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Terms used to describe artistic practices have different meanings from their common usage, but 'realism' as an aesthetic idea cannot be too far removed from the way we would talk about something 'real'. This book explores the artistry and aesthetics of realist literature, along with the assumptions of realist literature. It examines the different ways in which theorists, critics and philosophers conceptualise 'realism'. The book argues that a 'realist' sensibility is the ground on which other modes of literature often exist. It considers verisimilitude that is associated with the complexity of realism, describing the use of realism in two ways: capital 'R' and small 'r'. A set of realist novels is used to explore preliminary definition of realism. The STOP and THINK section lists some points to consider when thinking about realist works. The book looks at the characteristics of the Realist novel. It deals with the objections raised in discussions of Realism, from the Realist period and twentieth- and twenty-first century criticisms. The book provides information on the novel genre, language that characterises Realism, and selection of novel material. It looks at crucial elements such as stage design, and a technical feature often overlooked, the aside, something which seems non-realistic, and which might offer another view on Realism. The book talks about some writers who straddled both periods from the 1880s and 1890s onwards, until the 1920s/1930s, gradually moved away from Realism to modernism. Literary realism, and Aristotle's and Plato's works in relation to realism are also discussed.
Introduction In this chapter I aim to give a sense of some of the most important critical work on literary realism from the mid-twentieth century to the present. The field is complex, contributing no doubt to the belief that realism is a ‘slippery’ term, and there can be no attempt here to be comprehensive. I begin by giving a sketch of the different channels of thought and arguments, and also place them in relation to the discussion on the preceding pages. One aspect that will emerge as significant, and which has not been quite so apparent as yet, is the
The reader of realism naturally focuses on content, not style. (Spector in Bloom 1987 : 231) I have made repeated reference to the importance of language in discussions of realism, and in this chapter we look at the different ways in which language is conceptualised in relation to discussion of realism. As I pointed out at the end of Chapter 8 , such a discussion cuts across both literary critical concerns and philosophy. The title ‘The language of Realism’ is not intended to suggest that there is a single aspect to the use of language in realism, but
Philosophy and the realist impulse: Aristotle and Plato As consistently registered in this book, there has been an ever-present realist impulse in literature and art, and the argument has been that in the nineteenth century this combined with other factors to produce the self-conscious Realist aesthetic. Among those factors philosophical and scientific ideas played a large part, although we should also note that philosophy of art prior to this period also advocated versions of realism. However, it is worth pointing out that the term often taken as synonymous
Ground rules Realism should be easy. It is whatever is real, which we do not need to be told because we already know it: we live it every day of our lives. We all live in the real world, and nobody can tell us any different. We might need help with other ‘isms’ when studying literature or the arts – Romanticism, Surrealism, Modernism, Postmodernism, for instance, require some kind of explanation – but surely not an ‘ism’ which sounds as if it is based on our very existence. We may be aware that terms used to describe artistic practices have different meanings
For the theatre must not be ‘realistic’ (Guillaume Apollinaire) drama is no mere setting up of the camera to nature … (George Bernard Shaw) ‘Cup-and-saucer’ Realism versus melodrama In turning to drama it is important to recognise that concentrating on the textual aspect alone would give us only a limited insight into its relationship with literary Realism. In this chapter, therefore, as well as the texts themselves, I will look at other crucial elements such as stage design, and a technical feature often overlooked – the aside – something which
Some of the objections to Realism are variations on a theme, and others, such as those found in the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, are new(ish). The objections might be quite specific, for example, the way that critics and theorists talk about the type of language or prose style that characterises Realism, or at a much broader level, for example, objections to the claim that reality can be faithfully copied. Other objections take a different tack, such as the idea that Realism itself is nothing new, that it is no
Attenuated modernism: realism in the 1930s and 1950s The narrative thus far in relation to Realism and fiction goes something like this. Realism gains hold as a dominant aesthetic some time in the middle of the nineteenth century, partly as a reaction against Romanticism, partly as a response to the perceived issues of the age and the need for a socially-responsive and responsible medium, partly as a continuance of the development of the novel form, and partly as a response to scientific developments and thought. Realism has two distinct but related forms in
Is it artistically strong? Is it good as a picture? There was a time when I might have written in this way with a declared social object. That is all gone by. I have no longer a spark of social enthusiasm. Art is all I now care for, and as art I wish my work to be judged. (Gissing, 1930 , The Unclassed ) As a method, realism is a complete failure. (Oscar Wilde, 1891, ‘The Decay of Lying’) From Realism to modernism The group of writers that we have focused on in previous chapters regarded themselves as living in a new age which needed a new kind of
, to blow a hair’s-breadth off The dust of the actual. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh , II, 476–83) The previous chapters have focused on the novel from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards as being at the forefront of literary Realism. Indeed, many critics and theorists regard discussion of literary realism as one related solely to the novel genre. However, Realism was such a dominant force in the nineteenth century that poetry and drama were obliged to respond to it. That this was the order of influence is repeatedly borne out by