French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. de Georges, Poetics of Spiritualist Naturalism in the Novels of Joris-Karl Huysmans
Novel and Narrative Prose

Review published in Acta Fabula (December 2022, vol. 23, no. 10): “The Stylistic Conversion of Joris-Karl Huysmans” by Carine Roucan

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In the opening pages of Là-bas, Joris-Karl Huysmans calls for a novel aesthetic that he terms spiritualist naturalism. While critical tradition typically links this concept to the novelist’s religious conversion, it has less frequently explored his poetics of conversion, which takes place within and through writing. The resulting narrative, descriptive, and stylistic configurations reveal formal shifts aimed at fusing matter with spirituality. This challenging embodiment takes three distinct forms.

The incarnation of the spirit works upon the sensible surface by breaking it down or endowing it with a new depth, thereby constructing a two-tiered narrative. Transubstantiation, on the other hand, alters represented landscapes, characters, or objects, absorbing both eroticism and the sacred into them. Finally, transmutation—through culinary art or alchemy—converts disparate materials into a single, unified substance.

Serving as the keystone of En rade, Là-bas, and En route, spiritualist naturalism concentrates its effects at the heart of this trilogy of aesthetic conversion.

Alice De Georges is Associate Professor (maître de conférences habilitée à diriger les recherches) in French Literature at Université Côte d’Azur. Her research has focused primarily on the 19th-century novel and the works of Barbey d’Aurevilly and Huysmans. She is the author of Les Illusions de l’écriture ou la crise de la représentation dans l’œuvre romanesque de Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly (Champion, 2007) and the editor of Huysmans’s La Retraite de M. Bougran (Classiques-Garnier, 2019).

Joris-Karl Huysmans occupies a fascinating transition point in late nineteenth-century French literature, bridging the gap between uncompromising naturalism and the emergence of decadent and symbolist aesthetics. This critical study examines how his literary output evolved from gritty realism toward a deeply mystical worldview, particularly as manifested in pivotal works such as En rade, Là-bas, and En route. By analyzing the formal mechanisms of incarnation, transubstantiation, and transmutation, the author illuminates the intricate ways Huysmans sought to infuse material reality with profound spiritual dimensions through deliberate stylistic choices.

Scholars of nineteenth-century French fiction, fin-de-siècle aesthetics, and the relationship between literature and religion will find this volume a valuable resource. It addresses broader critical questions regarding how narrative technique adapts to ideological shifts, offering fresh perspectives on the mechanics of literary conversion. Readers interested in the evolution of the French novel and the intersection of aesthetic theory with spiritual crisis can use these insights to better understand Huysmans's unique contribution to modern literary history and his enduring influence on artistic expression.