Thérèse Raquin: Scientific Realism in Zola's Laboratory

The polemic between Louis Ulbach and Emile Zola concerning Thérèse Raquin at the moment of the novel's publication gave Zola the chance to develop his thoughts on the relation between science and literature in his responses to Ulbach and in his prefaces to the novel. This article explores the place of science in the novel using the concept of the laboratory and comparing Zola's positions to those espoused by Louis Pasteur in his use of the laboratory in the scientific domain during the same period. Zola's application of scientific models to his writing is thus analyzed and a new definition of his materialism is proposed.(DFB)