ABSTRACT
What kind of a novel is Germinal? Emile lola's Germinal (1884-5) is a novel that portrays with unique power the revolutionary potential of the people and the urgent need for social change. The resonances of the title alone suggest as much: '''Germinal'' was the name given to the month ofApril in the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution, and it was on "12 Germinal, year III" that starving Parisians staged a famous uprising against the government of the Convention' (Lethbridge, 1993, p.vii). These resonances pervade the events and imagery of the novel at many different levels, but critics remain divided as to their effect. Before we reach any final conclusion on that, however, it is important to try to define what kind of novel Germinal is.
