American Realism: 1860-1900

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The Most Important Person:

Walt Whitman’s Prediction “A great literature will arise out of the era of those four years” --Walt Whitman Almost none of the great American writers saw battle. Almost no one who fought wrote about it. The great book of the Civil War was written by a man who was not born until six years after the war had ended: Stephen Crane

A response to the Civil War Idealism Whitman: “Future years will never know the seething hell and the background of countless minor scenes and interiors … and it is best they should not—the real war will never get in the books.” The urbanization and industrialization of America As a reaction to Romanticism Increasing rates of democracy and literacy The emerging middle class Upheaval and social change in the latter half of the 19th century

Realism as a Reaction to Romanticism No more: Idealized escapes into nature Imaginative descriptions of the evil of the human soul Essays on “Romantic Ideals”

The Rise of Realism Realism defined: Literature written from approximately 1860-1900 that aims at a Verisimilitude (truthfulness) to the common course of ordinary life. Subjects are taken from Slums Factories Corruption of politics Prostitution Slavery

Realist Writers Mark Twain William Dean Howells Henry James Edgar Lee Masters

Regionalism ”Local Color” Dialects, settings, characters, customs, Other features specific to a certain region i.e. The American South, The West The trickster Coincided with Realism and shared many of the same traits. Prominent from 1865-1895.

Regional Writers Kate Chopin—South Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman—New England Mark Twain—West Willa Cather—Midwest

Naturalism A subset of realism that Claims to portray life exactly as it is, with detachment and objectivity Relies heavily on the growing scientific disciplines of psychology and sociology Attempts to dissect human behavior with objectivity Is super-influenced by Charles Darwin Believes that human behavior is determined by heredity and environment Sees human beings as subject to natural forces beyond their control

Naturalist Writers Stephen Crane Ambrose Bierce Jack London Katherine Anne Porter Charlotte Perkins Gilman Edith Wharton

Things to remember. . . Realism, Regionalism, and Naturalism are intertwined and connected. Their influence has dominated most literature created since 1860. They are truly American modes of writing.