Nana

Author: (French) Zola, Jeanne Chen Shuzhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: Nana's bold depiction of the life of prostitutes led to its prohibition in many places. The Roman Catholic Church included it in its list of banned books as early as 1894, and none of Zola's other works were spared from the Church's ban. Additionally, countries such as the United Kingdom and Russia had successively banned its publication. In response to the criticism from Russian readers toward Zola's naturalist style, the publishing authorities issued a special statement that they published Zola's works but did not endorse his naturalist literary views. Zola, however, remained steadfast in his ways, continuing to write The Rougon-Macquart Family with a naturalist approach. As Maupassant said, "He loved to depict the challenging truth of nudity, knowing it would provoke readers yet he persisted. He wanted readers to learn to digest this ugliness rather than be repulsed." Nana specifically portrays lust and sensuality, with detailed descriptions and crude language. This "gaze of the voyeur fixated on female nudity" was not suitable for appearing so frequently in literary works. Yet, critics who defended Zola argued that since "Nana" did exist in society, Zola could not avoid the issue of pornography in his work, and he had the right to reflect it. Moreover, Zola was not a participant in the world of pornography; he drew on his accumulated experiences and used his wisdom to create Nana, making it far from being obscene.