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REALISM

REALISM. THE REACTION AGAINST THE ROMANTICS: 1865-1910. CONTRASTING PARADIGMS. Romanticism: Present life as we would want it to be. Realism: Present life as it actually is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTCjHZWmgG0. ELEMENTS OF REALISM. Ordinary, not extraordinary people

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REALISM

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  1. REALISM THE REACTION AGAINST THE ROMANTICS: 1865-1910

  2. CONTRASTING PARADIGMS • Romanticism: • Present life as we would want it to be. • Realism: • Present life as it actually is. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTCjHZWmgG0

  3. ELEMENTS OF REALISM • Ordinary, not extraordinary people • Middle or lower class • People you could meet on an average day: soldiers, farmers, teachers, grandfathers • Commonplace events and settings • Places you could actually see and visit • The near and familiar as opposed to the far away and exotic

  4. ELEMENTS OF REALISM • All aspects of life are examined • Nothing is taboo: must represent life AS IT IS, even the ugly, the degrading, the uncomfortable • The Jungle: meatpacking industry • Descriptive detail • Describe people, places, things minutely • Focus on concrete, objective detail • Accuracy of description is critical

  5. ELEMENTS OF REALISM • Accuracy of setting, plot, and character • Language: often written in dialect so that the actual sound of language could be rendered • Plain, straightforward prose • Smaller words and shorter sentences: keep it simple and real.

  6. ELEMENTS OF REALISM • Author as objective reporter giving readers an unbiased “slice of life.” • Nothing ever is free of bias . . . • Psychological Realism • Render not just our physical appearances and actions realistically; also render internal mental and emotional aspects of people accurately. • Poe was way ahead of time here

  7. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM • Reaction against Romantic excesses: • Emotion • Sentimentality • Idealism • Distorted reality

  8. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM • Industrialism • Progress at cost of human dignity • Cogs in a machine: dehumanizing; thoughtless automatons • Low pay; no unions • Horrendous working conditions • Ghettos/big city slums • Loss of the American Dream • Rich get richer; poor get poorer

  9. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM • Darwin and the theory of Evolution and Natural Selection • We are glorified apes—not created in God’s image • No soul or spirit: driven be same motives as animals • Nature is not divine or good • Natural Selection seems to justify destruction of the weak to feed the strong

  10. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM • Science and Rational Thought reborn • Emphasis on objective, observable fact • Downplays imagination and intuition • Cold analysis over emotion: back to the Age of Reason in a way • Questioning of spiritual realms, God, that are beyond observable, empirical fact

  11. CAUSES OF THE RISE OF REALISM • The Civil War • Death and destruction on an unprecedented scale • Causes questioning of God’s nature: • Why did He allow this if he is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving? • Causes questioning of human nature: • If we are good, why do we do this to each other? • Causes questioning of progress: • We seem to have just created better, more efficient ways to kill each other

  12. TOTAL, OVERALL EFFECT • Disillusionment: beginnings of the loss of faith we see more profoundly later on. Loss of the foundations of our faith. • Pessimism: hard to feel good about God, people, nature, or the human condition • Cold analysis • Attempt to find something to use as a foundation: the everyday, the common, the physical: things we can be absolutely sure of

  13. THE CHALLENGE OF REALISM • Seems simple on surface: observe, report. • It is very difficult to observe accurately • It is very difficult to be unbiased • Most people live in a cloud of fantasy, illusion, and daydreaming: must cut through that. • Takes more skill than it first appears to be accurate, truthful, and objective

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