Literary Realism Term Papers
Literary realism refers to the trend, beginning in 19th century French literature, towards portrayal of contemporary life and society 'as they were' in literature. In this spirit of general "realism", realist authors went for depictions of everyday experiences and ordinary activities, rather than a romanticized or similar staging.
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Literary realism is generally defined as "the faithful representation of reality"," realism is a literary technique and is practiced by many schools of writing. Although strictly speaking, realism is a technique, it also symbolizes a particular kind of subject matter, especially the depiction of middle-class life.
Realism is a part of all literature, and a realistic period is one where realism is dominant. Its emphasis was usually on the character rather than the plot, on the commonplace rather than on the extraordinary, on the frank treatment of material rather than on hopeful and idealistic attitudes.
The growth of literary realism went hand in hand with the development of the natural sciences (especially medicine), history and the social sciences and with the advent of industrialization and commerce. According to some experts, the "realist" trend is not in itself anti-romantic as romanticism in historical France often associated with the common man and the natural setting (for example, George Sand).
Honoré de Balzac is the most prominent symbol of 19th century realism in fiction. His work, La Comédie humaine, a collection of nearly 100 novels, was the most ambitious system ever devised by a writer of fiction -- Balzac's intention was that it should be nothing less than a full memo of his contemporary society. Balzac's realism were arguably the first literary representations of a number of social experiences and phenomena which characterized modern (that is, post-revolutionary) society. William Dean Howells was the first true American author to bring realist flair in his writings. His stories of 1850s Boston upper-crust life are highly regarded among scholars of American fiction.
Literary realism was the most significant literary movement between the Civil War and World War I. It was the off-shoot of an age forced to accept a number of new realities. It was an outgrowth of a people less willing to accept the old optimism, a people who, in the scientific and possibly skeptical spirit of the day, were prepared to accept only what could be observed and verified with the senses. The major authority of literary realism was William Dean Howells, whose influence as a novelist, editor, and critic was dominant at the time. Other major “realistic” writers included such names as Mark Twain and Henry James, although their realism would often be at odds from that of Howells, and even from each other.
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Gustave Flaubert is regarded by many research paper topics as representing the peak of the realist style in literature with his simple prose and portrayal of the details of everyday life. Later so called "realist" writers included Guy de Maupassant and Bolesław Prus.
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