The Vast and Terrible Drama: American Literary Naturalism in the Late Nineteenth Century by Eric Carl Link

Abstract

MLR, 103.3, 2oo8 833 and sexual ambivalence at the heart of the text; inChapter 6 historical, literary,and theological readings ofRobert Louis Stevenson's novella The Ebb-Tide (I894) high light a concern about degeneration within the imperial space; and inChapter 7 an examination of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing, both fictional and non-fictional, reveals theways inwhich he anticipates aspects ofNational Socialism's racial politics. Ebbatson's project is,however, primarily concerned notwith highlighting the the matic similarities that can be drawn fromVictorian literary texts but with 'showing up the internal fissures and contradictions' (p. 4) within them. To this end he has selected texts foranalysis not on the basis of presenting the readerwith a historical survey of theVictorian period but inhis belief that theyare 'peculiarly pervaded' by 'gaps and interstices' (p. 2). His methodology consists of a removal of these texts from theirhistorical context-though this removal isnot absolute in the case ofChapters I and 2-and an application ofGerman cultural theory: he focuses on, among others, Karl Marx, Georg Simmel, Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, and Martin Hei degger. Some theorists receivemore attention than others, and given the titleof the book itshould come as no surprise to learn thatHeidegger isprominent throughout (although it should be pointed out that the title also refers to aminor character in a Sherlock Holmes short story,a point expanded on inChapter 7). The consequence of this is thatEbbatson makes demands on the reader that are strenuous: as John Schad, the series editor, remarks in his foreword, 'Ebbatson's school of criticism is the school of hard knocks' (p. vii). This makes itunlikely thatHeidegger's Bicycle will be suitable forwidespread undergraduate use. Nevertheless, the reader who is prepared to tackleEbbatson's project is likely to be rewarded by his close attention to textual detail and by his innovative and thought-provoking approach to the analysis of late nineteenth-century literature. UNIVERSITY OF EXETER LAURADANIELS The Vast and Terrible Drama: American Literary Naturalism in theLate Nineteenth Century. By ERIC CARL LINK. Tuscaloosa: University ofAlabama Press. 2004. x+ i67 PP. ?23. ISBN 978-O-8I73-I385-2. Eric Carl Link's book distinguishes itselffromprevious accounts ofAmerican literary naturalism by exploring the relationship of itsparticipants with itsdialogical social, political, and economic context. Link's objective is tochart theways inwhich Ameri can literarynaturalism has come tobe defined via contextual debates inperiodicals, so as toproblematize reductive accounts of thegenre's narrative techniques and promote its evident relevance for contemporary theoretical applications; his method would seem tobe of particular interest to new historicist and cultural materialist critics. InChapter iLink's efforttodialogize the analytical criteria of theAmerican natu ralistgenre begins by undermining Zola's critical omnipotence fordefining thegenre in terms 'generally dire in outlook, deterministic in philosophy, and aesthetically aligned with literary realism' (p. 3). By tracing the contribution of lesser commen tators onInaturalism from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, engaged in debate on the genre inperiodicals-such as Leopold Alas, forexample-today's li terary criticswould be able to see beyond this limiting definition and its associated stiflingmethodological applications; naturalism would provoke 'awhole range of intellectual responses' (p. 4). Chapter 2 collapses the realistic novel/romance binary that Link argues under mines literarynaturalism's complex history. Providing an overview of definitions of the genre throughout the nineteenth century, fromHawthorne to James, Link sug gests that thehistory of the genre hybridizes it.The aesthetic theories and narrative 834 Reviews methods of the most recognized authors of thenaturalistic genre-Frank Norris, Jack London, Stephen Crane, and Theodore Dreiser-incorporate, forLink, both roman tic and naturalistic elements.With respect toDreiser, claims Link, 'we discover that works such as Sister Carrie and The Financier implement a romantic symbolism that seeks to embody and reveal the abstract, hidden forces innature in a way more reminiscent of the romantics than the realists' (p. 62). InChapter 3Link stresses the importance of recognizing common ground between utopian fictionand naturalistic texts.He offers,forexample, a revision of the relation ship between historical context and literary text as itconcerns thisgenre, dialogizing accounts of the influence of evolutionary theory in redefining naturalism. For Link, both the darkerMalthusian current and the utopian evolutionary theory of Spencer contribute to a...