Art being a signifier of the period that produces it, Charles Baudelaire and Gustave Flaubert were on a quest to find a literary form that would reflect the dramatic upheavals of their time. In this carefully researched, well-written book, Mills (Sewanee: The Univ. of the South) argues that these two authors launched what amounted to a linguistic revolution, inventing a ... Read morekind of language that fundamentally altered conventional verbal forms. Going beyond mere variations on standard literary structures, they fused poetry with prose, developing an aesthetic that paved the way for the modern age. They also painted modern life. Avoiding the traditional critical focus (Les Fleurs du mal, Madame Bovary, L'Education sentimentale), Mills concentrates on Baudelaire's Le Spleen de Paris and Flaubert's Trois Contes
less-known but seminal works that were the authors' last publications
showing how these works diverge from the rest of Baudelaire's and Flaubert's broader oeuvres and stand out as striking embodiments of their authors' artistic ideals. Through close textual analysis, Mills reveals how the innovative forms of Le Spleen de Paris and Trois Contes correspond to the new worldview of each work. This in-depth study of the nexus between form and history fills a significant void in French literary criticism. Summing Up: Recommended.
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