Abstract
The chapter discusses the problems when referring to the terms of literary history and literary styles interculturally. It poses two central questions: Is such a terminology transfer possible? Of what use is then this terminological tool? The problem is illustrated with the meaning of the term 'naturalism' in the Danish literature, as it was coined by the Danish literary critic Georg Brandes.
He had created it with a specific purpose and concept on his mind, however, later when he was introducing the then current French and British authors to the Danish audience, inevitably, he encountered the term again, yet with a different content. French 'naturalisme' and English 'naturalism' have got a different, in some aspect radically different, meaning than 'naturalisme' in the Danish culture.
Which naturalism do we then refer to today, when we characterize texts of Danish authors as naturalistic? The chapter seeks to clarify the three different concepts of naturalism by means of quotes from and analyses of