From Realism to Naturalism

1. From Realism to Naturalism Late 19th Century American Short Stories

2. Recap: What is Realism? • Realism is “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material” – William Dean Howells • Where did we see realism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

3. What is Naturalism? • Approaching literature and life scientifically • The writer must study the world around him or her, including … • Inherited traits of individuals • Social conditions of the time • As a result, their worldview was not very bright.

4. Naturalism and Free Will • Naturalist writers believed that free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion. • That means you have little to NO control over your actions or your fate and that your environment controls everything.

5. Naturalism and Literature • Naturalistic writers used a version of the scientific method to write their novels. • They studied human beings governed by their instincts and passions as well as the ways in which the characters' lives were governed by forces of heredity and environment. http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm

6. Themes in Naturalism • The "brute within" each individual • Humans are closer to the animal kingdom than we may think. • The fight for survival in an amoral, indifferent universe • Nature has no morals; humans do. • Conflict: man vs. nature and man vs. himself • Nature as an indifferent force acting on the lives of human beings. • Nature doesn’t “care” about us.

7. “The Open Boat” and “A Mystery of Heroism” By Stephen Crane

8. The War behind the Story • The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States. It ultimately ended with the Americans defeating the Spaniards. Revolts against Spanish rule had been endemic for decades in Cuba and were closely watched by Americans. • By 1897–98, American public opinion grew angrier at reports of Spanish atrocities. After the mysterious sinking of the American battleship Maine in Havana harbor, America went to war with Spain. • Compromise proved impossible, resulting in an ultimatum sent to Madrid demanding it relinquish control of Cuba immediately, which was not accepted.

9. The War behind the Story • Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. A series of one-sided American naval and military victories followed on all fronts, owing to their numerical superiority in most of the battles and despite the good performance of some of the Spanish infantry units. • The outcome was the 1898 Treaty of Paris — which was favorable to the U.S. — followed by temporary American control of Cuba and indefinite colonial authority over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.

10. “Greetings from Stephen Crane” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlQ36mhXAJc

11. Yellow Journalism • Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism.

12. Review! What is Naturalism? • Naturalism: nineteenth-century literary movement that was an extension of realism and that claimed to portray life exactly as if it were being examined through a scientist’s microscope. Naturalists relied heavily on the new field of psychology, biology, and sociology to explain human behavior. (Often includes an amoral and indifferent world, animal imagery, insanity, deterministic outcomes, etc.

13. Three Types of Irony • situational irony: the difference between what you expect will happen and what actually happens • For example, when the birthday girl cries at her party. • verbal irony: the contrast between what is said and what is meant. • For example, calling a bald man “curly.” • dramatic irony: the contrast between what the characters know and what the reader or audience knows. • For example, when the reader knows the character will die at the end of the story but the character does not know.

14. “War is Kind” (1899) Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind,Because your lover threw wild hands toward the skyAnd the affrighted steed ran on alone,Do not weep.War is kind.Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,Little souls who thirst for fight,These men were born to drill and die.The unexplained glory flies above them.Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom--A field where a thousand corpses lie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTxc0VNOVes

15. “War is Kind” (1899) Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,Raged at his breast, gulped and died,Do not weep.War is kind.Swift blazing flag of the regiment,Eagle with crest of red and gold,These men were born to drill and die.Point for them the virtue of slaughter,Make plain to them the excellence of killingAnd a field where a thousand corpses lie.

16. “War is Kind” (1899) Mother whose heart hung humble as a buttonOn the bright splendid shroud of your son,Do not weep.War is kind! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZGf-LDqMUA&NR=1