American Realism

1. American Realism No More Romantic Sunshine & Rainbows…

2. Origins/Influences • 1850/60-1890/1910 • Began during the Civil War & continued into the early 20th century • Reaction to the idealism of Romanticism & Transcendentalism: CONTRAST (Civil War between Romantics & Realists) • Fertile literary environment • Rising middle class & literacy rates

3. Social/Political Context • Reaction to Civil War suffering (couldn’t romanticize war anymore once saw it on their own soil & the mass destruction, poverty, & death it caused – women forced out of traditional roles & soldiers no longer praised as heroes) • Invention of photograph • Captured true life • Increased literacy & democracy (& rise in middle class affluence)= public hungry for truth & awareness • Abolitionism & post-slavery stories • Dark side of America • Origins of Muckraking journalism • Expose corruption, particularly political & corporate (continues today…) • Literature affected: tried to do the same

4. Realism: Values/Beliefs • Contrasts w/Romanticism & Transcendentalism • Nature is no longer a source of spiritual truth & inspiration but a force that is beyond human control • Describes life w/out Romantic subjectivity & idealism; more pessimistic /skeptical & reflective of the harshness & ironic humor of life; represents the common, the average, the non-extreme, the representative, the probable • Whereas Romantics transcend the immediate to find the ideal, Realists focus on the immediate, the here & now (known as descendental) • Focuses on specific actions and their consequences • Present life as it is, not as it might be; describes life without idealization/romantic subjectivity while adding criticisms about it to stimulate change • Concerned with the commonplace of everyday life - particularly among the middle & lower classes, where character is a product of social & environmental factors • experimental. • Purpose of writing: to instruct & entertain

5. Values/Beliefs, Cont. • Multiple views of life: all classes, races, genders, manners (realistic complexity = interwove, complex experience, multiplicty=different levels of reality or many truths that are equally true from some point of view) • Particularly lower/middle classes • Highlight class stratification/inequity • Reveal the ugliness & cruelty of life, but leave conclusions to the reader • Like Romantics, still focuses on common person & daily human experience & progressive, but stimulated change through telling a story that reveals truth & portrays ugliness & cruelty, not preaching or emphasizing author’s comments (left readers to draw their own conclusions) • Viewed as a realization of democracy • Morality is intrinsic, integral, relativistic and morality is often self-realized upon examining idealism; explores relations between people & society; responsible morality – a world truly reported • Realists were pragmatic, relativistic, democratic

6. Literary Conventions • Less use of symbolism with more focus on describing reality in simple detail using images; symbolism is often controlled & limited • Emphasis on scenic presentation • Settings usually familiar to the writer • Usually uses the omniscient point of view • Complex ethical choices are often the subject • Class is important • Characters product of social & environmental factors • Often poorly educated or lower class whose lives are governed by forces of heredity, instinct, & passion. Forces beyond their control restrict their attempts at exercising free will/choice. • Renders reality closely & often in minute detail, even at the expense of plot • Character more important than plot; characters appear in their real complexity of temperament & motive & are inexplicable in relation to nature, each other, their social class, & their past (characters are related to nature/each other/their social class/their past)

7. Conventions, Cont. • Characters & events often seem ordinary & uninteresting in order to extract their full value & meaning; ordinary characters studied in depth • Humans control their destinies; characters often act on their environment instead of simply reacting to it • Plausible events that avoid sensational, overly dramatic elements • However, do explore psychological journey as form of subjective reality, but in a negative way… • Natural vernacular (writing that reflects the sounds & uses of spoken language of a region)/speech, not the heightened or poetic language of the Romantics • Written just as spoken • Tone is comic, satiric (satire=a literary work that holds up human vices & follies to scorn), pessimistic, skeptical, or matter-of-fact • Irony: some juxtapose human pretensions with the indifference of the universe • Objectivity • Considers seemingly ordinary & uninteresting characters/events in order to extract full value & true meaning • Simple stories far more complex than they appear • Realistically conveyed sexuality, both its dark and light sides….

8. Naturalism • Branch of Realism (a bit more negative than Realism, perhaps…) • Philosophical position: scientific laws control life • Heavily influenced by Darwinism: social Darwinism (can’t escape heredity & class; war destroys heredity, as even the wealthy aren’t protected & die on the battlefield; kill or be killed; animal instincts of survival; greed & reconstruction) • Natural Selection • Survival of the Fittest • Portrays nature as an independent, uncaring force that governs the lives of humans & man’s struggle for survival/futile attempts of people to exercise free will • Darker & more deterministic/fatalistic (fatalistic = determined by fate, not choice)

9. Naturalism, Cont. • Lives governed by heredity, environment, instinct, & passion • Nature NOT nurture…. • Usually focuses on poorly educated and/or lower class • Usually takes place in cities • Depict cycles of despair • Forces beyond a character’s control restrict attempts to exercise free will or choice • Uses details • Themes: survival, determination, violence, taboo • Conflicts: man vs. nature, man vs. self, (usually, a character must fight against external temptations or pleasures that may release the “brute within”)

10. Regionalism • A branch of Realism • Literature that is regularly set in & focused on a particular region (specific to a geographical area) – its customs, dialects (to establish authenticity), customs, & geography (emphasizes sectional differences) • Minute detail (detailed & accurate descriptions) • Some influence of Romanticism: looks to the exotic, can be nostalgic/sentimental • Usually definitive of groups/minorities without power • Local color (sub-movement): 1865-1880, America wanted to know what their country looked like and how the various races lived and talked during the age of first mappings (Local Color provided a literary map of America), surveyings of the West, and the transcontinental railroad that stretched east and west • Protective of/attached to a certain space/area; protective of own culture/identity/tradition/history • Civil War divided North & South • Influenced by Southwestern humor • Color symbolism • Is believed by some to have unified the nation after the Civil War & contributed to late 19th century ideas of national identity

11. Regionalism, Cont. • Setting: frequently in nature, remote & inaccessible (setting important) • Stereotypical/quaint character types of a region, usually marked by their adherence to tradition, regional personality traits, & dialect • Female heroines are usually unmarried women or young girls • Narrator is usually an educated observer from elsewhere who learns something from the characters while preserving a sometimes sympathetic, often ironic distance. Narrator serves as a mediator between the country folk and the urban audience. Speaker often tells of some tale he/she has heard from/about some region. • Plot is not as important; revolves around the community & its rituals • Themes: antipathy to change, nostalgia for past golden age, celebration of community, acceptance in the face of diversity • Conflicts: urban vs. old fashioned rural values (an outsider intrudes, seeking something from the community)

12. Psychological Realism • Branch of Realism • Character motivation • Complex social & psychological situations • Human character/behavior at moments of stress/under pressure

13. Famous Authors Realist: • Mark Twain • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, “The War Prayer” • Stephen Crane • Red Badge of Courage, “The Open Boat,” “A Mystery of Heroism” • Upton Sinclair • The Jungle • William Dean Howells • Ambrose Bierce - “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” • Frederick Douglass - “The Battle with Mr. Covey” from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass • Bret Harte • Rebecca Harding Davis • Kate Chopin • “Story of an Hour,” “Desiree’s Baby,” “A Pair of Silk Stockings,” The Awakening

14. Famous Authors, Cont. • Naturalist: • Frank Norris • Jack London • Call of the Wild, “To Build a Fire” • Stephen Crane • Maggie: Girl of the Street • Henry James • Portrait of a Lady, Daisy Miller • John Steinbeck • Of Mice & Men (debatable)

15. Famous Authors, Cont. • Regionalist: • Mark Twain • Kate Chopin • Psychological Realist: • Stephen Crane • Henry James • Ambrose Bierce - “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”