Academic literature on the topic 'J'accuse (Zola, Emile)'

If one conceives of modern society as a society that strives to free itself from the hand of tradition and conventional wisdom, then it seems difficult to overestimate the role of the intellectuals. Undoubtedly, the concept of the intellectual. It’s an ambiguous one. Its elusive character becomes apparent even from a linguistic point of view: the term intellectual is both a substantive and an adjective. Functionally speaking, one could perhaps define the intellectual as a person that uses professionally his or her own intellect. As such, it is hard to believe, as some authoritative scholars have maintained (dr. Wolf Lepenies among others), that the figure of the intellectual emerges historically at the end of the XIX century in France with Emile Zola and his famous article in the paper Aurore, entitled “J'accuse in defense” of Charles Dreyfus, as a case destined to shaken the third French Republic lining up the militarist and anti-Semitic right wing against the progressive political and cultural groups. A different view can be positively argued.