Realism Period of American Literature 1865 - 1900

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Realism Period of American Literature1865 -
1900
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CHARACTERISTICS of REALISM

• Life presented with fidelity in presenting the
  inner workings of the mind.
• There is an analysis of thought and feelings in
  realism.
• The environment has a function in shaping of
  characters.
• The setting is generally in the present or recent
  past.
• There is frequent use of colloquial speech.
  Diction is natural vernacular, not heightened or
  poetic tone may be comic, satiric, or
  matter-of-fact.
• Characters are of the middle and low classes.

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• Realist writers exposed political corruption,
  economic inequity, business deception, the
  exploitation of labor, women rights problems,
  racial inequity
• Realist often describe the relationship between
  the economic transformation of America and its
  moral condition.
• We see in realism the introduction of a new kind
  of characters
•     Industrial workers and rural poor
•    Ambitious businessman and vagrants
•    Prostitutes
•    Unheroic soldiers

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REGIONAL WRITING (Local Color)

• There is a desire by Realist writers to preserve
  distinctive ways of life before industrialization
  dispersed or homogenized them.
• Realist writers wrote about coming to terms with
  the harsh realities of the new times.
• The rapid growth of magazines creating a new,
  largely female audience for short fiction.
• Many Local Colorists (realistic female writers)
  described a patriarchal society from female
  perspective.

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Definition of Realism

• Realism is the post civil war literary movement
  between 1865-1900.
• Realism directly opposes the previous movement
  Romanticism. It focuses on the harsh realities of
  life and gives the reader a true sense of local
  color. Which is the fictional recreation of the
  authors own experiences.
• Realism renders reality closely and in
  comprehensive detail. Selective presentation of
  reality with an emphasis on verisimilitude,
  Character is more important than action and plot
  and complex ethical choices are often the
  subject.

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Realist Writers

• Mark Twain  (18351910)
• Henry James   (1843 1916)
• William Dean Howells   (1837 1920)
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• Local Color
• Sarah Orne Jewett  (1849 1909)
• Kate Chopin   (1851 1904)
• Bret Harte  (1836 1902)
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860 1935)
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• Poetry
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• Edward Arlington Robinson (1869 1935)
• Robert Frost   (1874 1963)
• Carl Sandburg   (1878 1967)

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The Realism Period (1865-1900)

• Incorporates a difficult time in American
  history, with the Civil War, industrialization,
  Reconstruction, urbanization, and more. In
  American literature, famous writers like Charles
  W. Chesnutt, Stephen Crane, Henry James, Mark
  Twain, and Edith Wharton were presenting a more
  realistic view of life in their works of
  literature.

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In American literature, the term "realism"
encompasses the period of time from the Civil War
to the turn of the century during which William
Dean Howells, Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry James,
Mark Twain, and others wrote fiction devoted to
accurate representation and an exploration of
American lives in various contexts. As the United
States grew rapidly after the Civil War, the
increasing rates of democracy and literacy, the
rapid growth in industrialism and urbanization,
an expanding population base due to immigration,
and a relative rise in middle-class affluence
provided a fertile literary environment for
readers interested in understanding these rapid
shifts in culture. In drawing attention to this
connection.
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• Broadly defined as "the faithful representation
  of reality" or "verisimilitude," realism is a
  literary technique practiced by many schools of
  writing. Realism is a technique that denotes a
  particular kind of subject matter, especially the
  representation of middle-class life. There is a
  revolt against against romanticism, an interest
  in scientific method, the systematizing of the
  study of documentary history, and the influence
  of rational philosophy, all affected the rise of
  realism.

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• Realism is nothing more and nothing less than the
  truthful treatment of material.
• William Dean Howells