Realizing that it’s Realism

Realizing • that it’s • Realism • Celestine Pham, Danely Roman, Joseph Galm, and Jennifer Lam P.3

KEY ELEMENTS & DISTINGUISHEDCHARACTERISTICS OF REALISM • ♣ characteristics include the attention to detail, and an effort to replicate the true nature of reality • - unknowable, uncertain, and ever-shifting. ♣ was influenced by human psychology and internal monologues. • ♣ Realist authors believed novel should be a report of situations without any judgment or • comment. • • opted for banal, everyday depictions as opposed to romanticized presentation. • ♣ popular device/literary technique for many novelists was the frame narrative (story inside a • story). • • --It highlights the use of an unreliable narrator by placing the reader at a further remove • from the events of the novel.

♣ Realist novels are marked by journalistic techniques such as objectivity and fidelity to facts. • • attempts to reveal internal struggles: most of the action happens in the mind • • character and personality are the highlights of realist fiction--novelists tried to create • intricate, layered characters • • narrative style uses unreliable narrators (opposed to omniscient); narrator's perceptions • are colored by their own biases • • plot structure in a realist novel does not contain grand happenings, tragedies, or epic turn of events

Historical Context · Realism started in the early 1860s and went into the late 1890s, but extended into the early 1920s.

What Was Happening in the World • · The American Civil War (1861) • · Austro-Prussian War (1866) • · The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, gave the right to vote to black males (1870) • · Yellowstone National Park established (1872) • · Blue jeans and barbed wire are invented (1873)

· First successful telephone call (1876) • · The American Red Cross was incorporated (1881) • · Brooklyn Bridge opened (1883) • · Statue of Liberty finished (1886) • · Slavery Banned in Brazil (1888)

· Fingerprinting is adopted (1892) • · Volleyball invented (1895) • · Boxer Rebellion (1900) • · First Nobel Prize awarded (1901) • · Teddy Bear introduced (1902)

What Was Happening in the World • · First silent movie (1903) • · Einstein proposed Theory of Relativity (1905) • · Plastic invented (1909) • · World War I (1914) • · Daylight savings introduced (1918)

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) -French novelist & playwright -one of the firsts with realist narrative style - characters were of great importance -spoke with associates to learn more about specific subjects - in his work, the locale would become a character of its own -most famous work: The Human Comedy -tales/novels of French life in early 19th century -didn’t rely on spectacular events, focused on small things that expressed the typical French life experience

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) -Russian writer -psychologically complicated characters - Crime and Punishment :Raskolnikov -conflicting impulses -most of the action happened in characters’ head -unreliable narrators

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910) -early pioneer of Realism - known for speech patterns & vocabulary • -focused on lower & middle class characters • -seen as unusual compared to those “elite” characters • most frequently banned: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • -offensive language, honest speech

Henry James (1843-1916) • most famous work Daisy Miller • most successful novel The Portrait of a Lady • in his stories, readers see events through characters’ eyes • themes: greed, power, and exploitation

Events that Spurred the Movement of Realism & How the Movement was a Reaction to the Time Period • · Began from 19th century French writers such as Honoré de Balzac that depicted contemporary life and society as they were rather than how the writers wanted it to be. • · The growth of Realism is considered to be linked to developments in science, commerce and industrialization, the rise in philosophy and a reaction against romanticism.

· Concept that people were neither completely good or completely bad. • · Labor unrest and reform. • · Tenement life and immigration issues. • · • Birth control and sexuality. • · A time of middle class life and photography. • · A time of breakthroughs and a time of new inventions as well as discovery.

· A time of war as well as prosperity where people tried to depict the realities of life. • · Many emigrants from Europe and other countries were coming to America and it caused a sense of pride to develop among citizens for their country. • · Realism developed as a new style due to pride national pride or nationalism.

Realizing that it’s Realism