1. Jason Gerkerberry

    Jason Gerkerberry New Member

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    Literary genres that are in essence , pessimistic about human nature?

    Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by Jason Gerkerberry, Sep 24, 2012.

    Hi there and yes I am a misanthrope. I'm researching on anthropological pessimism and literature at the moment and would like to know if any other literary *genres* which are primarily pessimistic about human nature, exist besides the one's I've listed below.

    Thank's for your contributions in advance.

    - Genres -

    Naturalism
    Dark Romanticism
    Philosophical literature
    Cyberpunk
    Dark Fantasy
    Noir
    Post-world war 1 Modernist Literature
    Gothic
    Dystopian
     
  2. Jason Gerkerberry

    Jason Gerkerberry New Member

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    Also I don't know what to categorize this following list as; I think it's something that is more akin to philosophy.

    -philosophical pessimism
    -anti-humanism
    -third-worldism
    -jingoism
    -cynicism
    -statism/ultra-conservatism
    -social/cultural pessimism
    -survivialism
    -dystopian
    -social pathology
    -scienfitic apocalypticism
    -primitivism
    -deep ecology
    -eco-fascism
    -neo-malthusianism
    -eugenicism/dysgenicism
    -anti-natalism
    -anti-speciesism
    -anti-anthropocentrism


    ^ this all has to do with movements that are in essence pessimistic about human nature. Some of it is philosophical , other's are political , some of it I don't even know. It would be nice if you could contribute to this list as well.
     
  3. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    I immediately thought of naturalism, though I noticed it's first on your list. You already have more genres than I can think of, so I can't offer much help.

    I would like to add one thing. One problem I have with genres like naturalism is that they tend to be very one-sided. Naturalism is supposed to depict ordinary life, and yet we only see the ugly side of life in pretty much every naturalist novel. I think the main reason for this is that novels need some sort of conflict to keep the reader interested, so writing about things like violence or poverty or prejudice is especially enticing.
     

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