We have looked at a lot of movements on this blog, but today we look at the era of literary realism. We have even discussed writers from this particular era, so it’s high-time to see what these realistic writers were up during the time of the American Civil War.
The Roots of the Movement
As we see so often from movements, artistic and otherwise, there can be a good deal of push-back from creators who were too young to contribute to the previous movement or just had no interest in creating in a style they didn’t like (the modernists, for example). Similarly, the realism movement exploded at the end of the Romantic period as the writers of this era wanted to depict a less glamorized world.
Thus, the “realism” aspect of the era itself is derived from authors avoiding a romantic view of the world. They wanted to show people living and breathing in a natural environment as honestly as possible.
Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favor of a close observation of outward appearances. As such, realism in its broad sense has comprised many artistic currents in different civilizations.
(Britannica)
If you look closely, it is actually fairly hard to distinguish literary realism from naturalism for the above reasons. However, keep in mind that conveying a real view of the world is essential for these writers, so more honest dialogue and setting were common in the books that appeared in the late 19th century.
Additionally, after the Civil War, the US advanced in numerous ways that included a more literate populace, increased urbanization, and a larger population, and this, “provided a fertile literary environment for readers interested in understanding these rapid shifts in culture,” (Campbell).
Important Authors of Realism
The genre was much defined by the author’s works and their attempts to interpret the world around them. Honore de Balzac, for instance, attempted to give an “encyclopaedic portrait of the whole range of French society …” (Britannica). Meanwhile, the genre did not fully develop until later in the 1860s and 1870s. These authors included Charles Dickens, George Elio, Leo Tolstoy, and William Dean Howells.
Some novels from the realism movement include:
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Works Cited
Campbell, Donna M. “Realism in American Literature, 1860-1890.” Literary Movements. Washington State University. Sept. 7th, 2015. Web.
“What is Literary Realism? Definition and Examples of the Realism Genre in Literature.” Masterclass. Aug. 15, 2019. Web.
