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    Germinal by Émile Zola (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide
    Germinal by Émile Zola (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide
    Germinal by Émile Zola (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide
    Ebook41 pages19 minutes

    Germinal by Émile Zola (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

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    Unlock the more straightforward side of Germinal with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

    This engaging summary presents an analysis of Germinal by Émile Zola, which is often considered to be his masterpiece. It follows Étienne Lantier as he settles in a mining community in Northern France, where his growing interest in socialism and his horror at the miners’ miserable working conditions eventually lead him to incite a strike. Germinal forms part of Les Rougon-Macquart, an ambitious cycle of 20 novels which tells the story of one extended family under the Second French Empire. Émile Zola was the leading figure of the literary school of naturalism, as well as an influential social thinker, and is now regarded as one of France’s greatest novelists.

    Find out everything you need to know about Germinal in a fraction of the time!

    This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:

    • A complete plot summary
    • Character studies
    • Key themes and symbols
    • Questions for further reflection

    Why choose BrightSummaries.com?

    Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

    See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrightSummaries.com
    Release dateSep 22, 2017
    ISBN9782808000628
    Germinal by Émile Zola (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

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      Germinal by Émile Zola (Book Analysis) - Bright Summaries

      French writer and journalist

      Born in Paris in 1840.

      Died in Paris in 1902.

      Notable works:

      Nana (1880), novel

      The Ladies’ Paradise (1883), novel

      Germinal (1885), novel

      Émile Zola was born in 1840 and is one of the most celebrated novelists of 19th century France. He died in 1902, and is renowned as the leading figure of naturalism, a literary movement which aimed to incorporate the latest scientific innovations of the era. In his novels, Zola introduces a hypothesis formed following real-life observation and then tests it through experimentation. This aesthetic is exemplified by the Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels. This series of 20 books was Zola’s most significant literary output, and was hugely successful despite its many detractors.

      Zola is also famous for the political stances he took, which often led to reprisals against him. The best-known of these incidents was his condemnation of the Dreyfus affair, when Zola wrote a public letter entitled J’accuse…! (I accuse, 1898) which made a significant contribution to the resolution of the affair and Captain Dreyfus being cleared of the charges levelled against him.

      The emergence of socialism during the rise of capitalism

      Genre: novel

      Reference edition: Zola, É. (1998) Germinal. Trans. Collier, P. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

      1st edition: 1885

      Themes: mining, work, love, violence, friendship, hope, death, socialism, working conditions

      Germinal is the 13th volume

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