Realism and the Drama of Reference

Realism and the Drama of Reference, Volume 1, is a scholarly examination of how language discloses the world within the realistic tradition. This work of literary criticism and linguistics shifts the definition of realism away from empirical accuracy and toward specific linguistic practices. By analyzing the problem of reference, the text explores how representation functions in the works of Balzac, Flaubert, and James.

This study of semiotics and theory focuses on three specific novels: Les Illusions perdues, L'Education sentimentale, and The Golden Bowl. The author analyzes the creation of cultural space, character speech, narrator authority, and the protagonist's experience. Through this lens, Realism and the Drama of Reference provides a new framework for understanding American and European fiction, specifically within French and English literary traditions.