BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN REALISM
INTRODUCTION
In America, Realism is a literary movement roughly between 1865 and 1917 (from the Civil War
through World War I) that advocates as author William Dean Howells writes, “nothing more and
nothing less than the truthful treatment of material.” There are many branches of realism that go
way beyond 1917. The movement may be viewed as a reaction to American literary romanticism
(1836-1865) that extolled exaggerated reality or transcendence or reality, nostalgic longing for
the past, exotic settings, and bizarre conflicts.
REALISTIC WRITING STYLE
American realists advocated clear, direct prose that presented life as it really is (even when
portraying the life of the mind). The narrators often “report” events as they happen. Settings are
carefully detailed. Characters are true to life and speak the way people (in whatever region)
really speak. Mark Twain was one of the first realists to simulate on paper the regional dialects
he heard. American realism can be subdivided into four general branches: (1) frontier humor, (2)
psychological realism, (3) regionalism, and (4) naturalism.
(1) FRONTIER HUMOR
Frontier humor, sometimes called “southwestern humor” is humorous fiction from the American
frontier (or American Southwest). They are regional tales, hoaxes, or short sketches. These stories
might be “tall tales” such as the stories of Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunion, or Davy Crockett. Characters
are larger than life and often possess super-human characteristics. The stories might also include thick
regional dialect, irony, cruelty, tricksters, and sophisticated Easterners. Mark Twain contributed the
“frame” as found in “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” The stories are action-driven.
(2) PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM
Psychological realism is a type of realism that attempts to portray not so much outward action
but rather states of mind and feelings as people really experience them. In Daisy Miller: A Study,
Henry James, the father of the psychological novel, explores the inner consciousness of
Frederick Winterbourne as he “studies” Daisy Miller. James uses the “limited omniscient”
narrator to report the inner workings of his characters as they often face complex ethical and
emotional decisions.
(3) REGIONALISM
Regionalism is a literary movement that exploits the speech, dress, mannerisms, eccentricities,
and habits of people associated with a particular region or geographic setting. The movement is
sometimes called “local color.” Mary Wilkins Freeman, for example sets her stories in New
England while Kate Chopin chose the bayou regions of Louisiana or the French Quarter of New
Orleans.
(4) NATURALISM
Naturalism is pessimistic realism. Subjects of naturalistic literature are often unpleasant,
involving social injustice, violence, and desperation. Characters, often lacking free will, are
presented as helpless pawns of environment, heredity, social conditions, and sexuality. They
often feel trapped by indifference, poverty, war, crime, and industrialization. The narrator is
often objective or detached. The universe, often portrayed as godless, is indifferent to mankind.