Balzac avant Balzac (review)

In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in Bazac's early literary production. The 1990 publication of Balzac's early works in Œuvres diverses of the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, André Lorent's 1999 edition of Premiers Romans, published by Bouquins, as well as Eric H. du Plessis's recent English translation of Wann-Chlore (reviewed in this journal) testify to this growing interest. Dismissed until recently as juvenilia, Balzac's early novels and plays had been viewed as failed attempts at literature before, at long last, the great writer finally emerges in the late 1820s, with the publication of Physiologie du marriage and Le Dernier Chouan. Recent scholarship, however, has shown that, in fact, there was a lot of Balzac as we know him in that early Balzac. Balzac avant Balzac, a collection of essays edited by Claire Barel-Moisan and José-Luis Diaz, contributes to scholarship that seeks to present the writer's early works not merely as a preparation for the Comédie Humaine but as valuable in their own right.

Drawing on research conducted during a year-long seminar at Paris vii on early Balzac production, the volume begins with an excellent essay by José-Luis Diaz, who formulates the central premises of the articles that follow. First, Diaz suggests that, paradoxically, it was Balzac himself who contributed to the neglect of his early works by rejecting them as "productions de troisième ordre" (9). The second leitmotif of the volume is that although the early Balzac was long considered a mere preparation for the "grand Balzac" of the Comédie humaine, in fact in reading and studying Balzac's early literary production, we are faced with an entirely different author who needs to be considered and appreciated on his own terms. Such an approach brings out crucial theoretical questions about the nature of authorship and the making of an author, questions that certainly deserve further exploration in Balzac studies.

The volume is organized thematically. The first two articles deal with Balzac's childhood. Nicole Mozet, in "Que savons-nous de l'enfance de Balzac?" examines how, in the absence of an autobiography, the writer transposes elements of his childhood into his novels. Marie-Bénédicte Diethelm, in "Jardin des origines et origine du jardin: le paradis perdu du jeune Balzac" studies images associated with an ideal childhood - one which Balzac never had - that obsessively haunt his early novels.

The next set of articles address the question of authorship. José-Luis Diaz's essay is devoted to the earliest period of Balzac's literary career (1818-22), the very beginning of his "invention de soi comme écrivain" (47), and proposes a chronology of Balzac's evolution as a writer during this period. Caroline Raulet-Marcel's article focuses on how questions of what she calls "literary paternity" are treated within Balzac's early novels themselves. Joëlle Gleize's "Horace de Saint-Aubin, 'triste héros de pré-face'" examines how the pseudonyms that Balzac uses to sign his early novels, such as Horace de Saint-Aubin and Lord R'Hoone are developed and constructed into veritable characters in the prefaces of his novels. Christine Marcandier continues this examination of the pseudonym "Horace de Saint-Aubin" by focusing on Le Centenaire, where it functions as a "matrice narrative" (96) offering a guide of sorts for the reading of the novel itself.

The next two essays explore Balzac's theatrical production. Isabelle Michelot's "De l'essai à l'échec: les errances d'un rêveur de théâtre" provides an overview of Balzac's plays (largely overlooked by scholars), and then offers close readings of Cromwell and Le Nègre. Olivier Bara's contribution places Balzac's plays within the context of Restoration theater.

The final two articles return to Balzac's novels. Aude Déruelle analyses Balzac's unfinished historical novel L'Excommunié, and Claire Barel-Moisan examines the place and the role of the sciences in Balzac...