Marthe
Encyclopedia
Marthe, histoire d'une fille (English: Marthe, the Story of a Girl - where "girl" has the implication "prostitute" ) was the first novel
by the French
writer Joris-Karl Huysmans
, published in 1876.
The book is autobiographical in inspiration and tells the story of the love affair between a young journalist called Léo and the heroine of the title, a would-be actress who works in a factory for artificial pearls as well as in a licensed brothel. The love affair breaks up and Marthe goes to live with the alcoholic actor-manager Ginginet. After his death, she is reduced to living on the streets. Huysmans was worried about the response to the book's controversial subject matter, since the author Jean Richepin
had recently been imprisoned for a month and fined for writing a book on the theme of prostitution. In spite of this, Marthe is not pornographic. Huysmans intended its squalid realism
as an attack on the overidealised view of Bohemian
life in Paris
he found in such Romantic
writers as Henri Murger
, whose famous Scènes de la vie bohème had appeared in 1848. Huysmans' style in Marthe owes a great deal to his literary hero at the time, Edmond de Goncourt
.
To avoid prosecution, Huysmans travelled to Brussels
to have Marthe issued by the Belgian
publisher Jean Gay, who had considerable experience smuggling contraband books across the French border. The novel appeared for sale in Belgium on October 1, 1876. Huysmans decided against smuggling it into France but when he attempted to take 400 copies through French customs, all but a handful were impounded. Huysmans decided to send some of the few remaining copies to leading figures of the literary scene in Paris. Edmond de Goncourt
offered qualified praise but Emile Zola
was most enthusiastic. Zola, the head of the new Naturalist
school of French fiction, soon became a friend and mentor to the young Huysmans, whose association with the Naturalist group would last until his most famous novel, A rebours
(1884), took Huysmans' writing in a completely different direction.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
writer Joris-Karl Huysmans
Joris-Karl Huysmans
Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans was a French novelist who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans . He is most famous for the novel À rebours...
, published in 1876.
The book is autobiographical in inspiration and tells the story of the love affair between a young journalist called Léo and the heroine of the title, a would-be actress who works in a factory for artificial pearls as well as in a licensed brothel. The love affair breaks up and Marthe goes to live with the alcoholic actor-manager Ginginet. After his death, she is reduced to living on the streets. Huysmans was worried about the response to the book's controversial subject matter, since the author Jean Richepin
Jean Richepin
Jean Richepin , French poet, novelist and dramatist, the son of an army doctor, was born at Médéa, French Algeria.At school and at the École Normale Supérieure he gave evidence of brilliant, if somewhat undisciplined, powers, for which he found physical vent in different directions—first as a...
had recently been imprisoned for a month and fined for writing a book on the theme of prostitution. In spite of this, Marthe is not pornographic. Huysmans intended its squalid realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
as an attack on the overidealised view of Bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
life in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
he found in such Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
writers as Henri Murger
Henri Murger
Louis-Henri Murger, also known as Henri Murger and Henry Murger was a French novelist and poet....
, whose famous Scènes de la vie bohème had appeared in 1848. Huysmans' style in Marthe owes a great deal to his literary hero at the time, Edmond de Goncourt
Edmond de Goncourt
Edmond de Goncourt , born Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt, was a French writer, literary critic, art critic, book publisher and the founder of the Académie Goncourt.-Biography:...
.
To avoid prosecution, Huysmans travelled to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
to have Marthe issued by the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
publisher Jean Gay, who had considerable experience smuggling contraband books across the French border. The novel appeared for sale in Belgium on October 1, 1876. Huysmans decided against smuggling it into France but when he attempted to take 400 copies through French customs, all but a handful were impounded. Huysmans decided to send some of the few remaining copies to leading figures of the literary scene in Paris. Edmond de Goncourt
Edmond de Goncourt
Edmond de Goncourt , born Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt, was a French writer, literary critic, art critic, book publisher and the founder of the Académie Goncourt.-Biography:...
offered qualified praise but Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
was most enthusiastic. Zola, the head of the new Naturalist
Naturalism (literature)
Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character...
school of French fiction, soon became a friend and mentor to the young Huysmans, whose association with the Naturalist group would last until his most famous novel, A rebours
À rebours
À rebours is a novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans...
(1884), took Huysmans' writing in a completely different direction.
Sources
- Huysmans Romans Volume One (Bouquins, Robert Laffont, 2005)
- Robert Baldick: The Life of J.-K. Huysmans (originally published by Oxford University Press, 1955; revised by Brendan King, Dedalus Press, 2006)