Dangerous Creations
The Inventor Novel in Fin-de-siècle France
Book •
Ana I. Oancea's 'Dangerous Creations' traces a master narrative of the inventor in fin-de-siècle French novels, examining how figures by Jules Verne, Albert Robida, Émile Zola, and Villiers de l'Isle-Adam reimagine scientific creativity, national identity, and gender.
The book argues these narratives present the inventor as a flawed, universally male exemplar whose private, transgressive science both threatens and illuminates the nation during the Age of Empire.
Oancea situates these works within their literary currents—early science fiction, naturalism, and decadence—showing how each genre redeploys the inventor figure to probe ethics, intellectual property, and colonial ambitions.
She also includes transmedia vignettes linking the fin-de-siècle inventor novel to contemporary films, TV, graphic narratives, and video games that reinterpret its politics and power structures.
The study foregrounds the inventor's ongoing cultural legacy and its implications for race, gender, and technological imaginaries.
The book argues these narratives present the inventor as a flawed, universally male exemplar whose private, transgressive science both threatens and illuminates the nation during the Age of Empire.
Oancea situates these works within their literary currents—early science fiction, naturalism, and decadence—showing how each genre redeploys the inventor figure to probe ethics, intellectual property, and colonial ambitions.
She also includes transmedia vignettes linking the fin-de-siècle inventor novel to contemporary films, TV, graphic narratives, and video games that reinterpret its politics and power structures.
The study foregrounds the inventor's ongoing cultural legacy and its implications for race, gender, and technological imaginaries.
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Gina Stahm
Ana I. Oancea, "Dangerous Creations: The Inventor Novel in Fin-de-siècle France" (U Toronto Press, 2025)
