
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The café-concert laundress The café-concert laundress
-
Zola’s laundresses Zola’s laundresses
-
Conclusion Conclusion
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6 Songs in the Laundry: Musical Meaning in Zola’s L’Assommoir
Get access-
Published:July 2024
Cite
Abstract
This chapter argues that the frequency of singing and songs in Émile Zola’s L’Assommoir (1877) makes it unique amongst the 20 novels that make up Les Rougon-Macquart, Zola’s cyclical narration of life under the French Second Empire. Accordingly, Scott seeks to resituate L’Assommoir in terms of the cultural history of the café-concert, placing its music back in the context of the performances and audiences of the 1860s–80s. In particular, the chapter argues that Zola’s choice to fill the pages of L’Assommoir with song draws the text into conversation with contemporaneous suspicions surrounding popular music culture. Her analysis ultimately uncovers a contrast between the weak and degraded character of the laundress Gervaise, in L’Assommoir, and the strong, confident, and morally upright laundresses who featured in popular music of the time. The chapter therefore raises the question of why Zola created a literary washerwoman so entirely different from the recognisable character-type who would have been such a familiar stage persona for many of his readers.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
October 2024 | 3 |
November 2024 | 2 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.