The thirteen essays in this volume, based on selected papers given at the Second Annual Conference of the Society of Dix-Neuviémistes (2003), explore the relationships between symbolic, monetary and literary currencies in nineteenth-century France. Essays focus on the sometimes surprising treatment of capitalism and commodity culture in the works of Mallarmé, Zola and Huysmans; the transfer and borrowing of economic and literary commodities, names, and concepts in nineteenth-century culture, from Flora Tristan’s July Monarchy to Schwob’s fin-de-siècle moment; and the interplay between wealth and identity, and commerce and globalisation, in the writings of Hugo, Janin, and Balzac. While it is widely acknowledged that the theme of money is central to nineteenth-century literature, this volume is innovative in tracing the variation, breadth and ubiquity of the idea of currencies in the cultural imaginary of the epoch.

The Editors: Sarah Capitanio BA, Ph.D. (Manchester), is Principal Lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton and has published on nineteenth- and twentieth-century French fiction. Lisa Downing M.A. (London) DPhil (Oxford), is a Reader at Queen Mary, University of London, and has published on sexuality in literary and psychological writings. Paul Rowe BA, Ph.D. (Birmingham), is a Lecturer at the University of Leeds and has published on French intellectual history. Nicholas White M.A., Ph.D. (Cambridge), is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and has published on marriage and the family in French fiction.