From Flaubert to Maupassant

Abstract

This article aims to present some reflections about a selection of letters that Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) wrote to Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), between September 23, 1872 and May 3, 1880. For eight years, Flaubert was Maupassant’s friend and a literary master and his letters, marked by a multiple and disordered discourse, reveal a path to friendship and the passionate dedication of the master regarding the intellectual and artistic development of the young writer. It is intended here, to draw some considerations to the moments when Flaubert’s speech assumes, directly or indirectly, a pedagogical role and the letter becomes a way to literary teaching.