Émile Zola

Zola, Émile (1840–1902), French novelist and founder of naturalism. His works proclaim a “scientific” vision of life determined entirely by heredity and environment. His first success, Thérèse Raquin (1867), was followed by the Rougon-Macquart cycle (20 vol., 1871–93), depicting, with powerful and often lurid realism, the fortunes of a contemporary family. It includes his celebrated studies of alcoholism (The Dram Shop, 1877), prostitution (Nona, 1880), and life in a mining community (Germinal, 1885). In 1898 Zola threw himself into the Dreyfus affair with the pamphlet “J'accuse,” attacking the army.

See also: Naturalism.