Naturalism

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Naturalism in literature is a late 19th—and early 20th-century movement inspired by the adaptation of the principles and methods of natural science, especially the Darwinian view of nature, to literature and art („Naturalism“).

The Darwinian Theory, also known as the theory of evolution by natural selection, is a scientific explanation of how adaptations in organisms arise and increase in frequency through the process of selection. It proposes that the environment plays a crucial role in driving the evolution of adaptations by determining the pattern of selection imposed on organisms. The theory rejects the idea of an omnipotent Creator and emphasizes the absence of inner drives or teleologies in shaping the process of organic change („Darwinian Theory“).

Naturalism differed from realism in its assumption of scientific determinism, which led naturalistic authors to emphasize man’s accidental, physiological nature rather than his moral or rational qualities(„Naturalism“).

Naturalism’ was the dominant mode of the French novel in the late nineteenth century. The writer who played the pre-eminent role in its development was Émile Zola (1840-1902). Zola wanted to engage with the ‘order of the day’ through a representation of the sorts of things that concerned people on a daily basis in their social and individual lives. Industrialization, the growth of the cities, the birth of consumer culture, the condition of the working class, crime, prostitution, the follies and misdeeds of government – these were the issues that concerned Zola.  („Naturalism, chapter 17“).

Other examples of Naturalism might be writers such as Frank Norris or Henry James. 

Sources:

Levin, S. A. (2013). Encyclopedia of Biodiversity Volume 2 CE-ec editor-in-chief Simon A. Levin, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. Amsterdam: Elsevier, Academic Press. 

Zelazko, A. (n.d.-a). Naturalism. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/naturalism-art 

Nelson, B. (28AD). Émile Zola (1840–1902): Naturalism (Chapter 17) - the cambridge companion to European novelists. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-european-novelists/emile-zola-18401902-naturalism/04E6059A0C966609CE3C781C4C6F844C 

Jana Boudníková