PPt on Naturalism. A Literary movement.

1. naturalism
Presented by Group 10

2. Naturalism was first proposed and formulated by French
novelist Emile Zola, and it was introduced to America by
American novelist Frank Norris
Naturalism originated in France and had its direct
theoretical basis in the critical approach of Hippolyte
Taine, who announced in his introduction to Histoire de la
littérature anglaise (1863–64; History of English Literature)
that “there is a cause for ambition, for courage, for truth, as
there is for digestion, for muscular movement, for animal
heat. Vice and virtue are products, like vitriol and sugar.”
emergence

3. According to Zola, the novelist was no longer to be a mere
observer, content to record phenomena, but a detached
experimenter who subjects his characters and their passions
to a series of tests and who works with emotional and social
facts as a chemist works with matter
Upon Zola’s example the naturalistic style became
widespread and affected to varying degrees most of the
major writers of the period.
emergence

4. • a literary movement from the late 19th and early 20th centuries
that analyzed human nature through a scientific, objective, and
detached perspective.
• a literary movement that focused on the objective and detached
observation of human nature using scientific principles. Naturalism
also observed how environmental, social, and hereditary factors
impacted human nature.
Introduction
Naturalism (1865-
1914)

5. • Naturalism rejected movements such as Romanticism, which embraced
subjectivity, the individual, and imagination. It also differed from Realism
by applying the scientific method to the narrative structure.
Introduction
Naturalism (1865-
1914)

6. Setting
Naturalist writers saw the environment as having a character of its own.
They placed the setting of many of their novels in environments that
would directly impact and play a significant role in the lives of the
characters in the story.
Characteristics of
Naturalism
Objectivism and Detachment
Naturalist writers wrote objectively and detached. This means they
detached themselves from any emotional, subjective thoughts or
feelings towards the topic of the story. Naturalist literature often
implements a third-person point of view that acts as an opinionless
observer. The narrator simply tells the story as it is. If emotions are
mentioned, they are told scientifically. Emotions are seen as primitive
and part of survival, rather than psychological.

7. Pessimism
It is a belief that only the worst possible outcome can be expected.
Naturalistic authors, therefore, wrote characters that have little
power or agency over their own lives and must oftentimes face
terrible challenges.
Characteristics of
Naturalism
Determinism
Determinism is the belief that all things that happen in an
individual's life are due to external factors. These external factors
can be natural, hereditary, or fate. External factors can also include
societal pressures such as poverty, wealth gaps, and poor living
conditions.

8. Types of Naturalism
• Hard or Reductive Naturalism
refers to the belief that a
fundamental particle or
arrangement of fundamental
particles is what makes up
everything that exists.
• It is ontological, which means it
explores the relationships between
concepts to understand the nature
of being.
• Soft or Liberal Naturalism accepts
scientific explanations of human nature,
but it also accepts that there may be other
explanations for human nature that lies
beyond scientific reasoning. It takes into
account aesthetic value, morality and
dimension, and personal experience.
• Many accept that the German
philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
lay the foundations for Soft/Liberal
Naturalism.
Hard/Reductive Naturalism Soft/Liberal Naturalism

9. category of Naturalism
• Frank Norris (1870-1902), an American Journalist, is credited with introducing American
Naturalism.
• American Naturalism ranges in belief and stances. It includes authors such as Stephen
Crane, Henry James, Jack London, William Dean Howells, and Theodore Dreiser. Faulkner
is also a prolific Naturalist writer, who is known for his exploration of social structures built
off of slavery and societal changes. He also explored hereditary influences beyond an
individual's control.
• When Naturalism was growing in the United States, the country's economic backbone was
built on slavery, and the country was in the midst of the Civil War (1861-1865). Many Slave
Narratives were written to show how slavery was destructive to human character. A famous
example is Frederick Douglass' My Bondage and My Freedom (1855).
American Naturalism

10. proponents of
naturalism
• a French novelist, critic, and political activist
who was the most prominent French novelist of
the late 19th century.
• wrote The Experimental Novel which is
considered a naturalistic novel. Zola wrote the
novel with the scientific method in mind while
writing with a philosophical perspective on
humans.
• Human beings in literature, according to Zola,
were subjects in a controlled experiment to be
analyzed.
• an American Journalist, is credited with
introducing American Naturalism.
• Frank Norris has been criticized in the
20th-21st century for his anti-Semitic,
racist, and misogynistic depictions of
people in his novels.
• He used scientific reasoning to justify his
beliefs which was a common problem in
19th-century scholarship.
Emile Zola (1840-1902) Frank Norris (1870-1902)

11. Naturalism: Authors and
Philosophers
• Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) is an American
author best known for his book Sister Carrie
(1900).
• Dreiser spent a decade working as a journalist,
covering stories about urban life in America
before becoming an author. This formative
experience influenced his writing style as he told
stories about the harsh conditions in the big city
• Dreiser is considered a key figure in American
Naturalism.
Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945)
• Faulkner is also a prolific Naturalist
writer, who is known for his
exploration of social structures built
off of slavery and societal changes
• He also explored hereditary influences
beyond an individual's control.
William Faulkner (1897-1962)
• Nineteenth-century American writer Stephen
Crane (1871-1900) packed a lot of life into his
years.
• Live fast, die young" are words made famous
by actor John Derek in the 1949 movie, Knock
on Any Door.
• Crane's experiences and observations found
their way into his books, short stories, and
poetry. Crane's innovative writing left an
impact on society that is still studied today.
Stephen Crane (1871-1900)
• He conceived of reality, however, as twice
translated—first, through the author’s
peculiar experiencing of it and, second,
through his unique depicting of it.
• Like realists and naturalists of his time,
he thought that fiction should
reproduce reality.
Henry James (1843-1916)

12. Naturalism: Authors and
Philosophers
• Dewey's view about this first set of issues
follows directly from his naturalism. Humans
are biological systems inserted into a
common
natural world with a definite structure.
• Human thought has real contact with
various parts of the world beyond it, via
natural channels described by biology and
other sciences.
John Dewey (1859-1952)
• Sidney Hook defines naturalism as 'the
systematization of what is involved in the
scientific method of inquiry.
• Hook believes the naturalistic viewpoint to be
the most adequate to this task, he therefore
believes that naturalism should be the
philosophical underpinning of the educational
process.
Sidney Hook (1902-1989)
• the paradigmatic intelligence of his time a
prophetic mind, though not a seminal one
and a man absorbed with the twin notions of
power and order.
• Adams's major work illustrates the joining of
a literary imagination and moral
temperament with an almost obsessive
response to the science, economic life, and
politics of his world.
Henry Adams (1838-1918)
• best known for his incisive and learned
essays in the philosophy of science,
• Many of his writings deal with social
and political questions and with
questions of religion.
• His work emerges as a type of
philosophical naturalism.
Ernest Nagel (1901-1985)

13. Naturalism: Examples in
Literature
“For he is an inspired man. Every inch of him is inspired—
you might almost say inspired separately. He stamps with
his feet, he tosses his head, he sways and swings to and fro;
he has a wizened-up little face, irresistibly comical; and,
when he executes a turn or a flourish, his brows knit and his
lips work and his eyelids wink—the very ends of his necktie
bristle out. And every now and then he turns upon his
companions, nodding, signaling, beckoning frantically—
with every inch of him appealing, imploring, in behalf of
the muses and their call"
(The Jungle, Chapter 1)

14. Analysis
The Jungle (1906) by Upton Sinclair was a novel that exposed the
harsh and dangerous living and working conditions of immigrant
workers in America.
In this excerpt from Sinclair's The Jungle, the reader is provided an
objective and detached description of a man passionately playing the
violin. The man playing has a lot of passion and emotion while
playing, but how Sinclair describes the act of playing the violin is
through scientific observation. Note how he comments on
movements such as stamping feet and tossing of the head without
providing any of the narrator's own opinions or thoughts on the
situation.

15. Naturalism: Examples in
Literature
Naturalist literature contains many themes such as the fight for survival,
determinism, violence, greed, desire to dominate, and an indifferent universe or
higher being. There have been countless books, novels, essays, and journalistic
pieces written that fall under the Naturalist movement. Below are just a few that you
can explore!
• Nana (1880) by Emile Zola
• Sister Carrie (1900) by Thomas Dreiser
• McTeague (1899) by Frank Norris
• The Call of the Wild (1903) by Jack London
• Of Mice and Men (1937) by John Steinbeck
• Madame Bovary (1856) by Gustave Flaubert
• The Age of Innocence (1920) by Edith Wharton

16. Influence of Naturalism
on American literature
The Call of the Wild by Jack London.
The plot concerns a previously domesticated and somewhat pampered dog named Buck, whose
primordial instincts return after a series of events. One day he was kidnapped and taken to the
north, where he served as a sled dog in the treacherous, frigid Yukon. The bad weather, the terrible
Husky dogs, the fights, his dead friend and many things made Buck know he was surrounded by
savages. There was no fair play. Only fight and war can help him. Finally, he began to master his
new surroundings. His ability to rule and his great intelligence and good judgment were wonders to
everyone. Then, Buck was sold once more. It was John Thornton who rescued him and became his
new owner. But life was hard for Buck. When they lived in a forest, the Yeehats, an Indian tribe
killed all the people, include John. Buck was very angry, and he killed most of the Yeehats. After
John’s death, Buck’s last tie with people was broken. Finally, he was ready to answer the call of the
wild. He ran with wolves, side by side with his wild brothers, shouted as he ran. He sounded the call
of the wild. More and more cruelties make Buck realize there is no goodness and kindness in this
world. There is only one rule: dead or kill; eat or be eaten off

17. Analysis
Environment plays a very important part in The Call of the Wild. By analyzing this novel we
can see how environment controls one's (here dog's and wolf’s) life. Zola said: “I still hold
my view that the environment plays a very important part,” “When we research a family or a
group of people, I think the environment has a chief importance (Zola, 1988, p. 476).” Jack
London has a deep understanding about environment, so we can clearly see many expressions
of Naturalism in The Call of the Wild. As an animal, Buck’s behaviors represent “the survival
of the fittest. He made himself accustom to the new environment, so he won the right of
survival. At the same time, Buck ensured himself the safety with his courage and wisdom in
the severe north. As a symbol of human nature, Buck's behaviors indicated the extremely
cruel and unfair humanity in misery and the hunger. He was struggling for his life. Facing
trouble, to survive is the most important thing. From portraying the dog’s images to revealing
the formation and development of the dog’s character, the novel embodies obviously genetic
determinism and environmental determinism advocated by Zola. Darwin's theory of “the big
fish eat up the small, the fittest survive is fully expressed through Buck's image.

18. Influence of Naturalism
on American literature
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Sister Carrie tells the story of a rudderless but pretty small-town girl who
comes to the big city filled with vague ambitions. She is used by men and
uses them in turn to become a successful Broadway actress while George
Hurstwood, the married man who has run away with her, loses his grip on
life and descends into beggary and in despair, commits suicide by gassing
himself in his hotel room one night. Meanwhile, Carrie achieves stardom,
but finds that money and fame do not satisfy her longings or bring her
happiness and that nothing will.

19. Analysis
Dreiser's first novel, Sister Carrie (1900), is a work of pivotal importance in American
literature despite its inauspicious launching. It became a beacon to subsequent
American writers whose allegiance was to the realistic treatment of any and all
subject matter. Sister Carrie was the first masterpiece of the American naturalistic
movement in its grittily factual presentation of the vagaries of urban life and in its
ingenuous heroine, who goes unpunished for her transgressions against conventional
sexual morality. Dreiser does not forget the basic principles of his naturalism. On the
one hand, the author says that "the world only moves forward because of the services
of the exceptional individual". But on the other hand, Hurstwood is also a
"chessman" of fate. Like Carrie, her success is mostly the result of chance. Indeed,
though turn-of-the-century readers found Dreiser’s point of view crude and immoral,
his influence on the fiction of the first quarter of the century is perhaps greater than
any other writer’s

20. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MOVEMENT
Naturalist fiction in the United States 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. 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.
In America, naturalism had been shaped by the war, by the social upheavals that undermined the
comforting faith of an earlier age, and by the disturbing teachings of Charles Darwin. Darwinism seemed to
stress the animality of man, to suggest that he was dominated by the irresistible forces of evolution (Wu
Weiren, 1990, p.8) The pessimism and deterministic ideas of naturalism pervaded the works of such writers as
Frank Norris, jack London, Theodore Dreiser and Hemingway. Their detailed descriptions of the lives of the
down-trodden and the abnormal, their frank treatment of human passion and sexuality and their portrayal of
men and women overwhelmed by the blind forces of nature still exert a powerful influence on modern writer.
conclusion

21. Thank
You