The Crisis of the Novel, the Novel of the Crisis. The project of liberation from the ‘naturalist impasse’ in Joris-Karl Huysmans’ Là-Bas Cover Image

Kryzys powieści, powieść kryzysu. Projekt wyjścia z „naturalistycznego impasu” w powieści Là-Bas Jorisa-Karla Huysmansa
The Crisis of the Novel, the Novel of the Crisis. The project of liberation from the ‘naturalist impasse’ in Joris-Karl Huysmans’ Là-Bas

Author(s): Karol Krzyżosiak
Subject(s): French Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie Studia Polonistyczne
Keywords: Huysmans; Là-Bas; anti-naturalism; meta-naturalism;

Summary/Abstract: This article attempts to reconstruct the key aspects of the criticism of literary naturalism present in J. K. Huysmans’ 1891 novel Là-Bas. The analysis is based on the opening dialogues of the characters and the following aesthetic considerations which appear to express not only the creative and spiritual transformation of the author himself, but also the ambience of anti-positivist turn of fin de siècle which, entering modernity, tries to free itself from the reductionist frames of naturalism and reveals an increasing interest towards the unconscious.

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 37
  • Page Range: 231-250
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Polish