Poétiques du descriptif dans le roman français du XIXe siècle éd. par Alice De Georges-Métral

Abstract

enhanced by his own careful reading of the text and the “configuration scénique nouvelle” (136) that he proposes as a result. His discussion of Dom Juan is especially noteworthy, with three drawings of his own supplied to help visualize the key moments under discussion. In the conclusion, Cornuaille describes his work as a counterpoint, a complement to the abundant bibliography on Molière by literary scholars. He sees his approach and the literary approach as two sides of the same coin, despite the fact that“on a toujours eu un peu trop tendance à encenser [Molière] l’auteur et à occulter [Molière] le metteur en scène” (264). He also opens up new avenues for further scholarship by arguing that we should take a closer look at the set design of Molière’s lesser plays, in order to better appreciate them. Thus, this book makes a major contribution to our understanding of Molière the director in tandem with Molière the writer. University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Stephanie O’Hara De Georges-Métral,Alice, éd. Poétiques du descriptif dans le roman français du XIXe siècle. Paris: Garnier, 2015. ISBN 978-2-8124-5083-9. Pp. 325. Description, while undeniably an integral feature of French fiction in the nineteenth century, is sometimes viewed as little more than “une pause dans le récit ou [...] un simple morceau de bravoure”(7). To counter that sort of dismissive assessment, this volume promotes the diversity of descriptive practices over the century and highlights, as a secondary focus, “le rapport que la configuration des descriptions entretient avec la peinture” (10). Following the editor’s brief preview of each article, Bernard Vouilloux proposes contrasting paradigms: a “modèle représentationaliste” featuring “la description-bloc” and a “modèle phénoméniste” characterized by “un épanchement du descriptif et une fragmentation ou mieux une pulvérulence du texte” (25). A pair of essays then circumscribe the period in question: Christof Schöch’s overview of descriptive practices from the late eighteenth century through the 1830s and Jean-Marie Seillan’s analysis of the increasing tension between realist and idealist aesthetics as the nineteenth century drew to a close. As one would expect, a number of studies treat canonical authors or works: Christophe Reffait focuses on an early scene in Le rouge et le noir, Arnaud Vareille probes the complexity of Balzacian portraiture in Béatrix, Pascale Auraix-Jonchière takes up Sand’s depiction of the countryside in Contes d’une grand-mère, Gaël Prigent and Alexandra Delattre each analyze aspects of Huysmans’s descriptions in different works, while Rosine Galluzzo-Dafflon traces the interplay of mimetic and semiotic modes in Zola’s Nana. Gabrielle Melison-Hirchwald sees in Daudet’s descriptive touch something of “le caractère irremplaçable de l’instantané” (178) that Impressionist painters sought to capture. Different works by Hugo draw the attention of both Odile Gannier and De Georges-Métral, while, in quite a different vein, Bertrand Marquer follows the evolution of nosography through 216 FRENCH REVIEW 91.2 Reviews 217 the century. In a more anecdotal manner that makes for interesting reading, MarieFran çoise Melmoux-Montaubin retraces the animated, at times heated exchanges between Jules Verne and his editor, Pierre-Jules Hetzel, over the extent and tenor of descriptive passages to be included in Voyages extraordinaires. Readers who make their way systematically through this volume—which can be challenging at times, given the subject matter and the profusion of critical terminology—will find the last two contributions especially rewarding. In a study of Un cœur simple that is both perceptive and gracefully written, Nadia Fartas shows how “une poétique de la simplicité se confond avec la simplicité du personnage” (256) to set the stage for the famously ambiguous ending. Jacques Neefs brings the collection to a satisfying close with his engaging reading of passages from Madame Bovary, L’éducation sentimentale, and À la recherche du temps perdu; alluding to the secondary emphasis of the volume, he observes:“On mesure combien le‘descriptif’transformé en prose-vision, s’ouvre ainsi à un autre type d’expérience, que l’on pourrait dire‘c...