Nouvelles Françaises Du Dix-Neuvième Siècle: Anthologie by Allan H. Pasco

Abstract

MLR, I03.2, 2008 543 Chapter i draws on Reik and Deleuze to argue that the (virtual) spectator's position in relation toSade's plays involves a kind ofmasochism avant la lettre,as the spectator is rendered 'impotent yet attentivewithin the safe illusion' (p. 3 I). This claim, along with the idea thatSade's theatre isproperly viewed in themind's eye rather than on stage, provides a connecting thread for thework as awhole. Chapter 2 examines what theSadean aesthetic of tout montrer, normally associated with thenovels,might mean in relation to theplays. Chapter 3 suggests that inhis emphasis on spectacle Sade tends to subvert traditional generic distinctions 'so as toassert the independent artistover a figureof authority' (p. 82), but once again from amasochistic position. In Chapter 4 the essential point is that 'the [Sadean] tableau thathalts action to suspend carnage isalien to sadism, whereas it is an essential aspect ofmasochism' (p. I03). Chapters 5 and 6 offer innovative analyses ofLes Yumelles, Le Boudoir, and Les Antiquaires. The first two are presented as explorations of the gaze, which is revealed to be 'partial, compromised and redundant as a means of accessing truth' (p. I44). As for Les Antiquaires, in that play 'the pleasures of dramatic performance are lost to literary playfulness' as the reader is drawn into an intertextual 'network of exchange and comparison' (p. I58). The seventh and final chapter considers the relation of Sade's theatre to the post-classical or (pre-)Romantic sublime. This involves the following claim: 'Immaterial yet spectacular, Sadean drama uses thedispositif thMtral toplot a stage-like space of fantasy in the reader's imagination' (p. I73). We are thus invited to appreciate Sade's plays as theymight be seen by our mind's eye, rather than wondering if they can actually be produced. Overall this is an engaging analysis, fullof interestingand thought-provoking insights.The author's grasp of the literary and aesthetic debates of Sade's time is impressive. Although not every reader will be convinced of the value thatWynn claims for Sade's plays, his study effectively challenges us to re-examine themboth in themselves and in their relation to thenovels. UNIVERSITY OF KENT JAMES FOWLER Nouvellesfranpaises du dix-neuviemesiecle: anthologie. Ed. by ALLANH. PASCO. Char lottesville: Rookwood. 2oo6. 487 pp. $59.95. ISBN 978-I-886365-59-9. This substantial anthology comprises an introduction entitled 'Qu-est-ce que lanou velle?', followed by twenty-six texts from seventeen authors. Many of the stories chosen are acknowledged classics, and most of thewriters major figures.They in clude fourwomen: Mme de Stael, George Sand, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, and Rachilde. Chateaubriand is represented by 'Rene, Balzac by 'Le Colonel Chabert' and two other texts, Stendhal by 'Vanina Vanini', Merimee by 'Carmen', 'Mateo Falcone', and 'La Venus d'Ille', Flaubert by 'Un cceur simple', Maupassant by 'Le Horla' and three shorter tales,Huysmans by 'Avau-l'eau'. Hugo and Zola make the selection, as do Vivant Denon, Barbey d'Aurevilly, Villiers de 1'Isle-Adam, andMar cel Schwob, whereas Gautier is surprisingly omitted. Pasco's introductory essay was originally published inNew Literary History in i99 i, and is effectivelya study of the poetics and problematics of the genre. He arrives at theunremarkable definition that 'une nouvelle est une courte fiction litteraireecrite en prose' (p. 6) (except when it is in verse), but then concedes that 'de telles discussions sont steriles et ne ciblent pas les enjeux reels' (p. 9). Yet although the anthology is aimed primarily at students, he makes no real attempt to introduce either the literaryhistory of short fictionor the social history of nineteenth-century France, still less to explore the cultural and lin guistic barrierswhich confront the twenty-first-centuryreader ofmany of these texts. No rationale isoffered forthechoice of texts,and while theyappear largely inchrono logical order of authors, this isnot always the case: thusHugo appears afterFlaubert, 544 Reviews Maupassant before Zola, Huysmans before Barbey. Each author's career ispresented in a couple of pages and followed by a brief bibliography. These sketches provide fac tual information, but few clues as tohow to interpret the texts.They are sometimes oddly redundant ormisleading: thuswe are told thatBalzac was 'unpetit homme trop rond, aux...