Abstract: Leaning heavily on the use of irony, Les Soirées de Médan takes aim at the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The stories of Zola, Maupassant, and Huysmans seem to be exemplary in their use of irony, scrolling through the trope’s range of possibilities in various ways. Zola emphasizes above all bitter and tragic irony. The other two authors share a more comical irony, especially Huysmans, who stands out from the others with a sui generis use of self-derision.
