“Prophetic Realism”: Emancipatory Poetics of George Sand’s Novels Cover Image

„Realizm profetyczny”: emancypacyjna poetyka powieści George Sand
“Prophetic Realism”: Emancipatory Poetics of George Sand’s Novels

Author(s): Katarzyna Nadana-Sokołowska
Subject(s): Political Philosophy, Social Philosophy, Novel, French Literature, Social differentiation, 19th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: George Sand; utopia; idealism; literary representation of lower classes; woman;

Summary/Abstract: The article recalls George Sand as a writer whose works, especially those of the 1830s and 1840s, inspired the development of a democratic European society. It shows how Sand’s involvement in the democratisation of post-revolutionary France is intertwined with the poetics of her prose. The author introduces the term “not-entirely-realistic” to describe Sand’s writing, which at the same time consciously uses and transcends the poetics of contemporary realism, introducing into the novel the idealisation of chosen characters and fabulous or idyllic motifs in the creation of the world. On the example of selected works, the article discusses common features of typical Sandian protagonists. They are at the same time idealised (noble, selfless, generous, compassionate, and helpful) and idealists themselves, who dream of a better, more equitable social world, and believe that social commitment is consistent with the true message of the Gospel. The article also demonstrates how idyllic space in Sand’s fiction becomes a utopian sphere in which people from different social strata meet and interact as equals.

  • Issue Year: 2019
  • Issue No: 42
  • Page Range: 1-25
  • Page Count: 25
  • Language: Polish