I have but one passion, the search for light, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul. – J'Accuse

French journalist and author Emile Zola's novels had already made him controversial by 1898. His works told about the uglier side of life, and titles like L'Asspoimmoir (The Drunkard) and Les Bete Humaine (The Human Beast). In Germinal, Zola explored how badly French coal miners were treated and hinted they should strike for better conditions. He has been called the greatest journalist of the 19th century.

But Zola's most famous literary work was neither a novel nor an article; it was a letter published in a newspaper. He wrote this letter in 1898 to protest the treatment of Alfred Dreyfus, a French soldier who was in prison for life at Devil's Island. Dreyfus, who was Jewish, had been convicted of spying for Germany, but French courts – and the French government – ignored later evidence that proved Dreyfus was innocent. Zola was horrified at this, and wrote a letter to French president Felix Faure that came to be called “J'accuse ...!” which means “I accuse”. This letter, published in the newspaper L'Aurore, claimed that the governemnt, the military, and the judicial system had teamed up against Dreyfus because he was Jewish.

“J'accuse” made Zola a hearo around the world for his courage in taking on his own nations' government. In France, however, he was convicted of libel – writng something that is not true – and sentenced to prison. He fled to England, and his wife sold nearly all of his estate to pay his legal bills. Zola and Dreyfus were both pardoned when the truth came out that Dreyfus was innocent. Sadly, Zola died of asphyxiation soon after he return to France – some have speculated that he was murdered by his enemies. But his famous letter, which shone like a light on anti-Semittism (sic) in 19th century France, will live on forever.

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Emile Zola publicly supported the artist Edouard Manet who was belittled by art critics.

Paul Alexis (Secretary to Zola) Reading to Emile Zola, Giclee Print, Paul Cezanne

• Did you know that Emile Zola and Paul Cezanne were childhood friends?

• reading in art posters

Therese Raquin - In a dingy apartment on the Passage du Pont-Neuf in Paris, Thérèse Raquin is trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille. The numbing tedium of her life is suddenly shattered when she embarks on a turbulent affair with her husband’s earthy friend Laurent, but their animal passion for each other soon compels the lovers to commit a crime that will haunt them forever. Thérèse Raquin caused a scandal when it appeared in 1867 and brought its twenty-seven-year-old author a notoriety that followed him throughout his life. Zola’s novel is not only an uninhibited portrayal of adultery, madness, and ghostly revenge, but also a devastating exploration of the darkest aspects of human existence. [book description]

Germinal - expresses outrage at the exploitation of the many by the few, but also shows humanity’s capacity for compassion and hope.
Etienne Lantier, an unemployed railway worker, is a clever but uneducated young man with a dangerous temper. Forced to take a back-breaking job at Le Voreux mine when he cannot get other work, he discovers that his fellow miners are ill, hungry, and in debt, unable to feed and clothe their families. When conditions in the mining community deteriorate even further, Lantier finds himself leading a strike that could mean starvation or salvation for all. [book description]

Nana - Nana opens in 1867, the year of the World Fair, when Paris, thronged by a cosmopolitan elite, was a perfect target for Zola's scathing denunciation of hypocrisy and fin-de-siecle moral corruption. In this new translation, the fate of Nana – the Helen of Troy of the second Empire, and daughter of the laundress in L'Assommoir – is now rendered in racy, stylish English. [book description]