1. American Regionalism, Realism, and Naturalism
(ish)
*The Civil War to 1914

2. What is Realism?
A faithful representation of reality in literature, also known as “verisimilitude” (the appearance of truth, the quality of truth)
Emphasis on development of believable characters.
Written in natural vernacular, or dialect (common words of a region).
Prominent from

3. Realism
Realism sought to portray life as faithfully and accurately as possible, focusing on ordinary people suffering the harsh realties of everyday life. It depicts ordinary people coping with everyday realities.
Authors included Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, and Dunbar
The Literature
Presented life objectively
Favored science and technology
Found meaning in the mundane
Focused on socials ills and social conflict

4. Elements of Realism
Rejection of the idealized, larger-than-life hero of Romantic Literature
Detailed depiction of ordinary characters and realistic events
Emphasis on characters from cities and lower classes
Avoidance of the exotic, sensational, and overly dramatic
Use of everyday speech patterns to reveal class distinctions
Focus on the ethical struggles and social issues of real-life situations
Sought to explain why ordinary people behave the way they do

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

6. Why did Realism develop?
The Civil War – horror / reality of war
Personal accounts of horrors and injustices of slavery (violation of American principle of equality)
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

7. What is Regionalism? Often called “local color.”
Focuses on characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features specific to a certain region (eg. the South)
Coincided with Realism and sharing many of the same traits.
Prominent from

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

9. Why did Regionalism develop?
Dual influence of Romanticism and Realism
The Civil War and the building of a national identity
An outgrowth of realism with more focus on a particular setting and its influence over characters

10. What is Naturalism?
Applied scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to the study of human beings.
Influenced by Darwinism (natural selection) and psychology (Freud)
Posited that individuals were governed by heredity and environment.
Often depict man in conflict with nature, society, or himself.
Prominent from (ish)

11. Naturalism-Focuses on people’s helplessness in the face of chance
Sought to portray ordinary people’s lives, but suggested that environment, heredity, and chance, or forces they could neither understand nor control, determined people’s fate.
Authors included Stephen Crane, Kate Chopin, Theodore Dreiser, Jack London
Man’s destiny was determined by heredity and natural selection, society, psychological impulses, and economic class
Created the representative, not the actual

12. Naturalism
Influenced by emerging disciplines of psychology and sociology
Attempt to analyze human behavior objectively, as a scientist would
Belief that human behavior is determined by heredity and environment
Sense that human beings cannot control their own destinies
Sense of life as a losing battle against an uncaring universe

13. Naturalist Writers Stephen Crane Ambrose Bierce Jack London
The Red Badge of Courage
How do people behave under pressure?
Ambrose Bierce
Jack London
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Katherine Anne Porter
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Edith Wharton

14. Why did Naturalism develop?
The swell of immigrants in the latter half of the 19th century, which led to a larger lower class and increased poverty in the cities
The prominence of psychology and the theories of Sigmund Freud
Pessimism in the wake of the Civil War and Reconstruction
Publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species

15. Points to Remember…
Realism, Regionalism, and Naturalism are intertwined and connected.
Their influence has dominated most literature created since 1920, though the movement itself is dated to roughly that point.
They are truly American modes of writing.