Barbey d'Aurevilly, Jules Amédée

Barbey d'Aurevilly, Jules Amédée

(zhül ämādā` bärbā` dōrvēyē`), 1808–89, French writer and critic. An aristocrat and monarchist, he supported himself by journalism; his output of critical and polemical articles was enormous. He favored BalzacBalzac, Honoré de
, 1799–1850, French novelist, b. Tours. Balzac ranks among the great masters of the novel. Of a bourgeois family, he himself later added the "de" to his name.
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, early admired BaudelaireBaudelaire, Charles
, 1821–67, French poet and critic. His poetry, classical in form, introduced symbolism (see symbolists) by establishing symbolic correspondences among sensory images (e.g., colors, sounds, scents).
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, and harshly criticized naturalism. His novels and stories, set in his native Cotentin, are notable portrayals of provincial life and tragic struggle. Perhaps best remembered is Les Diaboliques (1874, tr. 1925), hallucinatory tales with a satanic motif.