French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Schweiger, Flaubert in His Own Words: Epistolary Writing in the Correspondence and the Works
Novel and Narrative Prose
Amélie Schweiger, Flaubert in His Own Words: Epistolary Writing in the Correspondence and the Works
Rouen, Le Havre: Publications of the Universities of Rouen and Le Havre, "Flaubert" series, 2012.
EAN 9782877755719.
144 p.
Price: 15 EUR
Publisher's Description:
As a novelist, Flaubert always championed the impersonal nature of his writing. This was a fundamental aesthetic stance: he did not write about himself in his works, which were to remain entirely detached from any intimate self-expression. Yet Flaubert was also a prolific letter writer. Should we then view his correspondence merely as an outlet for the personal asceticism imposed by his artistic principles? Far more subtle connections are woven between his public and private voices. By juxtaposing the correspondence with the literary works and examining how letters are embedded within his literary texts, the author demonstrates how literary and epistolary writing are closely intertwined.
Table of Contents
Foreword
CHAPTER I – LETTERS AND LITERATURE
“A Fairly Worthless Correspondence”
Belles-lettres
CHAPTER II – WRITING, WRITING TO YOU, WRITING TO MYSELF: THE EARLY WORKS
Dedicatee and Addressee
The Reader's Presence, or Strategies of Inclusion and Exclusion
Cold and Hot
The Empire of Subjectivity
From “I” to “He”: Novembre
CHAPTER III – THE PERVERSE GAMES OF THE EPISTOLARY: THE LETTER IN THE EARLY WORKS
The Purloined Letter: Un secret de Philippe le Prudent
The Letter and Death: Passion et vertu
Epistolary Exchange or Misunderstanding: L’Éducation sentimentale
Epistolary Exchange and Derision: L’Éducation sentimentale
CHAPTER IV – FROM THE EARLY LETTERS TO THE IMPERSONAL WORK
Introspection
Addresses
Epistolary Mirages: Letters to Louise Colet
The Muse: Letters to Louise Colet
Love in Art: Letters to Louise Colet
CHAPTER V – THE LETTERS FROM THE EAST OR “ARTISTICISM”
Self-Portrait of the Traveler as an Artist
The Temptation of Silence
The Orient to the Letter
CHAPTER VI – EPISTOLARY EDUCATION
By Way of News
The Positive
Conclusion
Bibliography of Cited Critical Studies
The nineteenth-century French novel occupies a central place in the development of modern narrative, with figures like Gustave Flaubert redefining the boundaries between authorial presence and artistic detachment. The tradition of epistolary writing has long offered writers a space for direct self-expression and intimate exchange, contrasting with the demands of published fiction. In this volume, Amélie Schweiger examines how Flaubert navigated the apparent contradiction between his famous insistence on literary impersonality and his prolific output as a letter writer.
The study considers how letters function both as standalone texts and as elements embedded within fictional narratives by juxtaposing the correspondence with the literary works. Readers interested in nineteenth-century French literature, narrative theory, and the correspondence of Gustave Flaubert may find this volume relevant to their research.