1 / 17

Realism Including Regionalism and Naturalism

Realism Including Regionalism and Naturalism. The Civil War through the early 20 th century. Realistic Period (1850-1910). includes the Civil War , significant industrial inventions , and extensive westward expansion , is one of the most turbulent and creative in American history.

acostaa
Download Presentation

Realism Including Regionalism and Naturalism

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. RealismIncluding Regionalism and Naturalism The Civil War through the early 20th century

  2. Realistic Period(1850-1910) • includes the Civil War, significant industrial inventions, and extensive westward expansion, is one of the most turbulent and creative in American history. • Rejection of Romantic view of life as too idealistic • Writers turn to real life to articulate the tensions and complex events of the time, rather than idealized people or places. • Seek “verisimilitude” (appearance of truth) by portraying “a slice of life” as it really is • Usually objective narrator

  3. Realism(1850-1910) • Realistic authors made it their mission • to convey the reality of life, however harsh. • to reflect ordinary people in everyday life, determined yet flawed, struggling to overcome the difficulties of war, family, natural disasters, and human weaknesses.

  4. The Stonebreakers by Gustave Courbet

  5. The Gleaners by Jean-Francois Millet

  6. Realism(1850-1910) Major Themes • While good will always triumph over evil, it may not happen in every case in this lifetime • Nature is a powerful force beyond man’s control. • Racism persisted beyond slavery—Reconstruction, Jim Crow, KKK, etc.

  7. Transitional Poets • Transitional writers which span the Romantic and Realistic Periods express Transcendental ideas in poetry with realistic detail. • Experimented with new poetic techniques such as free verse and slant rhyme. • Walt Whitman (1819-1892) • Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

  8. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) • Born to a family with modest means • Best known work Leaves of Grass published in 1855 • 1st published with 12 poems • Final republished edition in 1891 contained nearly 400 poems • Influenced by Transcendentalists • Revolutionized poetry by creating a new style • Realistic • Free flowing (free verse – without rhythm or rhyme; reflected cadences of everyday speech) • Shockingly candid; 1st person • Deeply distressed by Civil War and slavery; volunteered as nurse in army hospital

  9. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) • Mostly unknown in her lifetime; most work published after death (about 1800 poems) • Born into prosperous family in Amherst, Massachusetts • Family was intensely religious; she had strong reverence for Bible but equally strong doubts/questions • Became a recluse in early thirties • Known as American literary nonconformist: • Style was stark and concise • Unconventional capitalization and punctuation use (esp. dashes) • Posed riddling questions of life

  10. Emily Dickinson

  11. Emily Dickinson

  12. Realism(1850-1910) • Civil War writers are primarily concerned with the war, slavery, and to a lesser extent, women’s suffrage. • Abraham Lincoln • Robert E. Lee • Sojourner Truth • Harriet Beecher Stowe • Frederick Douglass

  13. Regionalism • Local color writers (also known as Regionalists) focused on a particular region of the country, seeking to represent accurately the culture and beliefs of that area. • Emphasized accurate portrayals of the physical landscape as well as the habits, occupations, and speech (dialect) of the area’s people

  14. Regionalism • Local color writers include, among others: • Mark Twain (the Mississippi River valley) • Willa Cather (the Midwest, particularly Nebraska) • Kate Chopin (the South, particularly Louisiana)

  15. Naturalism • Realism took a cynical turn to Naturalism when literary writers were exposed to the views of three authors whose scientific or political works appeared near the end of the century. • Charles Darwin—biological determinism • Sigmund Freud—psychological determinism • Karl Marx—socio-economic determinism

  16. Naturalism • Naturalistic writers focused on • grim reality, • observed characters much as scientists might observe laboratory animals, and • sought to discover the natural laws which govern human lives. • Naturalists viewed nature and the universe as indifferent, even hostile, to man.

  17. Naturalism • The universe of the naturalists is godless, cold, and indifferent. • Life often seems meaningless. • Fate = chance (no free will) • The characters in these works are often helpless victims—trapped by nature, the environment, or their own heritage. • Jack London (novels, short stories) • Stephen Crane (novels, short stories, poetry) • Edwin Arlington Robinson (poetry) • Ambrose Bierce (short stories)

More Related