Pauses descriptives et effet de ralentissement du récit dans le roman L’Œuvre, d’Emile Zola
Descriptive pauses and the effect of slowing down the story in the novel L’Œuvre, by Emile Zola

Author(s): Liliana Anghel
Subject(s): Descriptive linguistics, French Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Editura Junimea
Keywords: descriptive pause; slowing-down rhythm of narration; iterative description; symbolic details; landscape effect; impressionistic painting;
Summary/Abstract: This essay intends to demonstrate that several descriptions of the Parisian landscape in Emile Zola’s novel, Creation, interrupt the plot, the succession of events and slow down both the rhythm of the story and the rhythm of the narrative act, without wearying the reader. Some descriptive passages of the novel seem to develop for themselves, spreading as a break, as recreative moments, which delay the denouement. We will show how, from a description to another, the reader is charmed by the “descriptive pauses”, which are truly impressionistic pictures in prose, and by the highly significant descriptions, full of symbolic details and images, predicting the characters’ destiny.

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