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Image and Narrative : Online Magazine of the Visual Narrative 12, 3 (2011) 98-112

Available versions:

v1 (2011-09-06)

v2 (2011-10-10)

The Power of Tableaux Vivants in Zola: The Underside of the Image

Arnaud Rykner 1

(2011-08-19)

Although they have already been the particular focus of scholarly attention, the series of tableaux vivants at the heart of Zola's La Curée (1871) still continue to fascinate and raise questions. Like any image constructed by means of a work of literature, "The Loves of Narcissus and Echo" draw upon several different interwoven discursive and iconic modes which both contradict and substantiate each other. Usually analysed solely for their narrative value (as a "mise en abyme" of the novel), these tableaux vivants provide much more than a mere thematic and structural framework. The eroticism of the performance and that of the associated textua witticism (which provides the link between the silent images and those words) is enhanced by the much more disturbing eroticism of a lurking image which is both denied and revealed through the dressing room scene, bringing the chapter to a virtual close. It is a far from attractive affair of under layers which is brought to the fore in this scene.

1:	Institut de Recherches en Etudes Théâtrales (IRET)
	Université Paris III - Sorbonne nouvelle

Subject

:

Humanities and Social Sciences/Literature Humanities and Social Sciences/Musicology and performing arts Humanities and Social Sciences/Art and art history

Keyword(s): Tableaux vivants – Mime – Eroticism – Hidden image – Zola (Emile) – Gérôme (Jean-Léon)

halshs-00619079, version 2

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From: Arnaud Rykner <>

Submitted on: Friday, 7 October 2011 10:51:09

Updated on: Thursday, 13 October 2011 17:18:55