Daniela Vrbová

Université Charles, Prague

Whose Naturalism? – Zola, Darwin, Brandes

This paper takes its departure point in my thesis The Term „Naturalism“ in the Writings of Georg Brandes, Herman Bang and J.P. Jacobsen. There, works of three Danish authors were examined to illuminate the precise meaning of the term “naturalism” in the Danish context. Brandes, Bang and Jacobsen dealt with naturalism in theory, and even today, their names are connected with this literary tendency either as one of its first representatives (Bang or Jacobsen) or as an expert and the first one to present the naturalistic principles for the public (Georg Brandes). Naturalism, in fact, is an import product from the French and British literature brought to Denmark by Georg Brandes and Herman Bang. Curiously, when comparing their statements about naturalism with the resources they worked from , one will find essential diversions and often great differences between theirs and the original concept of naturalism: each of them separately departed from different premises and arrived at different conclusions. Hereby, the term naturalism in the writings of these three Danish authors means three different things, which today can be confusing.

Naturalism is a literary tendency originating from France and the Great Britain . Both of the traditions influenced one another in part, and partly they had developed their own characteristic features. The exact term was created by the author Émile Zola in the 1880‘s and it came into use at the instant when referring to literary works with certain qualities and features. In the English tradition, naturalism was used to refer to writing and poetry dealing with life in harmony with nature and its worship. The influence of Charles Darwin in this area must not be omitted to mention.

What was Brandes' relation to naturalism? First of all, he knew Hippolyte Taine, naturalism's theorist, personally and he maintained a frequent correspondence with the British philosopher John Stuart Mill. Moreover, he would use the word ‘naturalism' himself to refer to the concept of man being placed in the midst of Nature, which should form his most natural environment. This concept refers to and emphasizes the original character of man's nature and it enables to perceive himself anti-metaphysically: the goal of one's life is to be found here, in this world, and not anywhere outside, in transcendental dimensions. When Zola began to promote the word ‘naturalism' so that it more or less automatically became connected with his person, Brandes gave up using the term in the meaning that he himself had created for it.

The paper presents the main reasons and objections Brandes had about the French use of the word naturalism and his misunderstandings and misconceptions of the English naturalism. On one hand, he presents himself as an up-to-date critic whose mission is to “educate” Denmark , on the other, though, he his reluctant to accept the findings and conclusions of the up-to-date authors he is presenting. More abstractly, Brandes' weak point is (re-) revealed: his misunderstanding of the essence of modern time and modern literature that eventually led to his name be rather out-of-date in the contemporary (non-Danish) literary criticism.