Modernism vs. Naturalism — What's the Difference?

Modernism is both a philosophical movement and an art movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, and social organization which reflected the newly emerging industrial world, including features such as urbanization, new technologies, and war.

(in art and literature) a style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail

Modern thought, character, or practice.

The philosophical belief that everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted

Sympathy with or conformity to modern ideas, practices, or standards.

The practice of describing precisely the actual circumstances of human life in literature.

A peculiarity of usage or style, as of a word or phrase, that is characteristic of modern times.

The practice of reproducing subjects as precisely as possible in the visual arts.

Often Modernism The deliberate departure from tradition and the use of innovative forms of expression that distinguish many styles in the arts and literature of the 1900s.

A movement or school advocating such precise representation.

Often Modernism A Roman Catholic movement, officially condemned in 1907, that attempted to examine traditional belief according to contemporary philosophy, criticism, and historiography.

The principles and methods of such a movement or of its adherents.

(uncountable) Modern or contemporary ideas, thought, practices, etc.

(Philosophy) The system of thought holding that all phenomena can be explained in terms of natural causes and laws.

(countable) Anything that is characteristic of modernity.

(Theology) The doctrine that all religious truths are derived from nature and natural causes and not from revelation.

Any of several styles of art, architecture, literature, philosophy, etc., that flourished in the 20th century.

Conduct or thought prompted by natural desires or instincts.

A religious movement in the early 20th century, condemned as heretical by Pope Pius X, which tried to reconcile Roman Catholic dogma with modern science and philosophy.

A state of nature; conformity to nature.

Modern practice; a thing of recent date; esp., a modern usage or mode of expression.

The doctrine that denies a supernatural agency in the miracles and revelations recorded in religious texts and in spiritual influences.

Certain methods and tendencies which, in Biblical questions, apologetics, and the theory of dogma, in the endeavor to reconcile the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church with the conclusions of modern science, replace the authority of the church by purely subjective criteria; - so called officially by Pope Pius X.

(philosophy) Any system of philosophy which refers the phenomena of nature as a blind force or forces acting necessarily or according to fixed laws, excluding origination or direction by a will.

Genre of art and literature that makes a self-conscious break with previous genres

(philosophy) A doctrine which denies a strong separation between scientific and philosophic methodologies and/or topics

The quality of being current or of the present;

(arts) A movement in theatre, film, and literature that seeks to replicate a believable everyday reality, as opposed to such movements as romanticism or surrealism, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic or idealistic treatment.

Practices typical of contemporary life or thought

(nonstandard) naturism, nudism, social nudity.

The belief in natural law.

A state of nature; conformity to nature.

The doctrine of those who deny a supernatural agency in the miracles and revelations recorded in the Bible, and in spiritual influences; also, any system of philosophy which refers the phenomena of nature to a blind force or forces acting necessarily or according to fixed laws, excluding origination or direction by one intelligent will.

The theory that art or literature should conform to nature; realism; also, the quality, rendering, or expression of art or literature executed according to this theory.

The principles and characteristics professed or represented by a 19th-century school of realistic writers, notably by Zola and Maupassant, who aimed to give a literal transcription of reality, and laid special stress on the analytic study of character, and on the scientific and experimental nature of their observation of life.

(philosophy) the doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms without recourse to spiritual or supernatural explanations

An artistic movement in 19th century France; artists and writers strove for detailed realistic and factual description