IDENTITY
La Terre
Literature
Work Summary
La Terre by Émile Zola is a novel in Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle centred on peasant families and conflicts over land in the Beauce. Through inheritance disputes, sexuality, violence and attachment to property, it presents rural life as shaped by economic pressure, bodily drives and an almost elemental struggle for possession of the soil.
Evidence Summary
Across two documented events from 8 Aug 1888 to 18 Aug 1888, Van Gogh's engagement with La Terre progresses through comparison/connection to practical/artistic application.
Van Gogh says that 'we've read La terre and Germinal' and, when painting a peasant, want to show that the reading has become part of them.
CONTEXT
Author / Source
Émile Zola
Work
La Terre
Years / Period
8 Aug 1888 | 18 Aug 1888
Van Gogh Relation
Read, Compared / Connected
EVIDENCE
Key Quotation
CONNECTIONS
Evidence Trail
8 Aug 1888 — Letter 657, note 18
Compared / Connected · Character comparison
The editors identify Van Gogh's comparison of his neighbours with the Buteaux as a reference to the violent peasant couple in La terre.
Response: He applies characters from the novel to people around him.
Connection: Direct literature–life comparison.
18 Aug 1888 — Letter 663
Applied / Used for Study · Recalled / explicitly connected to painting
Van Gogh says that 'we've read La terre and Germinal' and, when painting a peasant, want to show that the reading has become part of them.
Response: Direct confirmation that he had read La terre.
Connection: Direct literature–painting connection stated by Van Gogh.
Related Research Nodes
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Study Subject
Themes
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