French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Marquer, L'Autre siècle de Messer Gaster? Physiologies de l'estomac dans la littérature du XIXe siècle
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics
Bibliographic reference: Bertrand Marquer, L'Autre siècle de Messer Gaster? Physiologies de l'estomac dans la littérature du XIXe siècle, Hermann, collection "Hors collection", 2017. EAN13: 9782705694531.
"Holla! Messer Gaster, behold your reign!", exclaims Philarète Chasles upon reading The Magic Skin. This essay explores the meaning, rationale, and validity of such an exclamation by examining the emergence in the 19th century of a vast literature of the stomach. Beyond the diversity of the fields involved, the organizing principle that the stomach evokes or justifies particularly reflects the polymathic nature of 19th-century "physiology"—simultaneously a specialized field of knowledge, a method of analysis and exposition, an often parodic aesthetic "genre," and a way of understanding the social body. "Stomach literature" can thus be viewed as a vast intertext from which the study of emblematic works, from Balzac to Eugène Le Roy via Gautier, Flaubert, Zola, and Huysmans, can greatly benefit.
During the nineteenth century, the concept of physiology expanded beyond medical discourse to encompass satirical sketches, social observation, and literary experimentation. Writers frequently engaged with scientific and pseudo-scientific categories to diagnose the ills of the social body and the human condition. This period saw the proliferation of specialized studies and popular essays that sought to classify human behavior through bodily metaphors, creating a rich intersection between literature and nascent scientific disciplines.
Bertrand Marquer's L'Autre siècle de Messer Gaster? Physiologies de l'estomac dans la littérature du XIX e siècle explores the emergence of a vast literature of the stomach, examining how the stomach serves as an organizing principle that reflects the polymathic nature of nineteenth-century physiology. The study draws on emblematic works from Balzac to Eugène Le Roy via Gautier, Flaubert, Zola, and Huysmans. Readers interested in the intersections of literature, medicine, and nineteenth-century French culture may find this volume relevant.