"Sans doute habituée à une existence sédentaire": Des Esseintes's Turtle and the Residue of Naturalism

IF 0.1 3区 文学 0 LITERATURE, ROMANCE NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH STUDIES Pub Date : 2023-11-16 DOI:10.1353/ncf.2023.a911802
Susanna Lee
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Abstract

Abstract:

This article analyzes the decorated turtle in Huysmans's 1884 À rebours. It argues that des Esseintes's unfortunate animal, which perishes under its heavy ornamentation, plays out the apprehensions of its owner and embodies the psychological and physical perils that await him. Turtles—fundamental to nineteenth-century discoveries in developmental biology as well as to Darwin's theories of evolution—are at once instructive specimens and labile signifiers in competing narratives: sites and objects of theorization. The narrator's use of this animal thus also amounts to an insertion of naturalism within the novel's storied decadence. To make this argument, this article examines the turtle episode in the context of late nineteenth-century scientific and fictional writings about turtles, including Jules Hosch's 1878 short story "Histoire d'une tortue et d'un étudiant."

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“可能习惯了久坐不动的生活”:艾塞特斯的乌龟和自然主义的残余
摘要:本文分析了Huysmans 1884 À rebours中的装饰龟。它认为,德·埃森蒂斯那只不幸的动物,在厚重的装饰下死去,表现了它的主人的担忧,体现了等待他的心理和身体上的危险。海龟是19世纪发育生物学发现和达尔文进化论的基础,在相互竞争的叙述中,海龟既是具有指导意义的标本,又是不稳定的象征:是理论化的场所和对象。叙述者对这只动物的使用也相当于在小说的堕落故事中插入了自然主义。为了证明这一点,本文在19世纪晚期关于海龟的科学和虚构作品的背景下研究了海龟的故事,包括Jules Hosch 1878年的短篇小说“Histoire d’une tortue et d’un tudiant”。
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来源期刊
NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH STUDIES
NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH STUDIES LITERATURE, ROMANCE-
CiteScore
0.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
11
期刊介绍: Nineteenth-Century French Studies provides scholars and students with the opportunity to examine new trends, review promising research findings, and become better acquainted with professional developments in the field. Scholarly articles on all aspects of nineteenth-century French literature and criticism are invited. Published articles are peer reviewed to ensure scholarly integrity. This journal has an extensive book review section covering a variety of disciplines. Nineteenth-Century French Studies is published twice a year in two double issues, fall/winter and spring/summer.
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