Reading 19th century architectural and interior space reflections of modernization through the literary space: Émile Zola’s Nana

Abstract

The interdisciplinary study of architecture across many fields adds meaning to architecture. Literature, which is one of the areas that works together with architecture, conveys information to the reader on many topics, such as periods, daily life practices, social problems, and human-space relations. Analysis of a literary work combines literature and architecture while expanding the boundaries of architecture, thereby contributing to both disciplines. This study reads the spatial components drawn from social problems through one literary text. Specifically, it reveals the social and spatial results of modernism experienced in 19th-century Paris in Nana (1880), the ninth book of Emile Zola’s (1840-1902) 20-book Rougon-Macquart series. A qualitative methodology was used for the literature review and analysis of the novel. This case study revealed two main conflicts at the birth of modernism: the issue of class discrimination and the issue of gender. It is displayed that such an interdisciplinary spatial reading can directly relate literary texts and architecture.