nat|u|ral|ism

nat|u|ral|ism «NACH uhr uh _LIHZ uhm, NACH ruh lihz-», noun.

1. close adherence to nature and reality in art and literature: »

And with as little or as much as each artist needs of naturalism in his work, the essentials of the classics have always included expression and form as matters of the very first importance (Atlantic).

2. the principles and methods of a group of writers of the late 1800's and early 1900's whose realism of description included all the details of an environment however repulsive and whose characters were molded by their environment. This group of writers included Émile Zola, George Moore, Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, and Theodore Dreiser.

3. action, thought, or belief based on natural instincts.

4. Philosophy. a view of the world that takes account only of natural elements and forces, excluding the supernatural or spiritual.

5. the doctrine that all religious truth is derived from the study of nature.