From Diaboliques (1874) to Histoires désobligeantes (1894) Literature and (im)morality in the stories of Barbey d’Aurevilly and Léon Bloy

Barbey d’Aurevilly and Léon Bloy reflect on the morality of literature in their various writings. From prefaces to columns in the press, the two authors question the morality and immorality of the literary works of their century. From the Diaboliques to the Histoires désobligeantes, Aurevilly and Bloy offer their readers cruel stories where the Evil One serves both as edification and protest against a fin-de-siècle world considered corrupt and monstrous.