Plain Talk
By
Mursi Saad El-Din
The Egyptian Association of Comparative Studies, headed by Dr Ahmed Etman, Professor of Classics at Cairo University, convenes international conferences and seminars at which scores of research papers from different countries are submitted and discussed and then eventually published.
Recently I attended a PhD thesis defence by Hala Zaki, a colleague in Al-Ahram, comparing the 1919 Egyptian Revolution and its associated literary scene with the 1916 Irish uprising and the Irish literary movement that accompanied it. And now there is yet another comparative study submitted by Ramadan Hamed El- Mahallawi at Ain Shams University -- "Naturalism in James Thomas Farrell's Chicago Studs Lonigan Trilogy, 1932-1935, and Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy, 1956- 1957".
I have read no works by Farrell yet I was really fascinated by the subject. From the discussion I emerged with some knowledge of Farrell's works and, more importantly, with a better understanding of naturalism.
El-Mahallawi traces the factors which led to the spread of naturalism which, he claims, grew out of realism, of which it is a natural extension. This has led many critics to use realism and naturalism interchangeably.
What factors led to the emergence of naturalism? One was the change in concepts of the nature of man and his position in the universe. Another factor was the emergence of positivism, presented as an empirical method of determining truth. Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859), together with Mendel's laws of heredity, were also significant contributing factors.
What is it about the realists that made them harbingers of naturalism? To the realists' careful observation and mimetic depiction of external realities, the naturalists added a particular view of humanity and a distinctive method of writing. The naturalists regarded heredity, environment and the pressure of immediate circumstance as the mainsprings of action. They took issue with such evils of the time as alcoholism, sexual depravity, poverty, hypocrisy, greed and fraud.
The manifesto of naturalism came with Emile Zola's preface to the second edition of the novel Thérèse Raquin. In Britain naturalism found supporters sympathetic to the French trend, among them George Gissing and George Moore. American naturalism, on the other hand, though influenced by Zola, was mediated through Frank Norris and, later, James Thomas Farrell. In Egypt the techniques of naturalism can be traced through Naguib Mahfouz's Trilogy. Hence the basis of the comparison.
El-Mahallawi goes on to examine the works of the two writers with reference to the influences of naturalism. One major component of naturalism is the belief in behavioural determinism, which is certainly an important contributory factor in the fate of the protagonists of the two trilogies. In Farrell's trilogy the degeneration and degradation of his protagonist is due to the impact of sensuality, drink and debauchery on his life. In Mahfouz's Cairo trilogy, the fall of the protagonist becomes a matter of heredity.
Both Mahfouz and Farrell were committed to the techniques of naturalism. One of the elements of this technique is to foreground the subject, generally sordid, and often with large helpings of the whorehouse, slum and sex. Another important element is the topographical setting, often a large city, in Farrell's case Chicago, in Mahfouz's Cairo. Characters in both trilogies lead lives that are, in essence, determined -- as are their actions -- by biological determinism (heredity), social determinism (environment or milieu) or by the historic moment.
A further element in naturalistic characterisation is the insignificance of man in the modern universe. And finally there was a naturalistic attitude to woman, the new woman, the modern woman, emancipated, with a will of her own, who dominated men instead of being dominated by them.
I don't think I have given justice to the thesis. But I certainly came out of the discussion with more understanding of Mahfouz's Yassin and an introduction to Farrell's Studs Lonigan.
