1. Realism in American Literature
1865 (Civil War era) to 1914

2. What is Realism?
A faithful representation of reality in literature, also known as “verisimilitude.” (authentic)
Emphasis on development of believable characters.
Written in natural vernacular, or dialect.

3. Age of Reason-Rationalism
American Literature
Contemporary and Post-Modern Period
The Puritan Era
Age of Reason-Rationalism
Romanticism
Realism
Transcendentalism
Modernism
1946 – Present

4. Historical Context Population of the United States is growing rapidly.
( )
Science, industry and transportation are expanding.
Literature also was growing, but most new writers were not Romantics or Transcendentalists. They are Realists.
The “Frontier” did not exist as before; its legacy changed and impacted Realists in its new form.
The aftermath of the Civil War meant that Americans were less certain and optimistic about the future.
The idealism of the Romantics and philosophy of Transcendentalists seemed out of date and irrelevant to many readers.

5. Development Reaction to Civil War suffering Invention of photograph
Captured true life
Increased literacy and democracy led to a public hungry for truth and awareness
Abolitionism and 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

6. Realism vs. Romanticism
“The trapper was placed on a rude seat which had been made with studied care…His body was placed so as to let the light of the setting sun fall full upon the solemn features. His head was bare, the long thin locks of gray fluttering lightly in the evening breeze. ”
He was most fifty and he looked it. His hair was long and tangled and greasy, and you could see his eyes shining through…there warn’t no color in his face; it was white…a white to make a body sick…a tree-toad white, a fish belly white. As for his clothes, just rags, that’s all.

7. Realism in American Literature
The purpose of the writing is “to instruct and entertain”
Character is more important than plot.
Subject matter is drawn from real life experience.
The realists reject symbolism and romanticizing of subjects.
Settings are usually those familiar to the author.
Plots emphasized “the norm of daily experience”
Ordinary characters

8. What is Regionalism? Often called “local color.”
Focuses on characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features specific to a certain region (ex. the South)
Coincided with Realism and sharing many of the same traits.
Focus on small geographical area in an attempt to reproduce the dialect and mannerisms

9. What is Naturalism Branch of Realism
Applied scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to the study of human beings.
Philosophical position: scientific laws control life
Influenced by Darwinism
Natural Selection
Survival of the Fittest
Psychology (Freud)
Darker & more fatalistic (fatalistic = determined by fate, not choice)
Lives governed by heredity, instinct, & passion
Nature NOT nurture….
Forces beyond a character’s control restrict attempts to exercise free will or choice
Literature- often depicts man in conflict with nature, society, or himself.

10. 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

11. Common Conventions of the Literature
Characters product of social & environmental factors
Often poorly educated or lower class
Renders reality closely and often in minute detail, even at the expense of plot
Settings usually familiar to the writer
Character development more important than plot
Plausible events avoid sensational, overly dramatic elements
Usually uses the omniscient point of view

12. Prominent Authors Realists Naturalists Jack London
Mark Twain
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Stephen Crane
Red Badge of Courage
Upton Sinclair
The Jungle
William Dean Howells
Kate Chopin
“Story of an Hour,” Desiree’s Baby, The Awakening
Naturalists
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)