L’indisable et l’obscène : Flaubert, Sade et la loi. A propos de Bouvard et Pécuchet

Argues that Gustave Flaubert’s unfinished satirical novel Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881) is more transgressive in its un-making of the concept of law and order than in the works of his literary model Sade. According to Pellegrini, both authors attack the concept of the law, yet Sade paradoxically confirms the importance of the law by subverting it. Flaubert, on the contrary, underlines the aporia in any given law, thereby questioning positivism and also stressing the impossibility of a meaningful progression of the plot in his novel Bouvard et Pécuchet.

Pellegrini, Florence.

Pellegrini, Florence. “L’indisable et l’obscène : Flaubert, Sade et la loi. A propos de Bouvard et Pécuchet.” Violence in French and Francophone Literature and Film, FLS, 35 (2008): 39-57. Print.

Denzel, Valentina

French

Journal Article