Naturalism: definition, authors and characteristics of this literary, artistic and cultural movement. Origin, meaning and themes of Naturalism.
Introduction to Naturalism
One of the most interesting currents of thought and social movements in European history is certainly Naturalism .
This movement was born in France in the 19th century and grew, feeding on the scientific discoveries of the time, to permeate every field: from literature to philosophy, from art to theater . It counts among its main exponents Émile Zola , famous for his work ” Germinal “, and Guy de Maupassant , known for his mastery of short stories. Outside France, Theodore Dreiser made significant contributions to American naturalism, while in Russia, the penetrating approach of Fyodor Dostoevsky showed echoes of the movement.
Let’s analyze the main characteristics of Naturalism .
Love for nature
The main characteristic, which gives it its name, of naturalism is the boundless and unconditional love towards Mother Nature .
The choices it makes throughout history teach, according to the authors belonging to this movement, that man is nothing more than a pawn in the complex world that surrounds him.
All our worries, therefore, are reduced to reactions towards the environment, but almost never has our destiny depended on our choice, but on that of nature.
Naturalism and the Scientific Method
Naturalist authors and philosophers lived in an atmosphere of profound scientific innovation . This factor, combined with the rebellion against Romanticism , led to the description of reality and men outside the sentimental context, but studying them just as was done in the scientific field.
This led to a cold and schematic characterization of the characters, as well as an intensification of social themes.
The narrator loses his role as an omniscient element and becomes a character in pectore , relegated to knowing the story at the moment he tells it.
Furthermore, the author is forced to observe reality and describe it by renouncing any moral or ethical emphasis .
In the philosophical field, naturalists went so far as to affirm that science had to collect the legacy of philosophy itself, becoming in all respects its substitute.
Heredity, social environment and historical environment
From the writings of the French philosopher Taine emerges the need for naturalists to maintain a conception of schematicity and rigidity.
He himself draws up the three fundamental cornerstones according to which human nature is built: heredity, historical environment and social environment .
Man owes everything to the situation in which he is born and grows. It is evident that, thanks to this deterministic concept, he is relieved of any responsibility for the evils that afflict him.
Main themes of the naturalistic novel
As the greatest exponent of naturalism, Emile Zola , wrote, naturalism must treat the novel as a small part of life itself.
It must take on some of the characteristics that were previously overlooked in the literary world.
Priority is given to the story of everyday life , with its dead times, its banal nature and its subterfuges and pettiness.
It floats in the lowest social stratum , often telling of the sub-proletariat and the misery that characterized it.
Finally, the emphasis was placed on all those little obsessions that plagued ordinary people, making them border on madness.
Free indirect speech
Last but not least, the cornerstone of naturalist poetics is free indirect discourse .
Used largely by the man considered the “master” by naturalists, Gustave Flaubert , this particular technique collected the characteristics of direct and indirect speech, fusing them into a particular but effective hybrid.
Naturalism: authors
Naturalist authors, with Émile Zola being considered the leader, focused on everyday life, often describing the harsh conditions of the working classes and the most disadvantaged environments. Other important exponents include Guy de Maupassant and Joris-Karl Huysmans in France, while in other countries one can mention authors such as Giovanni Verga in Italy, whose works such as I Malavoglia and Mastro don Gesualdo brought attention to the challenges and hardships of rural life in Sicily. These writers aimed to represent reality in a raw and unfiltered way, often addressing social issues such as poverty, marginalization and disease, through detailed and meticulous narration.
