文化艺术中的现实主义和自然主义（英文）

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1、Realism and Naturalism in Art and Literature文化艺术中的现实主义和自然主义中文系 谢琳琳 000114156Before comparing these two cultural schools, we had better ascertain their definitions.Realism, in art and literature, is an attempt to describe human behavior and surroundings or to represent figures and

2、 objects exactly as they act or appear in life.Naturalism, the term usually used in literature, refers to the theory that literary composition should be based on an objective, empirical presentation of human beings.The two terms are often used interchangeably, as they share so many similarities:Anti

3、-romanticismIn art, realism is a recurrent theme that becomes a coherent movement after 1850; and even then it struggles against the overwhelming popularity of romanticism. Impressionism can be seen as a development that grew out of realism, but in its turn still had to battle the more popular roman

4、ticism. In the scope of literature, realism also marks a radical break with romanticism. In general, the main tenet of realism is that writers must not select facts in accord with preconceived aesthetic or ethical ideals but must set down their observations impartially and objectively. Nat

5、uralism, a logical extension of realism, proceeds from an analysis of reality in terms of natural forces, e.g., heredity, environment, and physical drives. Its representative writer, Émile Zola, undeniably infused French fiction with a refreshing vigor, giving it a tough, powerful edge far remo

6、ved from the vaporings of high romanticism. Without altogether banishing romanticism, have realism and naturalism had considerable success.Main scopeTheir most important influences have been on literature, especially lengthy novels.Novelist Honoré de Balzac is generally hailed as the grandfathe

7、r of literary realism in the long series of novels and stories he titled La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy). Like such a television series, his works also incorporated a device for maintaining his audience: the continual reappearance of certain characters from one work to the next-now as pro

8、tagonists, now as secondary figures. The idea is an old one, going back classic bodies of work such as the Homeric epics and the Medieval Arthurian romances; but it had a different effect in Balzac's work: readers could recognize a slightly altered version of the world they themselves inhabited

9、as they moved from story to story. Like Balzac, Émile Zola created a series of novels with linked characters and settings ("Les Rougon-Macquart: Histoire naturelle et sociale d'une famille sous le second Empire"-"The Rougon-Macquart: Natural and Social History of a Family Dur

10、ing the Second Empire") which stretched to twenty novels. He tried to create a portrait of France in the 1880s to parallel the portrait Balzac had made of his own times in La Comédie humaine. Initial countryIt is perhaps unsurprising that their origins can be both traced to France. Since t

11、he 18th century the French have traditionally viewed themselves as rationalists, and this prevailing attitude in intellectual circles meant that romanticism led an uneasy existence in France even when allied with the major revolutionary movements of 1789 and 1830.In art, although a

12、60;clearly defined realist school has never evolved, a realist approach has been manifested in different ways at various times. Frequently used to describe scenes of humble life, the term “realist” implies a criticism of social conditions. Thus, some of the work of the French artists Gustave Courbet

13、 (for example, The Stonebreakers, 1850), Honoré Daumier, and Jean François Millet has been described as social realism. Realist literature is defined particularly as the fiction produced in Europe and the United States from about 1840 until the 1890s. This form of realism began i

14、n France in the novels of Gustave Flaubert and the short stories of Guy de Maupassant.Naturalism was first prominently exhibited in the writings of 19th-century French authors, especially Edmond Louis Antoine de Goncourt, his brother Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt, and Émile Zola. MaterialArtist

15、s of the realist school would like to paint familiar scenes and events as they actually looked. Typically it involved some sort of sociopolitical or moral message, in the depiction of ugly or commonplace subjects.Realistic and naturalistic writers often attempted systematically to render a portrait

16、of aspects of his time from the lowest thief or prostitute to the highest aristocrat or political leader, avoiding larger, more dramatic issues.Naturalism, a new and harsher realism, can be distinguished by the following aspects: Extent of Anti-romanticismAlthough we can easily perceive the objectiv

17、e, matter-of fact portrait of all aspects of France in Balzacs works, their plots are filled with sensational conspiracies and crimes and wildly improbable coincidences. To some extent, Balzac's works are still essentially romantic creations with a realistic veneer. But if we read Zolas fictionG

18、erminalwe find that Zola was not a meticulous craftsman of beautiful prose. At times it seems as if he is writing with a meat ax. Zola also took frankness about sexual functions much further than the early Realists had dared; and it is this, combined with a pervasive pessimism about humanity, which

19、chiefly characterizes the naturalist novel. ScopesRealism and naturalism are not really comparable in scope. The former is a cultural movement in art, music and literature, while the latter is just a literary school. Differences in the Scope of Literature1 Reality in the Essence of LifeRealism place

20、s emphasis on reveal the essence of life on the basis of their objective observations.The reality that naturalism shows, although examining dispassionately various phenomena in life and drawing indisputable conclusions, does not focus the essence of life. That is because naturalistic writers persued

21、 an analysis of reality in terms of natural forces, e.g., heredity, environment, physical drives, which determines their inability to reveal the fundamental sense of life.2 Typical CharactersRealists tended to downplay plot in favor of character. In order to mold their typical character, they have t

22、o generalize and process the material they observed. "Scientific novel", on the contrary, would be created by placing characters with known inherited characteristics into a carefully defined environment and observing the resulting behavior. Naturalistic writers tend to create their princip

23、al characters as representative types rather than striking individuals. Individuals are selected to illustrate aspects of society.3 Criteria to Drudge LifeAlthough realism requires its writers to set down their observations impartially and objectively, this does not mean that writers should not sele

24、ct facts in accord with their aesthetic or ethical criticism. In contrast, realists must use these criterions so as to reveal the essence of life.Naturalists, espousing a deterministic philosophy, place special stress on the importance of heredity and environment in determining character. This scien

25、tific criterion denies the critical function of society to shape a persons character or thoughts; thus, it is far away from the fundamental sense of life. InfluenceRealist literature is long lasting. Even today, there are many writers working in accord with its tenet. While naturalism is quite transient, declining sharply in the 20th century.3