Realism Blog

Realism is a fascinating genre of literature that first began appearing towards the end of the nineteenth century (Werlock). The development of Realism was a gradual process that was the result of various authors' experimentation with their literature. Mark Twain was one such pioneer in the genre of Realism. He started slowly incorporating aspects of it into his writings, as did Rebecca Harding Davis and Kate Chopin. This was done by slowly infusing principles of what we now know as Realism into a Romantic style of writing. While Romanticism was based more upon a flowery and lovely interpretation of life that appealed to the senses, Realism focused more on cold, hard facts that made things more believable and a more accurate representation of how things really were. By the beginning of the 20th century there were many writers who were writing works that could be classified into the Realism genre(Werlock).

The effects of the end of the Civil War and the rise of Industrialism did a lot to bring about the change in literature from Romanticism to Realism (Barney and Paddock). Writing started to shift more from the typical exotic places and wonderful heroes found in Romanticism towards a more average Joe-type hero that everyone could relate to, and the setting became more of a typical city or town. These stories centered around events that happened near one's own home. The American Dream portrayed in these stories became more about everyday victories that the reader could relate to (Barney and Paddock).

One characteristic of Realism was also its use of atypical narrators (Barney and Paddock). For example, the narrator Huck in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn gave a new spin to literature by using an uneducated, average citizen as a narrator. This lack of a more formal narrator was not common until the advent of Realism, and it helped give a more real feel to the literature that people could relate to (Barney and Paddock).

In all, Realism was an important part of creating the literature that we have today by incorporating facts into the more appealing side of literature.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." 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= Gamshrtsty0575&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 14, 2011).

Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. "realism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0738&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 14, 2011).