Chapter 9: 文學的 寫實主義 與 自然主義Realism and Naturalism in Literature

I. What is “Realism”?

Portrayal of life with fidelity ( 逼真描寫人生 ) or truthful representation of reality ( 忠實再現實体 )

Depiction ( 描寫 ) of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment ( 修飾 ) or interpretation ( 詮釋 ), and without personal bias ( 偏見 ).

It is a mid-19th century movement following Romanticism.

II. What is “Naturalism”?

– It is originally a philosophical term referring to materialism, Epicureanism ( 享樂主義 ), secularism ( 世俗主義 ), etc.

– Later it becomes a belief that every existing thing is a part of nature and thus can be explained by natural and material causes.

– It is an extreme form of Realism.

– It is best explained in Zola’s Le Roman expérimental (The Experimental Novel )

– Today in the west, Naturalism is a literary movement/school hardly differentiated from Realism.

III. Similarities and Difference between the Two Movements/Schools ：

同： 1. Method: inductive, observational, and hence objective

( 歸納、觀察、客觀 )

• They want to observe and analyze “a slice of life” ( 人生的「切片」 ) objectively. 2. Implications: a. material determinism ( 物質決定論 )

b. all-inclusiveness of subject matter ( 題材全包 )

• 強調 heredity ( 遺傳 ) & environment ( 環境 )• 認為 Nothing is unclean: 什麼都可寫。 3. Interest: They are interested in contemporary ( 當代的 ), real life.• They want to write on the everyday, the normal, the observable, the pragmatic ( 實用的 ), etc. • They do not want to write on the historical, the remote ( 遙遠的 ), the imaginary, the• fantastic, the idyllic ( 田園的 ), the idealistic, the unsullied ( 不污染的 ), etc.

4. Reaction: against classicism, Romanticism, “art for art sake”

異 : More than Realism, Naturalism is preoccupied with “ugliness”: Naturalism 喜歡寫 slums ( 貧民區 ), poverty, disease, crime, sex, etc.

IV. Background of Realism/Naturalism ：

– The invention of photography in 1839– Comte’s application of scientific ideas to th

e study of society.– Taine’s application of deterministic ( 決定的 ) t

heories to literature– Darwin’s evolutionary ( 進化 ) theories– English utilitarianism ( 功利主義 ): Bentha

m and Mill– The realistic or naturalistic paintings of Cou

rbet

Burial at Ornans by Courbet

V. Some Famous Sayings:

• “A novel is a mirror walking along the road.” --Stendhal• “My book is an analytical labor on two living bodies like that of a su

rgeon on corpses.” --Zola, Preface to Thérèse Raquin• “To a chemist nothing on earth is unclean. A writer must be as objective as a chemist; he must abandon the subjective line; he must know that dung heaps play a very respectable part in a landscape, and that evil passions are as inherent in life as good ones.”

--Chekhov• “Even the most artful of writers will give himself (and his morality) a

way in about every third sentence.” --Conrad

VI. Two Orientations:

1. Social realism: It emphasizes accuracy of external detail. ( 外在細節 )

It develops towards Marxism ( 馬克斯主義 ).

2. Psychological realism: It focuses on complexity of the inner workings of the

mind. ( 心靈內部作用之複雜性 )

It develops towards the “stream of consciousness” technique ( 「意識流」技巧 ).

VII. Representative Authors & Works:

France:

• Balzac ( 巴爾札克 ): Père Goriot ( 《高老爹》 ) in La Comèdie Humaine (90 多個故事 )

• Flaubert ( 福樓貝爾 ): Madame Bovary ( 《包法利夫人》 )• Dumas, fils ( 小仲馬 ): The Lady of the Camellias ( 《茶花女》 )• Maupassant ( 莫泊桑 ): “The Necklace” ( 〈項鍊〉 )• Zola ( 左拉 ): Thérèse Raquin, the Rougon-Macquart novels (20 冊 )• Stendhal ( 史丹達爾 ): The Red and the Black ( 《紅與黑》 )

Representative authors & works:

England: Dickens ( 狄更斯 ):

• David Copperfield 《塊肉餘生錄》 , Oliver Twist 《孤雛淚》 , Hard Times 《艱硬的時代》 , ATale of Two Cities 《雙城記》• Thackeray ( 薩克萊 ): Vanity Fair ( 《浮華世界》 )• George Eliot: • Adam Bede 《亞當畢德》 , • Silas Marner 《織工馬南》， The Mill on the Floss 《福洛斯河上的磨坊》• Hardy ( 哈代 ): • The Return of the Native, 《返鄉者》

Tess of the D’Urbervilles 《黛絲姑娘》 , Jude the Obscure

• Shaw ( 蕭伯納 ): Pygmalion ( 電影 My Fair Lady 《窈窕淑女》 )

Ireland: Joyce ( 焦易士 ): The Dubliners 《都柏林人》，其中有篇 ” Clay” ( 〈泥巴〉 )

Representative authors & works:

Russia:• Gogol 果戈里 : “The Cloak” ( 〈大衣〉 ),•

Turgenev 屠格涅夫 : Fathers and Children ( 《父與子》 )• Tolstoy 托爾斯泰 : War and Peace ( 《戰爭與和平》 )

Anna Kerenina ( 《安娜 卡烈尼娜》 )• Dostoevsky 朵斯妥 也夫斯基 :

Crime and Punishment ( 《罪與罰》 ) The Brothers Karamazov

• Gorky 高爾基 : The Lower Depths• Chekhov 契柯夫 : The Cherry Orchard ( 《櫻桃園》 ) The Three Sisters

Germany:• Hauptmann: The Weavers

Representative authors & works:

Scandinavia: 挪威 與 瑞典• Ibsen 易卜生 : A Doll’s House ( 《娃娃之家》 ),

Hedda Gabler, Ghosts• Strindberg 史特林保 : Miss Julie ( 《朱莉小姐》 )

America:• Howells: The Rise of Silas Lapham• Anderson: Winesberg, Ohio ( 《小城故事》 )• Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath ( 《憤怒的葡萄》 )• Dreiser: Sister Carrie ( 《嘉麗妹妹》 )• Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer, • Huckleberry Finn ( 《頑童歷險記》 )

Henry James: The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors,

• Daisy Miller

VIII. Conclusion:

• There has been realism of all sorts since the year dot. ( 自古就有各種寫實 )

• Realism is often hardly differentiated from naturalism. ( 寫實主義與自然主義很難分辨 )

• Realism or naturalism is best expressed in the novel and the drama. ( 小說與戲劇為主 )

• Realism or naturalism has spread from Europe to America and other parts of the world.

• ( 兩主義已推展至全世界 )