ABSTRACT
Even if the intellectual can have in life only one great encounter with truth, the destiny of the intellectual is to repeat that experience as often as possible. Zola was an intellectual who treated truth with decency and bravery. It was as an agent of truth that Émile Zola became the icon of public intellectuals in the Dreyfus affair. That is to say, “The intellectual that Zola exemplifies addresses those in power, and in doing so he attempts to act powerfully, seeking to mold public opinion, enlighten, and effectuate progressive change”. This intervention is based moreover on the intellectual’s claim of special competence to judge issues involving truth and public morality, and to act as spokesperson for a universal conscience that would transcend national, institutional, and dogmatic particularism.
