The Cambridge Companion to Balzac (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

Cambridge University Press, 2/2/2017
EAN 9781107066472, ISBN10: 1107066476

Hardcover, 246 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm
Language: English

One of the founders of literary realism and the serial novel, Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) was a prolific writer who produced more than a hundred novels, plays and short stories during his career. With its dramatic plots and memorable characters, Balzac's fiction has enthralled generations of readers. 'La Comédie humaine', the vast collection of works in which he strove to document every aspect of nineteenth-century French society, has influenced writers from Flaubert, Zola and Proust to Dostoevsky and Oscar Wilde. This Companion provides a critical reappraisal of Balzac, combining studies of his major novels with guidance on the key narrative and thematic features of his writing. Twelve chapters by world-leading specialists encompass a wide spectrum of topics such as the representation of history, philosophy and religion, the plight of the struggling artist, gender and sexuality, and Balzac's depiction of the creative process itself.

Balzac's work
an overview of 'La Comédie humaine'
Introduction Andrew Watts
1. Balzac
a portrait of the novelist as social historian and scientist Elisabeth Gerwin
2. Balzac's early works Michael Tilby
3. Balzac's correspondence Ewa Szypula
4. Fantasy and reality in La Peau de chagrin David F. Bell
5. Balzac, money and the pursuit of power Allan H. Pasco
6. Le Père Goriot
arrivisme and the Parisian morality tale Armine Kotin Mortimer
7. Illusions perdues
writers, artists and the reflexive novel Sotirios Paraschas
8. Balzac, gender and sexuality
La Cousine Bette Dorothy Kelly
9. Space, religion and politics in the Scènes de la vie de campagne Owen Heathcote
10. Balzac's shorter fiction Tim Farrant
11. Adapting Balzac Andrew Watts
12. Balzac's legacy Scott Lee
Epilogues
Dual Balzac Chantal Chawaf
Living Balzac Éric Jourdan
Guide to further reading.