Social Darwinism in the French Ideological Novel

Examining French ideological novels, Louise Lyle charts the development of French hostility towards social Darwinism during the fin de siècle. Lyle argues that the antagonism of a wide range of authors from diverse literary schools was a consequence of and a response to historically specific insecurities relative to the state of the French nation. Grounded in the cultural history of biology, Lyle's study is an important contribution to literature and the history of science.