Re-Visioning American Literary Naturalism

Abstract

Today, two characteristics define literary naturalism, and both are problematic. One is the emphasis on four male writers: Theodore Dreiser, Frank Norris, Stephen Crane, and Jack London. This focus emerged in the 1930s and stemmed from biases against white women and African Americans. The other defining trait is the temporal reach of naturalism. Extrapolating from traits in the works of Dreiser et al., this school now includes the “proletarian writers” of the 1930s and many recent authors. This article presents a new definition, one that emphasizes the distinct nature of the period from 1893 to 1913, when authors and social scientists believed that immutable “laws” of heredity and environment determined human behaviour. This approach broadens the naturalist canon during the classic era, 1893–1913, dethroning those four white males, and excludes most later works.