"Realism in the arts is generally the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding speculative and supernatural elements."
How literary realism influenced different genres such as poetry, drama, and non-fiction writing.
The Historical Context of Realism: Understanding the social, political, and cultural factors that influenced the emergence of literary realism in different genres, including the rise of industrialization, urbanization, and the middle class.
The Characteristics of Realism: Examining the main features of literary realism, such as its focus on everyday life, its attention to detail, and its rejection of romanticism and idealism.
The Development of Realism in Different Genres: Tracing the evolution of literary realism in different genres, including fiction, drama, and poetry, and exploring the distinctive styles and techniques of realist writers in each genre.
The Major Writers of Realism: Studying the works of key realist writers, such as Gustave Flaubert, Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, and Henrik Ibsen, and analyzing their themes, characters, and literary innovations.
Realism in Relation to Other Literary Movements: Comparing realism with other literary movements, such as romanticism and naturalism, and examining its influence on later literary trends, such as modernism and postmodernism.
Realism and Social Criticism: Exploring how realism served as a means of social critique, expressing concern for the conditions of the working class, women, and minorities, and challenging the prevailing ideologies of the time.
Realism and the Representation of Psychological States: Investigating the ways in which realist writers depicted the inner lives of their characters, and how they conveyed emotions such as anxiety, doubt, and despair in their works.
Realism and the Use of Language: Analyzing the language and style of realist writing, including its use of direct speech, careful description, and precise vocabulary, and examining how these techniques created a sense of authenticity and verisimilitude.
Realism and the Reception of Literary Works: Examining the critical reception of realist writers and their works, and how their works were seen as challenging or affirming social norms and conventions.
Realism and the Legacy of its Themes and Techniques: Evaluating the lasting impact of literary realism on subsequent writers and literary movements, and how its themes and techniques continue to resonate in contemporary literature and culture.
Psychological Realism: Focuses on the internal mental and emotional states of characters, often exploring the complexities of human psychology.
Social Realism: Deals with the social, cultural, and economic realities of society, often highlighting the struggles and hardships faced by marginalized groups.
Magical Realism: Blends realism with elements of fantasy or the supernatural, creating a world full of wonder and imagination.
Naturalism: Emphasizes the role of nature and the environment on the lives of characters, often exploring the concept of determinism and the idea that human beings are shaped by their surroundings.
Historical Realism: Depicts historical events and settings in a realistic manner, often with an emphasis on accuracy and authenticity.
Regionalism: Focuses on specific regions or cultures, exploring the unique qualities and characteristics of those places and the people who live there.
Rural Realism: Depicts life in rural areas, often exploring the struggles and challenges faced by farmers, laborers, and other rural communities.
Urban Realism: Depicts life in cities and urban areas, often exploring issues related to poverty, crime, and social inequality.
Honest Realism: Focuses on portraying the world as it really is, without sentimentality or idealization.
Dirty Realism: A variation of honest realism that emphasizes the darker, grittier aspects of life, often exploring themes of desperation, addiction, and dysfunction.
"Naturalism seeks to depict objects with the least possible amount of distortion and is tied to the development of linear perspective and illusionism in Renaissance Europe."
"In 19th-century Europe, 'Naturalism' or the 'Naturalist school' was somewhat artificially erected as a term representing a breakaway sub-movement of realism."
"Realism was motivated by the renewed interest in the common man and the rise of leftist politics."
"The realist painters rejected Romanticism, which had come to dominate French literature and art."
"The French Revolution of 1848."
"Realism was motivated by the renewed interest in the common man."
"Artists like Gustave Courbet capitalized on the mundane, ugly or sordid."
"Realism... often refers to a specific art historical movement that originated in France in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1848. With artists like Gustave Courbet capitalizing on the mundane, ugly or sordid, realism was motivated by the renewed interest in the common man and the rise of leftist politics."
"There have been various movements invoking realism in the other arts, such as the opera style of verismo, literary realism, theatrical realism, and Italian neorealist cinema."
"The term [realism] is often used interchangeably with naturalism."
"Naturalism... seeks to depict objects with the least possible amount of distortion and is tied to the development of linear perspective and illusionism in Renaissance Europe."
"Romanticism... had come to dominate French literature and art, with roots in the late 18th century."
"The opera style of verismo."
"A breakaway sub-movement of realism [that] attempted to distinguish itself from its parent by its avoidance of politics and social issues."
"Playing on the sense of 'naturalist' as a student of natural history."
"Realism was motivated by... the rise of leftist politics."
"Realism in the arts is generally the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality."
"Naturalism seeks to depict objects with the least possible amount of distortion and is tied to the development of linear perspective and illusionism in Renaissance Europe."
"The aftermath of the French Revolution of 1848."