An anti-symbolist movement in late nineteenth-century French poetry: "Le naturisme" of Saint-Georges de Bouhelier
Description
This dissertation is a study of Le naturisme, an anti-symbolist literary movement that emerged in late nineteenth-century France. Chapter one is a literary-historical overview of the evolution of naturisme. It describes the state of crisis in symbolist literature at the end of the nineteenth century and details the efforts of Saint-Georges de Bouhelier and Maurice Le Blond--naturisme's founders--to create a literary aesthetic in opposition to the hermeticism and elitism of symbolism. Chapter two contains analyses of Bouhelier's poetic treatises and Le Blond's theoretical essays that define the naturiste aesthetic--an aesthetic that emphasizes the heroic nature of common people and the beauty of the quotidian and that advises the writer to avoid the hermetic poetic expression typical of Mallarmean symbolism. Chapter three illustrates Emile Zola's role as mentor to the naturistes, compares and contrasts naturisme to naturalism, and portrays the naturistes' courageous support of Zola in the Dreyfus Affair. Chapter four is a study of Bouhelier's poetry, the purpose of which is to demonstrate how the naturiste aesthetic was put into practice and to determine whether or not the movement's objectives were met in other than a strictly expository context. Chapter five is a discussion of Andre Gide's break from symbolism and his subsequent retour-a-la vie mentality that spawned his novel, Les nourritures terrestres (1897). For a time, it seemed as if Gide would proclaim himself a member of naturisme, but he was ultimately greatly responsible for the movement's demise. This chapter, thus, chronicles the beginning of naturisme's downfall, as Bouhelier and Le Blond lost the support of talented young writers who resented their bitter attacks against respected symbolists and their attempt to marshall young writers into their school. Chapter six describes the legacy of naturisme, which, although it had failed, prompted others to found similar movements and allowed writers to free themselves from the restrictive tenets of symbolism