realism
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Realism in literature is a movement that emphasizes the accurate, detailed, and unembellished depiction of nature or contemporary life. It rejects imaginative idealization in favor of close observation of outward appearances. Originating as a conscious aesthetic program in mid-19th century France, realism sought to portray the lives, customs, and conditions of ordinary people, moving away from the artificiality of Classicism and Romanticism.1
Key figures like Gustave Flaubert, with his novel Madame Bovary, exemplified this approach by examining the mundane realities of bourgeois life. Realism was influenced by intellectual developments such as positivism and the rise of journalism and photography, which encouraged accurate recording of contemporary society. This literary style became prominent in the United States between 1870 and 1910, particularly after the Civil War, with writers like Mark Twain using humor and detailed observation to depict American life. Naturalism emerged as an intensified form of realism, aiming for an even more faithful representation of reality.12
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- naturalism
…it extended the tradition of realism, aiming at an even more faithful, unselective representation of reality, a veritable “slice of life,” presented without moral judgment. Naturalism differed from realism in its assumption of scientific determinism, which led naturalistic authors to emphasize man’s accidental, physiological nature rather than his moral or…
Read More…it extended the tradition of realism, aiming at an even more faithful, unselective representation of reality, a veritable “slice of life,” presented without moral judgment. Naturalism differed from realism in its assumption of scientific determinism, which led naturalistic authors to emphasize man’s accidental, physiological nature rather than his moral or…
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history of EuropeNaturalism…to be an intensification of Realism, as indeed it was—more “research.” It differed markedly in spirit, however. Realism professed to be depiction of the commonplace in a mood of stoicism or indifference—a photographic plate from a camera held almost at random in front of unselected mediocrity; it was, as Flaubert…
Read More…to be an intensification of Realism, as indeed it was—more “research.” It differed markedly in spirit, however. Realism professed to be depiction of the commonplace in a mood of stoicism or indifference—a photographic plate from a camera held almost at random in front of unselected mediocrity; it was, as Flaubert…
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