ORIENTAL LANDSCAPE IN THE VISION OF A WRITER IN THE SECOND EMPIRE

Abstract

The journey to the East is part of the passion of Gustave Flaubert, who wrote a historical novel on the Punic War in ancient Carthage, Salammbô (1862). Before writing his novel, Flaubert wanted to visit the Orient to see with his eyes the ancient sites, the historical ruins and especially the African landscapes. He had to live the atmosphere there to make the “smell”, to make the oriental landscape breathe in the novel descriptions. Hence the description of Flaubert, always exotic, comes out of the clichés made by the speeches of the time on distant countries. His description also moves away from the Balzactian description which is always in the background of the novel. The Flaubertian description of the landscape by becoming subjective implies the refusal of the distinction of colonial civilization. This is the beginning of decolonization at a time when colonization is at its height.