The Rise of
Realism
The Civil War and Postwar Period
1850-1900
April 12, 1861
Confederate attack on Fort Sumter
 Opening shots of Civil War
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Walt Whitman
Learned of first shots
 Worked in hospital during the war
 One of the few writers who witnessed the
war first hand
 Optimistic and idealistic response to war
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
Also viewed war in idealistic light
 Warned this day would come (if slavery
not abolished)
 Filled with patriotic pride
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Herman Melville
Disillusioned by war
 Writing examined humanity’s basic evil
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The War in Literature
Very little literary output
 Most major American writers did not see
the war first hand (at home, abroad, or
died).
 Traditional literary forms not sufficient to
express horrors of war.
 “Realistic novel” not dev. yet
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The Rise of Realism
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Realist writers: aimed at very specific truths in
the common everyday experiences
After the war, writers drew subjects from slums,
factories, rising industrialism, etc.
Realism began in Europe.
Attempt to rep. environment and manners of
everyday life accurately
Attempt to explain why people behave the way
they do
Dependant on new social sciences (psych,
sociology) and on biology
American Regionalism
Lit. that emphasizes specific geogr. setting
 Realistic portrayal of speech patterns and
mannerisms
 Often unrealistic and/or sentimental (ie,
Mark Twain)
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Realism and Naturalism
Naturalists tended to look at life as grim
losing battle.
 Characters w/ limited choices and were
totally subject to natural laws of universe
 Focus on social questions/concerns with
hope of reform—even more important
than the action
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Psychological Fiction
Psychological novel (Henry James) focuses
on character motivation.
 Exploration of complex social and
psychological situations
 Also Stephen Crane, but he focused more
on behavior in the midst of stress (ie, Red
Badge of Courage)
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Ironists
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Juxtaposing human pretensions
(arrogance) with the indifference of the
universe
Authors for Us:
Frederick Douglass
 Kate Chopin
 Mark Twain
 Jack London
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