NATURALISM ( Literature )
A literary movement related to and sometimes described as an extreme form of realism but which may be more appropriately considered as a parallel to philosophic naturalism. This doctrine holds that all existent phenomena are in nature and thus within the sphere of scientific knowledge; it maintains that no supernatural realities exist.
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| Naturalism in literature |
In the first of the nineteenth century, Comte applied the ideas of science to the study of society, and soon after, Jaine applied them to literature, maintaining that psychological states as well as human actions were the results of material causes. Carefully documenting their work the Goncourt brothers produced Germine Lacesteux ( 1865 ) a novel which examines in clinical detail the sordid life of a servant girl.
This novel was admired by Emile Zola, the great theorist of naturalism. In his essay, " Le Roman experimental " ( The Experimental Novel ) dated 1880, Zola said that the novelist should be like the scientist performing an experiment, independent of moral conventions or preconceived theories. In his novel, which is based on careful documentation, he should examine dispassionately certain phenomena and disputable conclusions.
Among the things that experiments will confirm is the law that the action of men are determined by heredity and environment Zola carried out his theories in such novels as Therese Raguin ( 1868 ) and L. Asommoir ( 1877 ). To distinguish his work from the realism of Balzac and Flaubert, Zola called his novels " naturalistic ".
Although he wished by this term to characterize his theories and methods, it has often served only to denote his usual subject matter and that of his followers. Theoretically, there is no reason why the experimental or naturalistic method could not be applied to an investigation of the highest levels of society, but in fact, naturalistic novels have usually concerned themselves with slums, poverty, disease, and dirt.
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