Module 3: Beyond the Civil War - Naturalism
A literary reaction to roughly the same timeframe as American Realism, roughly 1865-1900, a bit shorter than Realism
A different reaction to the same Circumstances as Realism
Naturalism?
representatives
Ambrose Beirce
Kate Chopin
Theodore Dreiser
Stephen Crane
term >> Emile Zola (1860s)
realism <> naturalism?
naturalism > reaction against realist program
in older books: naturalism extension of realism
does not really do justice to naturalism
different perspective, different world view, reaction against the specific features and what they see as the limitations of the realist program
"realists focus too much on the smiling aspects of American life"
they dislike the realist focus on ordinary, common people, in the sense of respectible citizens
naturalism does not believe that people have a free will, they think they are determined by outside factors
dislike the success of a learning process, naturalism believe that people can not improve/learn/take active decisions, does not believe in an improvement of society
Major Influences:
evolutionary, deterministic biology/Dawrinism
social Darwinism
sociological determinism
influenced by French naturalist writers, esp. Èmilie Zola and Edmond and Jules Goncourt
economic determinism
Human being as a species that emerged as a result of natural selection, not by divine/godly creation
transfer of Evolutionary/Biological to sociological Analysis
survival of the fittest
the most robust, ruthless, adaptable human being
not necessarily the moral superior
human beings, and all their aspects like society, etc. as the product of the environment
literature should be comparable to an analytic/scientific experiment
believes that humans are bound by overpowering economic developments and forces
All in all these philosophies influence naturalism in that they believe that human beings are determined, products of their genetic disposition, passions, drives and instincts and do not have a free will
The innovative aspects/approaches include that their literature portrays reality as incomprehensive, an overpowering and hostile environment -> No trust in rationality, in morality or in progress
New and different treatments of topics
new notion of portraying survival
New/different treatment of topics
survival
taboos
inhumane living conditions > Crane, Maggie
culture of consumption > Dreiser, Sister Carrie
both are hostile, nature and society, both as "opponents" of human beings
Far more incorporate into literature the inhumane living conditions in urban slums and poor immigrant neighbourhoods and expose the newly emerging culture of consumption and materialism
innovations of American naturalism
protagonist
"morally flawed" as realists consider them
villains, prostitutes, corrupt businessmen, eagertists
the lower class characters do not advance but they remain marginalised or fail even further
The morally flawed characters come out unpunished or even successful at the end, after they have ruined others
new/different views of man/woman
determined, helpless
instincts/desires/existential needs/material desires
Jack London, "The Law of Life" (short story), 1901
portrays nature as not caring about human beings and their emotions
portrays the course of life as the course towards survival of the whole, of the community, no emotions for the individual
the tribe is too busy to care about the grandfather, busy helping to prepare the tribe to leave, because they can not survive under the conditions any longer, they have to move on
Ultimately, death "is the end " , its the final point and its a giving in to this course of life without trying to change it
more important than the grandfather who is left behind, because he is close to death
illustrated by the look of the child
(Further) Counter Voices
Utopian/dystopian novels
City novels
Sociological analysis/cultural criticism e.g. Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)
coins the influential concept of conspicuous consumption
a replacement of the older (protestant) work ethic
phenomenon of the time, that on the one hand shows and expresses that society is a consumerous society, but it is not consumption in the own surroundings and for oneself only, it is consumption related to luxury, on display, conspicuous
F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby(1920s)
Gatsby uses his Money and throws parties to show anybody how much he can consume and how much he has
social photography
Jacob Riis
Lewis Hine
offers a new mode of representing social problems and inequality
more immediately accessible to non-english speaking groups
attractive and effective as a new medium
1890: How the Other Half Lives
sympathy vs. exploitation
factual/evidence/snapshots vs. construction/arrangement
sentimental/melodramatic structures
poor working conditions and the lives of poor immigrants
His Photos are characterized by a tension between sympathy and exploitation
is he really portraying sympathy or exploiting the people for his photographs?
exposing the victimization of children
focus on children in his photography
exposing urban poverty and devastating living conditions
oftentimes also used racial slurs to describe especially ethnic individuals and communities
He would also oftentimes use stereotypes about ethic communities and identities to explain why they were poor