Naturalism--To begin, Naturalism in literature is not to be confused with the Romantic views of
nature we find in earlier writers. While, as its name predicts, this genre of literature is interested
in nature, but from a post-Darwinian perspective and the continuing rise of science in the latter
half of the nineteenth century.
--For naturalist writers, nature is mechanical, unfolding in an evolutionary pattern, not God
driven or spiritually united in some beneficent force such as the oversoul. Nature, thus, is
indifferent to humanity—neither for or against humanity. Compare this to the sustaining and
supportive nature we find in, say, Emerson.
--Humans, though part of nature, are no more significant in it than an animal, a leaf, or a clod of
dirt. Compare this view to the near divine view of humanity found in Romantics such as
Emerson and Whitman.
---Aside from the influence of Darwin in the hard sciences, Naturalism was undergirded by
sociological philosophers such as Ernest Hackel, Thomas Henry Huxley (Aldous’s father
nicknamed “Darwin’s Bulldog”) and Herbert Spencer. Spencer’s Synthetic Philosophy (1862)
tried to apply Darwinian theory to psychology and sociology—in short to the study of humans
interacting in their natural and created environments. The city, for example, was a reflection of
natural order because it is the product of humans, who are natural beings. Spencer and others
did leave slight room for God by positing an “inscrutable power” that humanity does not yet
know. Spencer also coined the term “survival of the fittest,” a term that was appropriated by a
rising capitalist class to explain why some people get extremely rich and some remain very poor.
Marx, in contrast, argued that capitalism and materialism interfered with natural human and
social development.
--Naturalism as a literary movement begins in France and is codified in both the novels and
criticism of Emile Zola. Zola’s widely read essay “The Experimental Novel” celebrates the
objectivity of science and then argues that novels should place human characters in situations to
observe how they behave according to what was known at the time of human nature and human
relations with environments both urban and rural. Most naturalist literature comes in the form of
novels and short fiction, although one can identify naturalist poets as well: Edwin Arlington
Robinson (American) and to some degree Thomas Hardy (British).
--Thematically naturalist novels are often marked by the insignificance of individual humans.
Even powerful characters must struggle in an animalistic universe against indifferent forces of
nature or urban social arrangements. Humans themselves are often seen as animalistic
--Deterministic philosophy often is revealed despite human attempts at free will: characters’ fates
are often determined by their own natural impulses, forces outside themselves, as well as chance,
and they have little power to change their fates. Compare this to the free and self-reliant ideals
seen in more Romantic literature.
---It is sometime casually said that Naturalism in fiction can be defined by adding determinism to
realism, but though somewhat helpful, this definition is a gross oversimplification or the variety
of the genre.
--Generally plots are realistic, but sometimes a writer, such as the American novelist Frank
Norris, will focus on real but extreme characters and events, and end up with a plot that looks
more like a Romance (though without a Romantic theme). Most times, however, plots follow
rather typical situations.
--Naturalist fiction is often fixated on character and place as plot determinates—witness “The
Blue Hotel” and the chapters of Sister Carrie.
--Naturalist plots take many forms:
Under-plotted slice-of-life
Chronicle of Despair—common person ground up by the social structure
Rapid rise of the ruthless, egocentric protagonist
Struggles between humans and nature
Stories of nineteenth-century maladies: madness, alcoholism, nymphomania
--Tragic themes
--failure of well-meaning person
--waste of potential
--problem of knowledge: people don’t know the reason for their outcome or attribute it to
something the novel shows to be untrue or overly simple.
---Naturalist fiction is often seen as pessimistic, but the movement in philosophy sees itself as
optimistic. Spencer believed that science was continually revealing more about humanity and
that the observer had to continually modify his or her perspective as science advanced. Through
clear rational observation, humanity could advance if the universe is itself rational.
--Narrators in naturalist works, unlike realists, have no compunction about intruding into the text
to comment on characters and situations. While they use limited omniscience and indirect
interior monologue to reveal character, the technique James was working so hard to develop,
they readily intrude in an omniscient voice at times.
--Style can vary but many times there is animal or natural imagery applied to humans and their
environments.