Messiah or antichrist?

This new study is original in that, written by a person who is thoroughly familiar with the Judeo-Christian messianic tradition, it seeks to do justice to the strong religious thread that runs through all of Zola's work. In addition, Dr. Evenhuis's experience in the psychoanalytical approach to literature allows him to venture into intriguing speculations involving Zola's conscious or unconscious use of symbolism: the reader is invited to read between the lines of Zola's text in order to gain deeper insights into the author's inner world. Essentially, Messiah or Antichrist? examines the factors that may have induced Zola to embrace the messianic vision, and then systematically traces the rejection and eventual readopting of that myth in prose works that span a period of some forty years.