| Summary: | It is the intention of this article to analyze the social, moral and philosophical issues operating in Émile Zola’s short story, Les Repoussoirs (1866). In fact, in the guise of what first appears as burlesque fiction, Zola delivers a brilliant sociological analysis and philosophical tale. With this story, Zola is not only an acute observer of the customs, habits and social organisation of his time; he also proves himself a visionary in his ability to foresee some of today’s most burning ethical questions: self-promotion in the context of a “society of the spectacle” and the limits of the process of commodification and reconfiguration of the body.
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