A propos d'une origine littéraire: Les Soirées de Médan

This article considers the question of origin by taking a literary example, the mythic story about the publication of Les Soirées de Médan (Zola, Maupassant, Huysmans, Hennique, Alexis, Céard). Based on Rousseau's theory of origin, it tries to demonstrate three propositions: (1) The myth is knowledge: for Naturalists, it was a way of interpreting their literary life. (2) The myth is a simplification: it showed the false image of a homogeneous group. (3) The myth is not a beginning: it organized through a teleological order the complex history of Naturalism. (In French) (AP)