美国文学现实主义

I．Definition of American Realism

“Where romanticists transcend the immediate to find the ideal, and naturalists plumb the actual or superficial to find the scientific laws that control its actions, realists enter their attention to a remarkable degree on the immediate, the here and now, the specific action, and the verifiable consequence” (William Harmon and Hugh Holman, A Handbook to Literature,p428 Realism is based on the accurate, unromanticized observation of human experiences. It insists on everyday scenes are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner on precise description, authentic action and dialogue, moral honesty and a democratic openness in subject matter and style.

As a literary movement, realism refers to the approach of realist fiction occurred at the latter part of the 19th century.

Realistic writers examine things in much detail, question the scene they’re talking about, question what they’re seeing, have critical sense, are truthful to life.

Realism: try to educate people, to warn people, to be moral teachers, to benefit the society he criticizes so much, to deal with morality, to be more critical

Characteristics of Writings

(1) Realism is the theory of writing in which familiar aspects of contemporary life and everyday senses are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner.

(2) In realist fiction characters from all social levels are examined in depth.

(3) Open ending is also a good example of the truthful treatment of material.

(4) Realism focuses on commonness of the lives of the common people who are customarily

ignored by the arts.

(5) Realism emphasizes objectivity and offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.

(6) Romanticism presents moral visions

II. The reasons on the rise of American Realism

※more educated people;

※the development of industry;

※growth of population in city / urban;

※immigration: people move from the north to the south, from the east to the west;

※the Gilded Age: more and more people become rich, pleasure-seeking, self-contained . Political reason：

•the result of the American Civil War (1861--1865) :

•The victory of the North, to protect the integrity of the United States as an indivisible nation;

•Congress tried to press forward with its program of “Reconstruction”, or reform of the southern states;

•Slavery was abolished, however, the southern states passed laws to segregate whites and blacks in public places; To the end of the 19th century, the system of segregation grew more rigid; most southern blacks were still living a miserable life

Economic Development：

•Northern industrialism had triumphed over Southern agrarianism农业的, and from that victory came a society based on mass labor and mass consumption.

•In the first decades after the Civil War, Americans ceased to be isolated from the world