Durtal, hero of antimodernity

Huysmans made Durtal the last novelistic spokesperson of his antimodernity. Although his words initially draw on the traditional antiprogress and antimaterialist discourse passed down from Baudelaire, they are subsequently differentiated by their critique of the modern Church and the dream of a new artistic oblature. Tracing this idea from Là-bas to L’Oblat, this article explores Durtal’s antimodernity not only as a system of thought, but also as the expression of tragic heroism.