Optiques: The Science of the Eye and the Birth of Modern French FictionAndrea Goulet takes the study of the novel into the realm of the visual by situating it in the context of nineteenth century scientific and philosophical discourse about the nature of sight. She argues that French realism, detective fiction, science fiction, and literature of the fantastic from 1830 to 1910 reflected competition between two modern visual modes: a not yet outdated idealism and an empiricism that located truth in the body. More