Article: Éros lumineux. Une exploration transmodale de la blancheur dans Olympia et Au Bonheur des Dames
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Date
2026
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Authors
Łukaszyk, Ewa A.
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Abstract
L’article présente une recherche parallèle sur des qualités visuelles, en particulier le potentiel expressif de la blancheur, menée par Édouard Manet et Émile Zola à l’intersection de la peinture et de la littérature. L’étude vise à élucider la relation et l’interdépendance entre trois dimensions : l’esthétique du lumineux, la nouvelle vision de la femme et l’émergence d’un érotisme mis au service du capitalisme moderne. Olympia de Manet et Au Bonheur des Dames de Zola, roman qui culmine avec une grande exposition commerciale de textiles blancs, sont deux oeuvres dans lesquelles l’exploration des valeurs lumineuses et des chromatismes nuancés proches de la blancheur occupe une place centrale. Dans ces deux oeuvres, la blancheur acquiert une nouvelle valeur érotique et gynocentrique, s’associant à une féminité moderne, vitaliste et triomphante. Avec la figure de Denise, une vendeuse qui se fait épouser par le patron, Éros improductif, auparavant incarné dans la figure d’une prostituée, est reconduit au domaine productif du mariage bourgeois. Zola intègre la puissance d’Éros dans la sphère économique, en en faisant un moteur légitime de l’ordre capitaliste. La femme devient le pivot de la dépense contrôlée. L’idéal moderne de la synesthésie, que l’on peut considérer comme le noyau de l’esthétique de la modernité, trouve sa concrétisation dans l’institution la plus paradoxale : le grand magasin.
Luminous Eros: The transmodal exploration of whiteness in Olympia and Au Bonheur des Dames. The article presents a parallel study of visual qualities, notably the potential of whiteness, carried out by Édouard Manet and Émile Zola at the crossroads of painting and literature. The objective of the study is to elucidate the connection and interdependence among three dimensions: the aesthetics of the luminous, the new vision of woman, and the concept of an eroticism put at the service of modern capitalism. Olympia and Au Bonheur des Dames, a novel culminating in a large commercial exhibition of white textiles, are two works in which the exploration of luminous values and nuanced chromatisms close to whiteness lies at the heart of the experimentation. In both works, whiteness acquires a new erotic and gynocentric value, associating itself with a modern, vitalist, and triumphant femininity. Through the figure of Denise, a saleswoman who marries her employer, unproductive Eros, previously embodied by the figure of a prostitute, is redirected to the productive domain of bourgeois marriage. Zola reintegrates the power of Eros into the economic sphere, making it a legitimate driving force of the capitalist order. Woman once again becomes the pivot of controlled expenditure. The modern ideal of synaesthesia, which can be considered the core of the aesthetics of modernity, finds its realisation in the most paradoxical institution: the shopping mall.
Luminous Eros: The transmodal exploration of whiteness in Olympia and Au Bonheur des Dames. The article presents a parallel study of visual qualities, notably the potential of whiteness, carried out by Édouard Manet and Émile Zola at the crossroads of painting and literature. The objective of the study is to elucidate the connection and interdependence among three dimensions: the aesthetics of the luminous, the new vision of woman, and the concept of an eroticism put at the service of modern capitalism. Olympia and Au Bonheur des Dames, a novel culminating in a large commercial exhibition of white textiles, are two works in which the exploration of luminous values and nuanced chromatisms close to whiteness lies at the heart of the experimentation. In both works, whiteness acquires a new erotic and gynocentric value, associating itself with a modern, vitalist, and triumphant femininity. Through the figure of Denise, a saleswoman who marries her employer, unproductive Eros, previously embodied by the figure of a prostitute, is redirected to the productive domain of bourgeois marriage. Zola reintegrates the power of Eros into the economic sphere, making it a legitimate driving force of the capitalist order. Woman once again becomes the pivot of controlled expenditure. The modern ideal of synaesthesia, which can be considered the core of the aesthetics of modernity, finds its realisation in the most paradoxical institution: the shopping mall.
Description
Subject Headings
kapitalismus, erotika, naturalismus (filozofie), ženy
Keywords
transmodalité, naturalisme, érotisme, gynocentrisme, capitalisme, transmodality, naturalism, eroticism, gynocentrism, capitalism
ISBN
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DOI
doi. org/ 10.15452/SR.2026.26.0008
License
CC BY-NC 4.0
Citation
Studia Romanistica 26(1), 2026, 101-115