Realism

Realism is an elastic term, often ambivalent and equivocal, which has acquired far too many qualifying
adjectives, and is a term which many now feel we could not do without. Realism is largely a 19th c
movement, often seen as a reaction to romanticism. Romantic literature present life as we would like it to
be, whereas realist literature presents life as it really is. It was succeeded by symbolism and modernism at
the turn of 20th c.
Fundamentally, in literature, realism is the portrayal of life with fidelity. It is thus not concerned with
idealization, with rendering things as beautiful when they are not, nor, as a rule. Is realism concerned with
presenting the supernormal or transcendental? Of course, the writings of Richard Rolle of hampole, for
example or the mystical poems of St. John of the cross, are realistic enough if we believe in god and the
spiritual order.
In general, this enormous body of literature displays what H. Levin has described as that “willed tendency
of art to approximate reality”. However, one can suggest that some literature is more realistic than other
literature. For instance, most of the poetry written by George Crabbe, Kipling and Robert Frost is more
realistic than most of the poetry written by, say, Spenser, Keats and Conral Aiken.
The use of terms real and realistic clearly implies their antitheses, like unreal unrealistic, improbable,
fanciful, of the dream world. In the real hundred years or so there have developed a large number of
theories about realism as realistic or not. Realism rejects classicism, romanticism and the doctrine of art
for art’s sake.
It is clear that the realist thought an artist should concern himself with the here and now, with everyday
events, with his own environment and with the movements of his time. In general, we can see clearly
enough in the works of Immerman, Balzac and dickens, for instance, what forms the realist attitude was
likely to take. It is a noteworthy curiosity of this realistic movement that in the first-place realism was
either defined negatively or rejected as undesirable. The realist novelists paid particular attention to exact
documentation, to getting the fact right, and in many ways were continuing in a more intensive and
conscientious fashion what Blazac had been doing years before in la comedies humaine.
Zola and Maupassant have also been taken as exponents of realism but it is perhaps more correct to regard
them as the supreme analysts of the school of naturalism. As far as drama is concerned, realism in the 19th
C was a less extreme form of naturalism. Playwrights who favored realism- Ibsen is a key figure- rejected
the concept of the well-made paly with its mechanical artifice’s ad its altogether too slick plotting, and
rejected also exaggerated theatricalize. Ibsen’s influence was very great, especially on Shaw and
Strindberg and subsequently on a whole generation of prominent 20th C. Dramatists; not only to mention
Stanislavsky and the various adaptations of his teachings in method acting.
Realism occurs in another important context, namely psychological realist. This denotes fidelity to the
truth in depicting the inner workings of the mind, the analysis of thought and feeling, the presentation of
the nature of personality and character. Such realism also requires a fictional character to behave in
character.
“If everything is beautiful it means its not
Real and if everything is real than it would
Not beautiful.”
  Stendhal’s Definition of Realism Fiction:
“The novel is a mirror travelling along a highway.
Now it reflects the azure skies, now the mud puddles
In the road. And the man carrying will be accused by
You of immorality!”
Realism is a literary artistic movement started in 1850’s in France by Gustar Curbret Flaubert and Emilee
Zola. We can separate romanticism and realism like this:
Subjective/ objective
Romantic/ realism
Coherence/ correspondence

 Problems with defining realism in literature:

o If all literature is essentially subjective, how it accurately represents reality?
o Can realist writers be selective rather than encyclopedic?
o If all literary representation is governed by arbitrary conventions can any one form of
fiction is any more realistic than any other?

 Characteristics of realism:
o Truthful and objective vision of life.
o No fancifulness.
o Direct observations.
o Rejection of idealization and exotic themes.
o Ordinary setting.
o Representation of al social classes.

 Rules of realism:
The overall aims of realist literature usually include:
o Evoking a sense of common life for the reader.
o Creating the impression that the characters might exist in reality.
o Describing events as a matter of ordinary experience.
This “common experience” allows the distinction to be made between these stories and the extraordinary
events in Poe and Hawthorne’s.

 Realism in the 20th C:

Realism was a 19th c movement but its influence continued into contemporary literature. The desire to
“hold a mirror up to reality” exaggerated in Oupilo literature and other hyper-realistic experimental
forms.
Ambrose Bierce, henry James, Cesare Pavese, primo Levi were some of the realists.
  Texts following the rules:
Different ways for realist writers to follow the rules of realist literature were:
1. Narrative style.
2. Characterization.
3. Focus on the concrete world.
Here is the short detail on above mentioned points:

1. Narrative style:
Realist texts often have apparently omniscient narrators, either first or third person. First person narrators
often seem to address the readers directly gaining their trust.

2. Characterization:
Realist texts usually introduce the characters. Gradually, we get to know them.

 Text breaking the rules:

Different ways for the texts to break the rules of realism:
o Narrational unreliability.
o The nature of the reality described.

 Conclusion:
It’s not that easy to write realist short fiction. Short fiction from the late 19th C to mid-20th C, often
combines elements of realism and modernism. Realist short fiction can be experimental in form and
narration.