Populisme

French literary school of the late 1920’s and the 1930’s whose followers advocated a faithful depiction of the daily life of the urban and rural poor, free of political bias and social generalizations; a variety of naturalism.

While expressing a superficial love for the people, Populisme opposed the development of a truly democratic French literature during the period of the Front Populaire (Popular Front). The literary critic L. Lemonnier and such writers as S. Lot, L. Frapié, M. Mardelle, K. Seé and P. Bearn belonged to the group, and H. Poulaille maintained close ties with it. The novelists E. Dabit, T. Rémy, and A. Chamson, who at first adhered to the principles of Populisme, later abandoned them.