NINETEENTHCENTURY LITERARY MOVEMENTS: NATURALISM

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NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERARY MOVEMENTS NATURALISM

• DEFINITION
• BACKGROUND
• CHARACTERISITCS

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NATURALISM

• DEFINITION
• THE TERM NATURALISM REFERS TO
• A TENDENCY IN EUROPEAN AND
• AMERICAN LITERATURE THAT
• REPRESENTED HUMAN BEINGS AS
• ESSENTIALLY THE SAME AS
• OTHER ANIMALS

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• DRIVEN BY THE SAME INSTINCTS AND
• SUBJECT TO THE SAME FORCES
• IN THE NATURAL WORLD
• AND IN THEIR SOCIETIES.
  

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• NATURALISM REFLECTED THE IMPACT
• OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
• AND CHARLES DARWINS THEORY
• OF EVOLUTION BASED ON
• NATURAL SELECTION.

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BACKGROUND

• THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
• LED TO THE ALMOST-UNIVERSAL
  ACCEPTANCE OF SEVERAL IDEAS
  ABOUT HUMAN NATURE
• AND
  SOCIETY

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• A. THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, PUBLISHED IN 1776 BY
  THE BRITISH INTELLECTUAL ADAM SMITH, STATED THAT
• 1. ALL HUMAN EFFORT IS BASED ON SELF-INTEREST,
  AND SELF-INTEREST IS EXPRESSED THROUGH
  COMPETITION
• 2. COMPETITION BETWEEN MANUFACTURERS TO CAPTURE
  THE MARKET FOR THEMSELVES REGULATES THE ECONOMY
  AND ESTABLISHES THE BEST BALANCE BETWEEN THE
  SELLERS PROFIT AND THE BUYERS EXPENSE FOR GOODS
  OF QUALITY.

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• B. IN 1778 THOMAS ROBERT MALTHUS PUBLISHED AN
  ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION, WHICH
  CLAIMED THAT
• HUMAN POPULATION INCREASES GEOMETRICALLY FROM
  GENERATION TO GENERATION
• THE FOOD SUPPLY CAN INCREASE ONLY ARITHMETICALLY
• LIVING SPACE REMAINS THE SAME.

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• THE INEVITABLE RESULT IS OVERPOPULATION, WHICH IS
  LIMITED ONLY BY ITS NATURAL CONSEQUENCES
• CRIME
• VICE
• DISEASE
• WAR
• STARVATION

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• IN ADDITION TO THESE ECONOMIC THEORIES, THE
  BRITISH BIOLOGIST CHARLES DARWIN PRESENTED
  EVIDENCE THAT ALL LIFE IS
  CONDITIONED BY COMPETITION
• THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL
  SELECTION (1859)
• AND
• THE DESCENT OF MAN (1871).

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• BOTH BOOKS THEORIZED THAT ALL LIVING
• SPECIES HAVE CHANGED OVER MILLIONS
• OF YEARS BECAUSE SPECIES COMPETE
• WITH OTHER SPECIES, AND INDIVIDUALS
• WITHIN A SPECIES COMPETE WITH ONE
• ANOTHER, FOR RESOURCES
• LIVING SPACE
• FOOD AND WATER
• THE OPPORTUNITY TO MATE
• AND PRODUCE OFFSPRING.

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• IN THIS COMPETITION, ONLY THE SPECIES AND
  INDIVIDUALS WITH
• 1. THE BEHAVIORS AND PHYSICAL
• QUALITIES THAT GIVE THEM ACCESS TO RESOURCES
  AND
• 2. THE STRENGTH AND AGGRESSIVITY
• TO DEFEAT RIVALS
• SURVIVE TO PRODUCE OFFSPRING THAT INHERIT THESE
  QUALITIES.

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• THE GROWTH OF INDUSTRIALISM CREATED SEVERAL
  CONDITIONS THAT LED TO NATURALISM
• CITIES BECAME MANUFACURING CENTERS
• PEOPLE MOVED FROM THE SURROUNDING RURAL AREAS
  INTO THE CITIES TO GET JOBS
• THE URBAN POPULATION WAS DIVIDED INTO TWO LARGE
  CLASSESA COMMERCIAL MIDDLE CLASS AND A LARGER
  POOR WORKING CLASS.

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• MONOPOLIES OF CRUCIAL INDUSTRIES BANKING, THE
  RAILROADS, STEEL- MAKING, MEAT-PACKING, AND
  PETROLEUM-REFININGLED TO A SMALL CLASS OF
  VERY POWERFUL WEALTHY CAPITALISTS.

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• THE CAPITALISTS WHO WERE MOST SUCCESSFUL IN
  ELIMINATING THEIR
  COMPETITORS JUSTIFIED THEIR ACTIONS BY APPEALING
  TO THE CONCEPTS OF COMPETITION AND
  THE SURVIVAL OF THE
  FITTEST.

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BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF NATURALISM

• 1. THE FORCES OF THE NATURAL WORLD
  AND HUMAN SOCIETY ARE IMPERSONAL,
  AMORAL, AND INDIFFERENT TO THE FATE OF
• THE INDIVIDUAL.
• 2. THESE FORCES FUNCTION THROUGH AN INEVITABLE
  CHAIN OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.

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• 3. INDIVIDUALS ARE BASICALLY
  ANIMALSTHE PRODUCT OF THEIR HEREDITY AND
  THEIR ENVIRONMENT.
• 4. INDIVIDUALS ARE INCAPABLE OF RESISTING THE
  BASIC INSTINCTS SEXUAL DESIRE AND THE DESIRE
  FOR POWER, STATUS, AND PLEASURE.

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• 4. INDIVIDUALS ARE ALSO HELPLESS AGAINST THE
  FORCES OF THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE WEIGHT OF
  SOCIAL MORES AND PREJUDICES.
• 5. WHERE THERE IS NO POWER OF CHOICE, THERE
  IS NO MORAL RESPONSIBILITY.

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• 6. ALTHOUGH SOME INDIVIDUALS MAY HAVE STRENGTH
  AND INTELLIGENCE, THEY ARE DESTINED TO BE
  DEFEATED BY THE COMBINATION OF INTERNAL AND
  EXTERNAL FACTORS.

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CHARACTERISITCS OF NATURALISM

• 1. SETTINGS ARE CONTEMPORARY, EITHER URBAN
  SLUMS OR THE WILDERNESSMOUNTAINS, DESERTS,
  OPEN OCEAN, OR JUNGLES
• WHERE OVERPOWERING NATURAL FORCES PRESENT
  DANGER OF DEATH.

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• 2. THE CHARACTERS BELONG TO THE WORKING CLASS
  OR THE LOWER MIDDLE CLASS.
• 3. THEY ARE UNEDUCATED AND UNCULTURED.
• 4. THE CHARACTERS ARE DRIVEN BY THEIR DESIRES
  AND INSTINCTS TO ACTS OF PASSION AND VIOLENCE.

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• 5. THE NARRATIVE POINT OF VIEW IN MOST CASES
  IS THIRD-PERSON OMNISCIENT, SELECTIVE
  OMNISCIENT, OR EXTERNAL
• AND NEUTRAL.
• THE NARRATOR SUSPENDS JUDGMENT BECAUSE WHERE
  ONE HAS LITTLE CHOICE OR CONTROL, ONE HAS
  LITTLE MORAL RESPONSIBILITY.

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• 6. THE ENDING IS TRAGIC, AND THE DEFEAT OF THE
  PROTAGONIST MAY RESULT IN IMPRISONMENT OR
  DEATH.
• 7. THE TONE OF THE NARRATION IS OBJECTIVE AND
  UNEMOTIONAL THE WRITER THINKS OF HIMSELF AS A
  SCIENTIFIC OBSERVER.

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END OF PRESENTATION

• WHICH OF THE STORIES YOU HAVE READ SHOW STRONG
  NATURALISTIC TENDENCIES?
• HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THESE TENDENCIES IN EACH
  STORY?