American Realism Naturalism Lecture Powerpoint

American Literature
Realism and Naturalism

(1850-1914)
Realism, n. The art of depicting nature as it is
seen by toads. The charm suffusing a
landscape painted by a mole, or a story
written by a measuring-worm. --Ambrose
Bierce The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
Realism
• literary movement that developed
towards the end of the Civil War and
stressed the actual (reality) as opposed
to the imagined or fanciful
Literary Movements
• The writing of this period steered away
from the Romantic, highly imaginative
fiction from the early 1800’s.
• The four main movements are known as:
– Realism
– Naturalism
– “Literature of the Discontent”
– Regionalism
π
Naturalism
• Naturalism is NOT “hippie-fiction.”
• It is more pessimistic than Realism,
primarily.
• The Naturalist writers believed that larger
forces were at work: Nature, Fate, and
Heredity.
• Their writing was inspired by hardships,
whether it was war, the frontier, or
urbanization.
Mov’t | π
Naturalism
• literary movement that was an
extension of Realism
• depicted real people in real situations
like realism, but believed that forces
larger than the individual – nature, fate,
heredity – shaped individual destiny
Naturalism - Characteristics
• characters:
– usually ill-educated or lower-class
– lives governed by the forces of heredity,

instinct, passion, or the environment
– the criminal, the fallen, the down-and-out

Naturalism - Characteristics
• Themes
– Survival (man against nature, man against
himself)
– Determinism (nature as an indifferent force on
the lives of human beings)
– Violence
“Literature of Discontent”
• Along the lines of Naturalism, the social
problems of this period were seen as a
force to deal with.
• Many groups, from women to freed slaves,
started expressing their discontent with
the way things were.
• They started addressing these issues in
their writing.
Mov’t | π
Regionalism
• Regionalism is all about “local flavor” or
“local color.”
• “Local Color” means a reliance on minor
details and dialects.
• They usually wrote about the South or the
West.
• More often than not, these stories were full
of humor and small-town characters.
Mov’t | π
Realism - Characteristics
• objective writing about ordinary characters in
ordinary situations; “real life”
• Character is more important than action and
plot; complex ethical choices are often the
subject.
• Characters appear in their real complexity of
temperament and motive; they are in reasonable
relation to nature, to each other, to their social
class, to their own past.
Realism - Characteristics
• Class is important; the novel has
traditionally served the interests and
aspirations of an insurgent middle class.
• Diction is natural vernacular, not
heightened or poetic; tone may be comic,
satiric, or matter-of-fact.
Why did this literary movement
come about?
• A reaction against Romanticism
– rejected heroic, adventurous, or unfamiliar
subjects
• The harsh reality of frontier life and the

Civil War shattered the nation’s idealism
Romance and Realism: Taste and
Class
Romance Realism
• Aspired to the ideal • Thought to be more
• Thought to be more democratic
genteel since it did • Critics stressed the
not show the vulgar potential for vulgarity
details of life and its emphasis on
the commonplace
• Potential “poison” for
the pure of mind
How did this literary movement
prevail?
• The Industrial Revolution
– economic, social, and political changes that

took place in post-war life allowed American
Realism to succeed
Author Bios
Stephen Crane Ambrose Bierce
Mark Twain
Jack London
Kate Chopin Bret Harte π
The Culture of the Time:
Slavery
• Slavery was a reality throughout America
since it was founded, despite the hot
debate as to whether or not we should have
slaves.
• The issue hinged on two different

Americas: The Urban, Industrial North and
the Agrarian South.
π
The American Civil War
“The War Between the States”

“The Nefarious War of Northern
Aggression”
“The Scuffle of Southern Secession”

American Realism Naturalism Lecture Powerpoint

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

American Realism Naturalism Lecture Powerpoint

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

American Realism Naturalism Lecture Powerpoint

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

American Literature

Realism and Naturalism

– lives governed by the forces of heredity,

– the criminal, the fallen, the down-and-out

• The harsh reality of frontier life and the

• The Industrial Revolution

– economic, social, and political changes that

Stephen Crane Ambrose Bierce

• The issue hinged on two different

“The War Between the States”

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.