R e a l i s m a n d N a t u r a l i s m
R e a l i sm ( 1 8 4 0 s – 9 0 s )
-attempted from the oldest time
-orig. in Fr. (Flaubert, Balzac, & oth.), prominent in the 1840s – 90s
-portrays life with fidelity: no idealisation, no rendering things as beautiful when they are not, or in any way presenting them in any guise as they are not
-aims at the interpretation of the actualities of any aspect of life, free from subjective prejudice, idealism, or romantic colour
-the realist should be conc. with the here and now, everyday events, his own environment, and the political and social movements of his time
P sy c h o l o g i c a l R e a l i sm ( c a e a r l y 2 0 t h c . )
-aims at fidelity to truth in depicting the inner workings of the mind
-analyses thought and feeling, focuses on the consciousness of an individual: presents the nature of character rather than action
L o c a l C o l o u r ( c a 1 8 6 0 s + )
-the 1st local colour story: B. Harte’s “The Luck of the Roaring Camp”
-prominent after the Civil War (1865 +)
-emphasises the setting
-concentrates upon a detail peculiar to a particular region and environment to add interest and authenticity to a narrative: the landscape, habits, customs, costumes, dialect, music, etc.
-puts more stress on capturing the atmosphere than on the psychological features
-for the most part decorative: when it becomes an essential and intrinsic part of the work > regionalism
R e g i o n a l i sm ( c a 18 6 0 + )
-emphasises the setting
-concentrates upon the history, manners, and folkways shaping the lives and behaviour of the characters
-puts more stress on the psychological features (philos. or sociological distinctions) than on the peculiarities of landscape, habits, customs, costumes, dialect, music, etc.
N a t u r a l i sm ( 1 8 9 0 s – e a r l y 1 9 0 0 s )
-developed out of realism, orig. in Fr. (Zola), and prominent in the 1890s
-genre: mainly fiction, also drama, and poetry
-uses realistic methods and subjects to convey the philos. that everything that exist is a part of nature and can be explained by natural and material causes x not by supernatural, spiritual, or paranormal causes
-emphasises the social environment
-concentrates on the deficiencies of society, and on the shortcomings of human beings: puts excessive stress on the impoverished, underprivileged, ugly, and diseased
-introd. scandalous taboo subjects: violence, the lower working class, the uneducated, the unemployed, etc.
(a)< C. Darwin’s biological theories of the evolution and the survival of the fittest both in nature and society > the plight of an individual x nature = a force indifferent to the individual’s struggle both in a natural (J. London) or urban setting (S. Crane’s slums in Maggie)
(b)< K. Marx’s theories of classless society > the class struggle and the exploitation of workers (U. Sinclair’s The Jungle)
(c)< F. Nietzsche’s loss of faith in God (‘God is dead’) and of the satisfaction with the old traditional believes > pessimism
(d)< S. Freud, the psychoanalysis father > an examination of the unconscious motives of human behaviour
(e)< E. Zola’s determinism = man’s lives and actions pre-determined by environment and heredity > the writers’ detachment from the object of study
(f)< A. Einstein
-incl. the 1st generation: J. London, S. Crane, F. Norris, T. Dreiser, U. Sinclair
-the later generation: N. Mailer (The Naked and the Dead), W. Styron (Sophia’s Choice), & oth.