Introduction to Narrative of the Life
of Frederick Douglass, An American
Slave. Written by Himself.
2014-2015
Realism in American Literature,
1860-1890
Adapted from Washington State
University
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amli
t/realism.htm
Definition
• Broadly defined as "the faithful representation of
reality" or "verisimilitude," realism is a literary
technique practiced by many schools of writing.
• Although strictly speaking, realism is a technique, it
also denotes a particular kind of subject matter,
especially the representation of middle-class life.
• A reaction against Romanticism, an interest in
scientific method, the systematizing of the study of
documentary history, and the influence of rational
philosophy all affected the rise of Realism.
General Context
• In American literature, the term “Realism"
encompasses the period of time from the Civil War to
the turn of the century during which William Dean
Howells, Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry James, Mark
Twain, and others wrote fiction devoted to accurate
representation and an exploration of American lives in
various contexts.
• As the United States grew rapidly after the Civil War,
the increasing rates of democracy and literacy, the
rapid growth in industrialism and urbanization, an
expanding population base due to immigration, and a
relative rise in middle-class affluence provided a fertile
literary environment for readers interested in
understanding these rapid shifts in culture.
Characteristics
• Renders reality closely and in comprehensive detail.
• Selective presentation of reality with an emphasis on
verisimilitude, even at the expense of a well-made plot
• Character is more important than action and plot; complex
ethical choices are often the subject.
• Characters appear in their real complexity of temperament
and motive; they are in explicable relation to nature, to
each other, to their social class, to their own past.
• Class is important; the novel has traditionally served the
interests and aspirations of an insurgent middle class. (See
Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel)
• Events will usually be plausible. Realistic novels avoid the
sensational, dramatic elements of naturalistic novels and
romances.
More Characteristics
• Diction is natural vernacular, not heightened or poetic;
tone may be comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact.
• Objectivity in presentation becomes increasingly
important: overt authorial comments or intrusions
diminish as the century progresses.
• Interior or psychological realism a variant form.
• In Black and White Strangers, Kenneth Warren
suggests that a basic difference between realism and
sentimentalism is that in realism, "the redemption of
the individual lay within the social world," but in
sentimental fiction, "the redemption of the social
world lay with the individual" (75-76).
Quotes to Remember
• “Realism is nothing more and nothing less than
the truthful treatment of material.” --William
Dean Howells, “Editor’s Study,” Harper's New
Monthly Magazine (November 1889), p. 966.
• "Realism, n. The art of depicting nature as it is
seen by toads. The charm suffusing a landscape
painted by a mole, or a story written by a
measuring-worm." --Ambrose Bierce The Devil's
Dictionary (1911)
Slave Narratives
Adapted from Washington State
University
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amli
t/slave.htm
Definitions
• Narratives of slavery recounted the personal
experiences of ante-bellum African Americans
who had escaped from slavery and found their
way to safety in the North.
• An essential part of the anti-slavery movement,
these narratives drew on Biblical allusion and
imagery, the rhetoric of abolitionism, the
traditions of the captivity narrative, and the
spiritual autobiography in appealing to their
(often white) audiences.
• Some of these narratives bore a "frame" or
preface attesting to their authenticity and to the
sufferings described within.
Purposes
• Attempted to arouse the sympathy of readers
in order to promote humanitarianism.
• Emphasized traditional Christian religious
ideas.
• Showed acceptance of the ideals of the
dominant white society
• Emphasized the cruelty of individual slave
owners.
Influences
•
•
•
•
King James Bible
New England sermonizing traditions
Rhetoric and aims of abolitionist orators
Devotional books like Pilgrim's Progress.
Reasons for Popularity
• Lurid scenes of horror and violence that
served as an acceptable gratification of the
popular appetite for sensationalism.
• Religious influence: didactic content
• Interesting descriptions of life in the South
• Propaganda weapons during abolition and
Civil War
Frequent Pattern: Modified Hero’s
Journey
• Descent from state of innocence or peace into
recognition of status (slavery)
• Progressive dehumanization at hands of
masters and concomitant growth of selfreliance and decision-making, sometimes
involving literacy
• A spiritual "bottoming-out"
• Resolve; for Douglass, the fight with Covey
• Flight and redemption
Frequently Repeated Motifs
• Exposes physical and emotional abuses of slavery:
scenes of whipping, sexual abuse, starvation, especially
of women or children
• Exposes (sometimes satirically) white owners'
hypocrisy and inconstancy
• Describes repeated raising of narrator's expectations
only to have them dashed by whites
• Describes quest for literacy
• Describes quest for freedom Includes vignettes of
other character types and the experience of slavery:
those who succeed and those who fail
• Makes overt appeals to imagined audience
• Details loss of significant family member(s) and the
destruction of family ties
Style and Structure
Chiasmus
• A grammatical figure by which the order of words
in one of two of parallel clauses is inverted in the
other.- Oxford Dictionary
• “It's not the men in my life; it's the life in my
men.”
• “One should eat to live not live to eat.”
• Also:
• a reversal of the order of words in the second of
two parallel phrases
• He came in triumph and in defeat departs.
Antithesis
• A device by which two contrasting ideas are
juxtaposed in parallel form.
• “The world will little note, nor long remember
what we say here, but it can never forget what
they did here.”- Lincoln
• “That's one small step for man, one giant leap
for mankind.” - Neil Armstrong
• "We must learn to live together as brothers or
perish together as fools." - Martin Luther King,
Jr.