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naturalism

(19th century)

Naturalistic aesthetics arose out of 19th-century positivism, and were developed in literary theory above all by the French writer EMILE ZOLA (1840-1902) who spoke of the 'experimental novel'.

Rejecting the emotional emphasis of romanticism and notions of idealism and stylization, it sought to represent natural objects as they appear, acting as the mirror for nature. Its theoretical basis is not far removed from that of realism, particularly in its claim for scientific objectivity of recording, but built in is a Darwinian ideology of the animal nature of the human, portraying violence and primitive passion.

During the 17th century, the Italian art historian BELLORI (1672) was the first to characterize work by the followers of MICHEL ANGELO MERISI CARAVAGGIO (1569-1609) as naturalistic.

Also see: SOCIAL NOVEL

Source:
G J Becker, ed., Documents of Modern Literary Realism (Princeton, 1963)

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