Thérèse Raquin by Emile Zola: surgical method in psychiatry - reflection

There are several novels that pique our common interest, but Zola's ambition to put a ‘scientific aim above all others' in his 19th-century novel Thérèse Raquin provides a particularly interesting topic for collective reflection. After being criticised for vulgarity, in the preface to the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of psychiatry 2015-07, Vol.207 (1), p.36-36
Main Authors: Rogers, Jonathan P, Patterson, Jonathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
19th century
Ambition
Bernard, Claude (1813-1878)
Cadavers
Determinism
Famous Persons
Humans
Medicine in Literature
Mental disorders
Psychiatry
Reductionism
Surgeons
Zola, Emile (1840-1902)
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Summary:There are several novels that pique our common interest, but Zola's ambition to put a ‘scientific aim above all others' in his 19th-century novel Thérèse Raquin provides a particularly interesting topic for collective reflection. After being criticised for vulgarity, in the preface to the second edition of his work Zola justified his portrayal of a gruesome ménage àtrois as being analogous to the ‘analytical work that surgeons conduct on cadavers'. Criticism of Zola's work often focuses on whether he achieves the degree of reductionism and determinism that he allegedly strove for or whether, in fact, his predilections for the gothic and fantastic overshadow the novel's scientific, ‘surgical’ veneer. Similarly, psychiatric case notes often begin with a highly formulaic scientific account, yet on closer inspection digress to read more like a tragic novel.
ISSN:0007-1250
1472-1465
DOI:10.1192/bjp.bp.114.157982