Taking English Naturalism out of the box: From theory to corpus, and back

Isms in literary criticism are condensed definitions with a “dictating” force, construing rigid frameworks for literary genres and styles. This is also the case of English Naturalism, which, unlike its French counterpart, remains probably one of the most elusive literary movements in European literature. This peculiarity can be noted in literary histories where English Naturalism receives little attention, if any at all. On the other hand, specialised criticism provides in depth, diverse and at times contrasting views of this movement that is difficult to navigate for non-specialists. Against this literary and cultural backdrop, this paper employs an interdisciplinary methodology that integrates literary criticism and corpus linguistics contributing general context-based knowledge from literary criticism and specific, text-based knowledge from corpus linguistics. Its sections focus on specific aspects of English Naturalism that are still debated, one being the influence of the French writer Émile Zola on British Naturalism, the other the representation of characters in relation to the development of social Darwinism and determinism. Results to be further explored and tested show that the application of this method can contribute valuable insights into aspects of English Naturalism that have so far received little attention in literary histories.