Is American Literary Naturalism Nature-Friendly?

Abstract

Although naturalism in American literature marked a significant epoch at the turn of the twentieth century, it has not drawn much scholarly attention in recent years. As ecocriticism has taken a popular position in today`s literary studies, it is meaningful to rethink the fin-de-siecle literary movement from an ecocritical perspective in terms of literary depictions of nature and human nature. For the purpose of this comparative study, Jack London`s The Call of the Wild and “To Build a Fire,” Frank Norris`s McTeague, and John Steinbeck`s The Grapes of Wrath are chosen as sample naturalistic texts dealing with the naturalistic notion of nature, while Willa Cather`s My Antonia and N. Scott Momaday`s House Made of Dawn represent ecocritical texts on the same topic. By comparing the wide selections of naturalistic and ecocritical works, one may be able to map out the similarities and dissimilarities between the two literary trends and to rethink the broad spectrum of how nature and human nature are portrayed within the two frameworks of thoughts. (Hanbat National University)