naturalisme

Forms

naturalisme m (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned derivative, from Latin nātūrālis (“natural”), with the suffix -isme.^[2][3] The Robert dictionaries and the GLLF describe it as a learned derivative of naturel formed after the Latin adjective.^[4][5][6] The Latin adjective comes from nātūra (“nature”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi and the DHLF date it to 1719, in La Motte's Fables, in the sense of a mythological interpretation of natural phenomena.^[2][3] The Robert dictionaries give 1582 for this sense.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

In the thought of the 18th century it named the system that takes nature as the first principle of everything, so that nothing exists outside nature, a notion close to matérialisme (1746, Diderot).^[2][3] Littré also records it for the quality of what has a natural cause, as in le naturalisme des convulsions de Saint-Médard, and for a religion of nature.^[6][5]

The 19th century made it a term of aesthetics, first of painting (1839), for the faithful representation of nature.^[3][7] Taine applied it to literature in 1858 in an essay on Balzac.^[2][3] The strict literary sense, a doctrine seeking to depict social reality in all its aspects with the methods of science, came a little later with Zola and the writers around him.^[3][2] The BHVF finds an aesthetic use as early as 1847.^[8]

Timeline

• 1582 – The Robert dictionaries' first date, for the mythological sense.^[4][7]
• 1719 – La Motte uses it of the mythological interpretation of nature.^[2][3]
• 1746 – Diderot uses it for the system that attributes everything to nature.^[2][3]
• 1839 – Used of painting.^[3][7]
• 1847 – An aesthetic use is found in Didron.^[8]
• 1858 – Taine uses it of literature, in the Journal des débats.^[2][5]
• 1868 – The Petit Robert's date for the literary school.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (philosophy) A doctrine holding that nothing exists outside nature and rejecting the supernatural.^[7][2]
2. (art) The realistic representation of nature, especially in painting.^[7][9][2]
3. (literary history) The literary school of the late 19th century, led by Zola, that sought to depict reality objectively in all its aspects, including its ugliness.^[7][2][5]
4. (rare) Natural character, conformity to nature.^[5][6]

Related words

• naturaliste
• naturel
• nature
• réalisme
• surnaturel

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)