Literature and criminology : French literature of the 19th century and degenerate theory

The primary aim of this research is to understand the etiology of degenerate theory in France during the　latter half of the 19th century. Literary works and historical documents have been examined to track how this theory spread throughout French society. The findings suggest that degenerate theory began in the first half of the century via teratology, a new form of scientific inquiry that focused on congenital abnormalities. At that time, the prevailing view was that crimes were mainly caused by malformed souls. Authors in various genres wrote about this theme. Romanticists such as Hugo and Sue as well as Naturalists like Malot and Zola all described criminals as having degenerate characteristics, both internally and externally. However, these literary descriptions differed from those of criminologists and psychiatrists at that time as they placed the blame for such criminal degradation squarely on the shoulders of French society, whose social problems resembled a malignant disease.