Naturalism (literature)  

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-{{Template}}+[[Image:L'Absinthe (1876) - Edgar Degas.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[L'Absinthe]]'' ([[1876]]) - [[Edgar Degas]]]]{{Template}}
-'''Naturalism''' is a movement in [[theater]], [[movies|film]], and [[literature]] that seeks to replicate a [[Verisimilitude|believable]] [[everyday life|everyday reality]].+'''Naturalism''' is a movement in [[literature]] that seeks to capture a [[Verisimilitude|believable]] [[everyday life|everyday reality]] "[[warts and all]]" and in doing so often portrays the [[dark]]er side of [[human nature]].
-Naturalism originated as a French movement in literature that sought to replicate a [[science|scientifically]] ([[biology]], [[heredity]], [[environment|environmental influences]]) accurate and believable everyday reality, as opposed to such movements as [[Romanticism]] or [[Surrealism]], in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment+Naturalism originated as a French movement in literature, the naturalistic writers being influenced by [[Darwinism]] and the ideas of [[Hippolyte Taine]]. They believed that one's [[heredity]] and [[social environment]] decide one's character. Whereas realism seeks only to describe subjects as they really are, naturalism also attempts to [[determine]] "[[scientifically]]" the underlying forces (i.e. the environment or heredity) influencing these subjects' actions. They are both opposed to [[romanticism]], in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment.
-[[Émile Zola]] wrote the manifesto of naturalism in his [[1880]] essay ''[[Le Roman expérimental]]'' (Eng: The experimental novel). Zola's works had a [[frankness]] about [[sexuality]] along with a pervasive [[pessimism]] which exposed the [[dark]] harshness of life, including [[poverty]], [[racism]], [[prejudice]], [[disease]], [[prostitution]], filth, etc. They were often very pessimistic and frequently criticized for being too [[blunt]].+[[Émile Zola]] wrote several texts considered today as the [[manifesto of naturalism]]. His works had a [[frankness]] about [[sexuality]] along with a pervasive [[pessimism]] which exposed the [[dark]] harshness of life, including [[poverty]], [[racism]], [[prejudice]], [[disease]], [[prostitution]], filth, etc. They were often very pessimistic and frequently criticized for being too [[blunt]].
-==Literature==+Naturalism is the outgrowth of [[realism (arts)|Realism]], a prominent [[literary movement]] in late [[19th-century]] [[France]] and elsewhere.
- +
-As in film, naturalism is the general style, although the flexibility and amorphous quality of prose, as opposed to the concrete visual imagery of film, has allowed for a great number of other forms. In this context, naturalism is the outgrowth of [[realism (arts)|Realism]], a prominent [[literary movement]] in late [[19th-century]] [[France]] and elsewhere.+
- +
-Naturalistic writers were influenced by the evolution theory of [[Charles Darwin]]. They believed that one's [[heredity]] and [[social environment]] decide one's character. Whereas realism seeks only to describe subjects as they really are, naturalism also attempts to determine "scientifically" the underlying forces (i.e. the environment or heredity) influencing these subjects' actions. They are both opposed to [[romanticism]], in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment. Naturalistic works often include [[uncouth]] or [[sordid]] subject matter. For example, [[Émile Zola]]'s works had a [[frankness]] about [[sexuality]] along with a pervasive [[pessimism]]. Naturalistic works exposed the [[dark]] harshness of life, including [[poverty]], [[racism]], [[prejudice]], [[disease]], [[prostitution]], filth, etc. They were often very pessimistic and frequently criticized for being too [[blunt]].+
 +=== France ===
 +:''[[French Naturalism]]''
 +===Germany===
 +:''[[Gerhart Hauptmann|Hauptmann]], [[Arno Holz|Holz]] and [[Ludwig Anzengruber|Anzengruber]]''
 +=== The Netherlands ===
 +:''[[Marcellus Emants]] and [[Frans Coenen]]''
 +=== Belgium ===
 +:''[[Cyriel Buysse]] and [[Stijn Streuvels]]''
=== United States === === United States ===
- +:''[[American Naturalism]]''
-In the United States, the genre is associated principally with writers such as [[Abraham Cahan]], [[Ellen Glasgow]], [[David Graham Phillips]], [[Jack London]], and most prominently [[Stephen Crane]], [[Frank Norris]], and [[Theodore Dreiser]]. The term naturalism operates primarily in counter distinction to realism, particularly the mode of realism codified in the 1870s and 1880s, and associated with [[William Dean Howells]] and [[Henry James]].+In the United States, the genre is associated principally with writers such as [[Jack London]], [[Stephen Crane]], [[Frank Norris]], and [[Theodore Dreiser]]. The term naturalism operates primarily in counter distinction to realism, particularly the mode of realism codified in the 1870s and 1880s, and associated with [[William Dean Howells]] and [[Henry James]].
- +
-It is important to clarify the relationship between American literary naturalism, with which this entry is primarily concerned, from the genre also known as naturalism that flourished in France from the 1850s to the 1880s. French naturalism, as exemplified by [[Gustave Flaubert]], and especially [[Emile Zola]], can be regarded as a programmatic, well-defined and coherent theory of fiction that self-consciously rejected the notion of [[free will]], and dedicated itself to the documentary and “scientific” exposition of human behavior as being determined by, as Zola put it, “nerves and blood”.+
- +
-Many of the American naturalists, especially Norris and London, were heavily influenced by Zola. They sought explanations for human behavior in natural science, and were skeptical, at least, of organised religion and beliefs in human freewill. However, the Americans did not form a coherent literary movement, and their occasional critical and theoretical reflections do not present a uniform philosophy. Although Zola was a touchstone of contemporary debates over genre, Dreiser, perhaps the most important of the naturalist writers, regarded [[Balzac]] as a greater influence. Naturalism in American literature is therefore best understood historically in the generational manner outlined in the first paragraph above. In philosophical and generic terms, American naturalism must be defined rather more loosely, as a reaction against the realist fiction of the 1870s and 1880s, whose scope was limited to middle-class or “local color” topics, with taboos on sexuality and violence. The most significant elements of this reaction can be summarized as follows.+
- +
-Naturalist fiction often concentrated on the non-Anglo, ethnically marked inhabitants of the growing American cities, many of them immigrants and most belonging to a class-spectrum ranging from the destitute to the lower middle-class. The naturalists were not the first to concentrate on the industrialized American city, but they were significant in that they believed that the realist tools refined in the 1870s and 1880s were inadequate to represent it. [[Abraham Cahan]], for example, sought both to represent and to address the Jewish community of New York's East Side, of which he was a member. The fiction of [[Theodore Dreiser]], the son of first and second generation immigrants from Central Europe, features many German and Irish figures. Frank Norris and Stephen Crane, themselves from established middle-class Anglophone families also registered the ethnic mix of the metropolis, though for the most part via reductive and offensive stereotypes. In somewhat different ways, more marginal to the mainstream of naturalism, Ellen Glasgow's version of realism was specifically directed against the mythologizing of the South, while the series of “problem novels” by David Graham Phillips, epitomized by the prostitution novel Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise (1917), can be regarded as naturalistic by virtue of their underclass subject-matter.+
- +
-Allied to this, naturalist writers were skeptical towards, or downright hostile to, the notions of bourgeois individualism that characterized realist novels about middle-class life. Most naturalists demonstrated a concern with the animal or the irrational motivations for human behavior, sometimes manifested in connection with sexuality and violence. Here they differed strikingly from their French counterparts.+
==Theatre== ==Theatre==
- +:See [[Naturalism (theatre)]]
-In theatre, naturalism developed in the late [[19th century|19th]] and early [[20th century|20th centuries]]. It refers to theatre that tries to create a perfect illusion of reality through detailed sets, an unpoetic literary style that reflects the way real people speak, and a style of acting that tries to recreate reality (often by seeking complete identification with the role, as advocated by [[Stanislavski]]).+In theatre, naturalism developed in the late [[19th century|19th]] and early [[20th century|20th centuries]]. It refers to theatre that tries to create a perfect illusion of reality through detailed sets, an [[unpoetic]] literary style that reflects the way real people speak, and a style of acting that tries to recreate reality (often by seeking complete identification with the role, as advocated by [[Stanislavski]]).
- +
-Naturalism was criticized in the mid-20th century by [[Bertolt Brecht]] and others who argued instead for breaking the illusion of reality in order to encourage detached consideration of the issues the play raises. Though it retains a sizable following, most Western theater today follows a semi-naturalistic approach, with naturalistic acting but less realistic design elements (especially set pieces). +
- +
-Naturalistic performance is often unsuitable when performing other [[Theatrical style|styles of theatre]], particularly older styles. For example, [[Shakespeare|Shakespearean]] verse often requires an artificial acting style and scenography; naturalistic actors try to speak the lines as if they are normal, everyday speech, which often sounds awkward.+
- +
-In film, which permits a greater illusionism than is possible on stage, naturalism is the normal style, although there have been many exceptions, including the [[Expressionism (film)|German Expressionists]] and modern directors such as [[Terry Gilliam]], who have reveled in artificiality. Note that even a fantastical genre such as [[science fiction]] can be naturalistic, as in the gritty, proletarian environment of the commercial space-freighter in ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]''.+
== See also == == See also ==
 +*[[Determinism]]
 +*[[Materialism]]
 +*[[Positivism]]
 +*[[Industrial Revolution]]
 +* [[Naturalisme (Louis Legrand)]]
 +*''[[Le Roman expérimental]]''
* [[realism (arts)|Realism]] * [[realism (arts)|Realism]]
* [[Naturalism (art)]] * [[Naturalism (art)]]
-* [[Naturalism (philosophy)|Philosophical naturalism]]+* [[French_literature_of_the_19th_century#Naturalism|Naturalism in 19th century French literature]]
-* [[Sociological naturalism]]+
-* [[French literature of the 19th century#Realism.2C Naturalism and Parnasse|Naturalism in 19th century French literature]]+
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Naturalism is a movement in literature that seeks to capture a believable everyday reality "warts and all" and in doing so often portrays the darker side of human nature.

Naturalism originated as a French movement in literature, the naturalistic writers being influenced by Darwinism and the ideas of Hippolyte Taine. They believed that one's heredity and social environment decide one's character. Whereas realism seeks only to describe subjects as they really are, naturalism also attempts to determine "scientifically" the underlying forces (i.e. the environment or heredity) influencing these subjects' actions. They are both opposed to romanticism, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment.

Émile Zola wrote several texts considered today as the manifesto of naturalism. His works had a frankness about sexuality along with a pervasive pessimism which exposed the dark harshness of life, including poverty, racism, prejudice, disease, prostitution, filth, etc. They were often very pessimistic and frequently criticized for being too blunt.

Naturalism is the outgrowth of Realism, a prominent literary movement in late 19th-century France and elsewhere.

Contents

France

French Naturalism

Germany

Hauptmann, Holz and Anzengruber

The Netherlands

Marcellus Emants and Frans Coenen

Belgium

Cyriel Buysse and Stijn Streuvels

United States

American Naturalism

In the United States, the genre is associated principally with writers such as Jack London, Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, and Theodore Dreiser. The term naturalism operates primarily in counter distinction to realism, particularly the mode of realism codified in the 1870s and 1880s, and associated with William Dean Howells and Henry James.

Theatre

See Naturalism (theatre)

In theatre, naturalism developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It refers to theatre that tries to create a perfect illusion of reality through detailed sets, an unpoetic literary style that reflects the way real people speak, and a style of acting that tries to recreate reality (often by seeking complete identification with the role, as advocated by Stanislavski).

See also




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