Selling the Story: Transaction and Narrative Value in Balzac, Dostoevsky, and Zola

337 Pages·2019·21.456 MB·English

by  Jonathan Paine

SELLING THE STORY

S E L L I N G

THE
S T O RY
Transaction and Narrative Value
in Balzac, Dostoevsky, and Zola
JONATHAN PAINE
Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts
London, England
2019
Copyright © 2019 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
First printing
Cover art: Still Life with Books, by Jan Davidsz de Heem, courtesy of the
Rijksmuseum
Cover design: Tim Jones
9780674243040 (EPUB)
9780674243057 (MOBI)
9780674243033 (PDF)
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Names: Paine, Jonathan, author.
Title: Selling the story : transaction and narrative value in Balzac,
Dostoevsky, and Zola / Jonathan Paine.
Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2019. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019008949 | ISBN 9780674988439 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Authorship—Marketing—History—19th century. |
Balzac, Honoré de, 1799–1850—Criticism and interpretation. |
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821–1881—Criticism and interpretation. | Zola,
Émile, 1840–1902—Criticism and interpretation. | Economics and
literature—History—19th century. | Serialized fiction—History and
criticism. | Publishers and publishing—History—19th century.
Classification: LCC PN161 .P26 2019 | DDC 809.3/034—dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019008949
For Julie, Claire, Alex, and Olivia

Contents
Notes on Citation ix
Introduction: The Economics of Narrative 1
The Role of Economic Criticism 2
The Importance of the Publishing Context 13
Literature as Transaction 16
The Notion of Literary Value 23
Balzac, Dostoevsky, and Zola 35
1. Balzac: Narrative as Business 41
“Phrase-Mongers” (Marchands de phrases) 45
La Torpille: Experiments in Narrative Value 56
Esther: The Prospectus, Production Model 63
Lucien: Deconstructing the Prospectus 79
Vautrin: Vautrin or Vaut rien—Who Decides? 89
2. Dostoevsky: Who Buys the Story? 99
Reform, Experiment, and the Novel 102
How to Write a Novel? 119
The Novel as Prospectus 126
The Rejection of Prospectus 153
Auction: The Return of Commercial Value 156
Speculation 165
viii Contents
3. Zola: The Business of Narrative 183
The Commercialisation of the Book 184
The New Economics of Fiction 191
Zola as Promoter of Story and Book 200
From Promoter to Managing Director 205
La Curée: The Narrative of Business 214
L’Argent: The Business of Narrative 227
Conclusion: Accounts 249
Appendix A: Serialisation of The Brothers Karamazov 255
Appendix B: The Thirty- Eight Retellings of the Murder of Fedor Karamazov 257
Notes 261
Acknowledgements 311
Index 313
Notes on Citation
R
EFERENCES TO PRIMARY WORKS by Honoré de Balzac are, u nless
other wise indicated, to the twelve- volume Pléiade edition of La
Comédie humaine of 1975, edited by Pierre- Georges Castex, and are iden-
tified in my text by volume and page number in arabic numerals, with
the text of Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, edited by Pierre Citron, at
6:425–935. Similarly, references to Balzac’s correspondence, unless
other wise identified and other than with Eveline Hanska, are to the
five- volume Pléiade edition of 1960–1969 (Correspondance, edited by
Roger Pierrot) and are identified by the label Corr. followed by volume
and page number. References to Balzac’s correspondence with Madame
Hanska are to the two- volume Editions Laffont edition of 1990 (Lettres
à Madame Hanska, edited by Roger Pierrot) and are identified by the
label EH followed by volume and page number in the text.
References to Fedor Dostoevsky’s works are to the Voskresen’e
2003–2005 edition, Polnoe sobranie sochinenii F. M. Dostoevskogo v XVIII
tomakh, edited by G. N. Seleznev and o thers, eigh teen volumes with
three supplemental volumes, hereafter referred to in the text and notes
by volume and page number in arabic numerals. References to editorial
text in this edition are identified by the label PSS 2003–2005 preceding
volume and page numbers. Supplementary volumes are identified as
PSS 2003–2005, suppl. 1–3.
References to primary works by Emile Zola are, unless other wise
indicated, to the five- volume Pléiade edition of Les Rougon- Macquart: His-
toire naturelle et sociale d’une famille sous le Second Empire, edited by Henri
Mitterand (1960–1967), and are identified in my text by volume and page
number in arabic numerals.
All translations are my own unless other wise indicated.