Zola: réceptions comiques. Le naturalisme parodié par ses contemporains. Prose-poésie-théâtre (review)

Even readers with the most casual knowledge of French literature are aware that Naturalism was one of the most controversial movements in French literary history. From this well known assertion the excellent introduction to this volume proceeds to a brief but intelligent history of parody in nineteenth-century France, what the editors call parody's 'âge d'or'. Parody, it turns out, typifies the fin de siècle, often reduced to an era morbidly obsessed by decadence, since it reveals the period's important humorous side. The main body of the book presents parodies of Zola's works–mostly L'Assommoir and Nana–divided into prose, poetry and theater. Some insist on the squalid, like the deliciously entitled 'Idylle', in which a man cuts open his mistress's stomach when she swallows a five-franc coin he covets. Others mock and exaggerate Zola's use of argot or his excess of description and epic style. Still others, more imaginatively, parody the style indirect libre; or, as in one short play called 'Naturalisme aux Enfers', present five literary prostitutes who judge the newest addition to their number, Nana; or, playing on the existence of a so-called Naturalist school, create an 'examen naturaliste' which a panel of examiners administers to a nervous young student. The editors astutely point out the symbiosis which exists between parodist and parodied. Publications like Le Tintamarre, Le Chat Noir and La Caricature sought to bask in the reflected Zolian glory and thereby increase their own circulation. And the novelist, ever since his days at Hachette, appreciated the power of publicity, even negative publicity. After all, he himself is said to have written, with the help of Hennique and Céard, a parody of the stage version of L'Assommoir. Compère and Dousteyssier-Khoze provide important context in their introductions to each parodic piece and offer an impressive bibliography of both parodies of Zola and Naturalism and of secondary works. This volume should prove to be a valuable research tool for many zolistes.