Germinal

New year, same problems. Although a very interesting lecture I found the material very difficult to comprehend in such a fast pace session, which was a problem I had encountered last year.



However I did see a connection between the philosophy and Germinal, which I think isn't particularly subtle. The idea of revolutionary change in Germinal, is represented through a miner's strike which Zola naturally took an interest in because it showed the world had not reached perfection as people were revolting through strikes, its foundation (the workers) were unhappy and were causing society to crumble. Which is what D. Sandy Petrey argues in his article 'The Revolutionary Setting of Germinal' by saying



"Strikes became the primary symbol of socialist revolt. Zola consequently left his study of the commune to La Debacle to incarnate the movement of the proletariat in a strike, a subject whose vast dramatic potential had never before been exploited in a novel".



This I feel connected really well to the Young Hegelians because they preached against Hegel who claimed the world had reached its ultimate perfection, well, surely if people are rebelling against the system that is already in place it cannot be perfect, as a perfect society would please everybody. However this connection may not have been as obvious to others, if not I would be very interested in hearing other impressions. Tell me what you think?