1. American Realism & Naturalism
No More Romantic Sunshine & Rainbows…

2. Origins/Influences
Began during the Civil War & continued into the early 20th century
Reaction to Romanticism & Transcendentalism: CONTRAST
Fertile literary environment
Rising middle class & literacy rates

3. Social/Political Context
Reaction to Civil War suffering
Invention of photograph
Captured true life
Increased literacy & democracy = 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
Describes life w/out Romantic subjectivity & idealism
Romantics transcend the immediate to find the ideal; Realists focus on the immediate, the here & now and its consequences
Present life as it is, not as it might be
Like Romantics, focus on common person & daily human experience & progressive, but stimulated change through telling a story that reveals truth & portrays ugliness & cruelty, not preaching (left readers to draw their own conclusions)
Multiple views of life: all classes, races, genders
Particularly lower/middle classes
Highlight class stratification/inequity
Reveal the ugliness & cruelty of life, but leave conclusions to the reader

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

6. Conventions Cont.
Natural vernacular/speech, not heightened or poetic (like the Romantics)
Written just as spoken
Tone is comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact
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….

7. Regionalism & Psychological Realism
Regionalism: focuses on small geographical area in attempt to reproduce speech & mannerisms
Psychological Fiction: character perspective—as “real” as any reality…

8. Naturalism Philosophical position: scientific laws control life
Branch of Realism
Philosophical position: scientific laws control life
Heavily influenced by Darwinism
Natural Selection
Survival of the Fittest
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
More negative than Realism

9. Famous Authors Naturalist: Jack London Stephen Crane Realist:
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)
Realist:
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