Luc Planchet reconfigures the different architectural sites and literary influences (especially Sand) that inspired Massimilla Doni; Anne-Marie Baron sees L'Auberge rouge as a mystico-religious representation of the transformative power of violence and suffering. More explicitly documentary articles are immaculately researched, whether in relation to the complex and hitherto under-appreciated publication process of La Duchesse de Langeais in L'Écho de la Jeune France (Michael Tilby), the 'Le Grand Balzac' article of 1846, now attributed to Auguste Vitu, Théodore de Banville and Baudelaire (Marie-Bénédicte Diethelm), or, finally, a further set of moving testimonies in the press and from individuals after Balzac's death, betraying as much about their writers as about Balzac himself (Stéphane Vachon). The usual bibliographical sections close the volume. Apart from the occasional longueur and the odd colleague's reluctance to acknowledge even well-known work published in their chosen area, this is, then, a substantial, thought-provoking and eminently readable 50th edition of L'Année balzacienne.