"The Lower Elements"

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Preface v
3. Contents ix
4. Introduction 1
5. Part One. The Impulse toward Realism
6. On Realistic Poetry 41
7. "Life and Aesthetics" 44
8. "On Realism" 80
9. On Realism 89
10. Two Views of of Madame Bovary 97
11. "The World of Balzac" 105
12. On Realism 112
13. On True Novels 117
14. On Realism 120
15. "Ideals and Idealists" 122
16. On Truth in Fiction 129
17. On Veritism 137
18. Contemporary Society as Novelistic Material 147
19. "True Art Speaks Plainly" 154
20. Part Two. The Battle Over Naturalism
21. On the Rougon-Macquart Series 159
22. "The Experimental Novel" 162
23. "Naturalism in the Theatre" 197
24. "Emile Zola and L'Assommoir" 230
25. "Nana" 236
26. Levels of Realism 244
27. "The Lower Elements" 247
28. "For and Against Zola" 251
29. On Spanish Realism 261
30. What Naturalism Is Not 266
31. "The New Naturalism" 274
32. "A Typical Novel" 296
33. On Russian and French Realism 310
34. "Manifesto of Five Against La Terre" 344
35. Pernicious Literature 350
36. "The Limits of Realism in Fiction" 383
37. Naturalism in the Theatre 394
38. Naturalism Is Not Dead 407
39. "Guy de Maupassant" 412
40. Part Three. Twentieth Century Revisions and Evaluations
41. "A Natural History of American Naturalism" 429
42. "The Naturalism of Mr. Dreiser" 452
43. "A Literary Manifesto: The Populist Novel" 465
44. On Portuguese Neo-Realism 468
45. On Socialist Realism 483
46. Comments on Socialist Realism 486
47. "A Defense of Realism" 489
48. "Emile Zola" 506
49. "A Defense of Naturalism" 535
50. On the Falsity of Realism 549
51. "Conclusions and Applications" 565
52. "Notes on the Decline of Naturalism" 579
53. "The Realistic Fallacy" 591
54. A Short Bibliography of History and Criticism 599
55. Index 605