French Literature Reviews - 2026

The Illusions of Writing or the Crisis of Representation in the Novels of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly
Novel and Narrative Prose

Review in the journal Acta Fabula: The Poetics of Barbey d’Aurevilly: An Aesthetics of Illusion, by Laurence Claude-Phalippou

Alice de Georges-Métral

THE ILLUSIONS OF WRITING, or the Crisis of Representation in the Novels of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly

Honoré Champion
Collection "Romantisme et Modernité" n°104
Paris, 22.02.07
384 p.
70€
ISBN: 9782745314512

Publisher's overview:

In the eyes of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, the 19th century—born of a Revolution that weakened the notion of the sacred—is an era marked by the collapse of the onto-theological foundation of meaning. The century oscillates between moral straying and emptiness. These two interpretations of history offer the art of the novel two distinct configurations: the subversion of reader expectations and the foregrounding of absence. Both are reflected in how moral values are inscribed within narratives that either sidestep the axiological system or undermine any underlying ideology. Furthermore, each diegesis actively deconstructs generic identities and narratological structures. Descriptions, in turn, deceive the senses by presenting a picture that reverses or erases itself with every new brushstroke. Finally, embedded at the very heart of syntax and figures of speech, these games of deconstruction and elision reach back to the very source of novelistic creation, irrevocably turning writing into an illusion.

Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly occupies a singular place in nineteenth-century French literature, often associated with the post-Romantic transition toward modernity. His work frequently reflects the intellectual anxieties of an era grappling with the decline of traditional religious and social certainties. Readers interested in the evolution of narrative techniques and the philosophical underpinnings of literary representation during this period may find this analysis of the author's aesthetic choices relevant.

In the novels of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, the 19th century is marked by the collapse of the onto-theological foundation of meaning. The narratives subvert reader expectations and foreground absence, sidestepping axiological systems and undermining ideology. Generic identities and narratological structures are deconstructed, while descriptions deceive the senses. These games of deconstruction and elision within syntax and figures of speech turn writing into an illusion.