Jack London content introduction bob naturalism (1880s 1940s)

Naturalism: An Introduction and Writers 
Naturalism (1865-1914) was 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. 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. 

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Realism is a literary movement from the 19th century that focuses on the 
everyday and mundane experiences of humans. 
In 1880, Emile Zola (1840-1902), a French novelist, 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. 
Naturalist writers adopted a deterministic view. Determinism in 
Naturalism is the idea that nature or fate influences the course of an 
individual's life and character. 
Charles Darwin, an English biologist and naturalist, wrote his influential 
book 
On the Origin of Species
in 1859. His book highlighted his theory 
on evolution which stated that all living creatures evolved from a 
common ancestor through a series of natural selection. Darwin's theories 
greatly influenced Naturalist writers. From Darwin's theory, Naturalists 
concluded that all human nature was derived from an individual's 
environment and hereditary factors. 
Types of Naturalism 
There are two main types of Naturalism: Hard/Reductive Naturalism and 
Soft/Liberal Naturalism. There is also a category of Naturalism called 
American Naturalism. 

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