1. LITERARY MOVEMENTS By Dr. P. S. Sontakke ( M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. )
Asst. Prof. of English
Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Karad,
Dist. Satara (Maharashtra)

2. Realism :
This term is used in criticism of art & literature to depict life as it is.
It is opposite to romanticism, idealism & escapism - all these suggest a flight from world of reality into world of imagination.
There are many degrees of realism.

3. Sometimes word is used to denote an objective literary technique which depicts in a scientific, unselective manner only tangible observable facts.
This approach is also called photographic realism & naturalism.
To some readers, particularly those to whom literature & escape are synonymous, realism means revelation of sordid (morally degraded) , unpleasant details which should not defile (place under suspicion) respectable books.

4. This service of high ideas just as the ‘romantic ’ approach often serves immortal purposes of distorting truth & concealing evil.
Critics Watt & Watt Remarks, ‘’ To few authors or books can, term realistic be applied without reservation.”

5. II) Naturalism :
This term is applied generally to literature which attempts accurately to imitate nature.
It is often used as synonymous with realism.
It is most commonly used to express a specific kind of realism, slavish attempt to reproduce details from life without selection & so it is sometimes referred to as photographic realism.

6. In French literature, term naturalism is used for a school of 19th century novelists like Flaubert, Zola & Goncourt brothers who attempted to approach life in a scientific manner by recording external appearances only, but recording them with all-seeing patience of scientist. Hence, they revealed seamy aspects of life which Victorian England had been studiously ignoring & their influence on English novel.

7. Notably on works of Gissing, Moore & Hardy.
They gave rise to violent outcries about obscenities (obscene act) of French naturalists. The word carries with it a bad connotation (implied or suggested idea) for vulgarity (lacking taste) & obscenity (behaving in obscene manner).

8. III) Symbolism :
Symbols are essentially words which are not merely connotative (power of suggestion) but also evocative (serving to bring to mind) & emotive (characterized by emotion).
In addition to their meaning, they also call up or evoke before mind’s eye a host of associations connected with them & are also rich in emotional significance.
For example, word ‘lily’ merely connotes a ‘flower’ but it also evokes images of beauty & innocence.

9. It also carries with it emotional overtone of pity, resulting from suffering or oppression.
In this way, through symbols a writer can express much more than by use of ordinary words.
Symbols make language rich & expressive.
Concepts which by their very nature are inexpressible can be conveyed in this way.
Thus a symbol can be used to convey ‘pure sensations’, or poet’s apprehension (fearful expectation) of transcendental (not according to nature) mystery.

10. Critic C.M. Bowra remarks, ‘Symbolic poetry is a kind of mystic poetry, a poetry in which poet tries to convey his sense of mystery of life’.
Critic Edmund Wilson defines symbolism as an attempt by carefully studied means-a complicated association of ideas represented by medley (musical composition consist of a series of songs) of metaphors (a figure of speech used to show similarity) to communicate unique personal feeling.

11. In symbolic poetry poet communicates –
i) unique personal feeling
ii) he makes use of image-words for purpose.
Symbolism is essentially an indirect mode of expression which suggest much more than is actually described or asserted.

12. In painting, reader of surrealists is Spaniard, Juan Miro.
IV) Surrealism :
It is a movement which aim at expressing working of unconscious in art & literature.
It is a term used for technique of a small 20th century group of painters & writers who violate convention by attempting to create reality through eccentric (unusual or odd personality) distortions of object presented.
In painting, reader of surrealists is Spaniard, Juan Miro.

13. In literature, surrealism has frequently taken direction of seeking effective expression by throwing words out of normal & logical sequence by violating demands of logic & rational control.
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