Les (inter)signes du destin Ethnocritique de Germinie Lacerteux des Goncourt

This ethnocritical reading of Germinie Lacerteux by the Goncourt brothers studies the traditional interpretive systems which make up the intersigns of the novel. Working from the hypothesis that the latter semiotises a composite culture which sees repeated misfortune as a curse, taking the form of evil signs, this article shows that by textually combining materials originating in the conjectural arts and “popular” tradition, the unhappy fate of the eponymous character is established.