There are a lot of similarities between the literary genre of Realism and that of Modernism. They both took place when the country was going through a rough time. However, there are also many differences in the aspects of the two genres that makes them very different.
Modernism is a genre that has been under much debate about when exactly it came about and ended. Some people argue that it started as early as the turn of the twentieth century and end as late as the end of World War two (Werlock). Some say that it never even ended, and Postmodernism is simply another name for Modernism itself. However, most people seem to think that it began in 1922 with two works that were written by James Joyce and Eliot (Werlock).
The basic idea of Modernism was the shock factor. The goal of Modernist writers was to create a genre that completely changed literature and brought a new and fresh way of writing to the world (Werlock). The writings of Modernism encourage a new look at the idea of a hero and the American Dream in a way that no genre had done before. For example, in Modernism the hero does not always have to be a perfect and upstanding person like it always seemed to have been before. Sometimes the reader may not even like the hero, and they may think that the choices that he or she makes are not correct. This idea of a new kind of hero was brought about for the first time by these Modernist writers. Their genre was a way of rebelling against the old ways of writing and creating something for themselves. This attitude was probably a result of all of the devastation that occurred at the start of World War One. Everything was changing around them, so they decided to change something that they could actually control.
Realism is a genre that was created as a result of the Civil War. It was supposed to be a time of healing and redemption during which the country was rebuilding itself. However, there was a big dilemma in the fact that Realism and Romanticists were fighting it out in the literary world about which writing style was more effective. However, Realism was not so much an entirely original style of writing as it was a combination of writing styles that came before it. Realism was a combination of Romanticism and Rationalism. It involved a hero who usually represented what was good and pure in life, but who was forced into a horrible situation that tried him or her emotionally and physically.
Modernism and Realism are similar in the fact that they both come after wars, but they are very different in the content and writing styles that each one portrays. They both focus on entirely different goals as to what their messages are trying to convey. However, they are both important views, and I believe it is important for people to get equal doses of both types of writing.
Selected Bibliography
Werlock, Abby H. P. "modernism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS589&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 21, 2011).
