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[[fr:Emile Zola]][[nl:Emile Zola]] |
[[fr:Emile Zola]][[nl:Emile Zola]] |
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'''Émile Zola''' ([[Paris]], [[1840]] - [[1902]]) was an |
'''Émile Zola''' ([[Paris]], [[1840]] - [[1902]]) was an influential French [[novelist]], the most important example of the literary school of [[naturalism]] and a major figure in the political liberalization of [[France]]. |
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Born in Paris on April 2, 1840, the son of an Italian engineer, Emile Zola spent his childhood in Aix-en-Provence. At age 18 he would return to Paris where he eventually began to write a literary column for a newspaper. |
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More than half of his [[novel]]s were part of a set of 20 collectively known as [[Les Rougon-Macquart]]. Set in France's [[Second Empire]], it traces the hereditary influence of violence, [[alcohol]]ism, and [[prostitution]] in two branches of a family, the respectable Rougons and the disreputable Macquarts, for five generations. |
More than half of his [[novel]]s were part of a set of 20 collectively known as [[Les Rougon-Macquart]]. Set in France's [[Second Empire]], it traces the hereditary influence of violence, [[alcohol]]ism, and [[prostitution]] in two branches of a family, the respectable Rougons and the disreputable Macquarts, for five generations. |
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Zola and the important painter [[Paul Cezanne]] were friends from childhood and youth, but broke in later life over Zola's fictionalized depiction of Cezanne and the bohemian life of painters in the his novel ''L'Oeuvre'' (''The Masterpiece,'' [[1886]]). |
Zola and the important painter [[Paul Cezanne]] were friends from childhood and youth, but broke in later life over Zola's fictionalized depiction of Cezanne and the bohemian life of painters in the his novel ''L'Oeuvre'' (''The Masterpiece,'' [[1886]]). |
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He risked his career and even his life on [[January 13]], [[1898]] when he published his famous broadside, ''J'accuse'', declaring that the conviction and transportation to [[Devil's Island]] of the [[Anti-semitism|Jewish]] army captain [[Alfred Dreyfus]] after a false accusation of espionage (''missing end of sentence!''). The case, known as the [[Dreyfus affair]] had divided France deeply between the reactionary army and church and the more liberal commercial society. |
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Zola was a leading light of France and his letter formed a major turning-point in the Dreyfus affair, causing the captain's case to be reopened, whereupon he was acquitted. In the course of events, Zola was convicted and sentenced himself and removed from the [[Legion of Honor]]. He fled |
Zola was a leading light of France and his letter formed a major turning-point in the Dreyfus affair, causing the captain's case to be reopened, whereupon he was acquitted. In the course of events, Zola was convicted of libel and sentenced himself and removed from the [[Legion of Honor]]. He fled to [[England]] to escape imprisonment. Dreyfus was convicted again, but was ultimately freed, in large part due to the moral force of Zola's arguments. Zola said "The truth is on the march, and nothing shall stop it." |
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He died of [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning caused by a stopped chimney. His enemies were blamed, but nothing was proved. His body was moved to [[The Panthéon]] in [[Paris]] on June 4, [[1908]], two years after his death. |
He died of [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning caused by a stopped chimney. His enemies were blamed, but nothing was proved. His body was moved to [[The Panthéon]] in [[Paris]] on June 4, [[1908]], two years after his death. |
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Revision as of 13:45, 19 October 2002
Émile Zola (Paris, 1840 - 1902) was an influential French novelist, the most important example of the literary school of naturalism and a major figure in the political liberalization of France.
Born in Paris on April 2, 1840, the son of an Italian engineer, Emile Zola spent his childhood in Aix-en-Provence. At age 18 he would return to Paris where he eventually began to write a literary column for a newspaper.
More than half of his novels were part of a set of 20 collectively known as Les Rougon-Macquart. Set in France's Second Empire, it traces the hereditary influence of violence, alcoholism, and prostitution in two branches of a family, the respectable Rougons and the disreputable Macquarts, for five generations.
As he described his plans for the series, "I want to portray, at the outset of a century of liberty and truth, a family that cannot restrain itself in its rush to possess all the good things that progress is making available and is derailed by its own momentum, the fatal convulsions that accompany the birth of a new world."
Zola and the important painter Paul Cezanne were friends from childhood and youth, but broke in later life over Zola's fictionalized depiction of Cezanne and the bohemian life of painters in the his novel L'Oeuvre (The Masterpiece, 1886).
He risked his career and even his life on January 13, 1898 when he published his famous broadside, J'accuse, declaring that the conviction and transportation to Devil's Island of the Jewish army captain Alfred Dreyfus after a false accusation of espionage (missing end of sentence!). The case, known as the Dreyfus affair had divided France deeply between the reactionary army and church and the more liberal commercial society.
Zola was a leading light of France and his letter formed a major turning-point in the Dreyfus affair, causing the captain's case to be reopened, whereupon he was acquitted. In the course of events, Zola was convicted of libel and sentenced himself and removed from the Legion of Honor. He fled to England to escape imprisonment. Dreyfus was convicted again, but was ultimately freed, in large part due to the moral force of Zola's arguments. Zola said "The truth is on the march, and nothing shall stop it."
He died of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a stopped chimney. His enemies were blamed, but nothing was proved. His body was moved to The Panthéon in Paris on June 4, 1908, two years after his death.
Novels
- Les Rougon-Macquart
- La Fortune des Rougon
- La Curée (1871) A priest falls in love
- Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris ) (1873)
- La Conquête de Plassans
- La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret
- Son Excellence Eugène Rougon
- L'Assommoir (The Dram-shop or The Drunkard)
- Une Page d'amour
- Nana, the story of a young prostitute who dies at 18 of smallpox
- Pot-Bouille
- Au Bonheur des Dames
- La Joie de vivre
- Germinal, a strike against brutal conditions in the mines
- L'Oeuvre (1886)
- La Terre
- Le Rêve
- La Bête Humaine
- L'Argent (Money)
- La Débâcle, which tells of France's defeat at the Battle of Sedan in 1870. 1870.
- Le Docteur Pascal
External Links
- "J´accuse ...! Emile Zola, Alfred Dreyfus, and the greatest newspaper article in history", by Donald E,. Wilkes Jr. from Flagpole Magazine
- Family tree of the Rougon-Macquart families