Realism

Realism was started in the late 1800's according to Blooms it is "Born out of the ideas of the romantic novel but infused with concrete details and accurate descriptions of society, the characters of realist fiction are drawn from the events and contexts of modern life and face everyday obstacles." (Diamond) This basically says that Realism writing is a lot like Romanticism writing except for the fact that because of the time period it was in it was MUCH more focused on precise details. The time was right around prohibition so most people in the USA were very proper and had exquisite manners. So it is only natural that their writing would be very precise and proper. "Realism is most commonly traced to the French novelist Honoré de Balzac and his series of novels and stories which, grouped together, form The Human Comedy (1840)." (Diamond) Belac would pay absolute attention to the smallest detail in his stories. Every setting, person and action are descried to the point you can imagine it in perfect detail. Though his stories would be almost unidentifiable by modern realism standards because even though he described people, places and things in amazing detail his storylines were often unbelievable and very fantastic. (Diamond) Realism was not just an American literature movement. Rather, it was a change all over the world in how authos wrote their stories. Beginning to provide more detail and do their best to make it as life like as possible. Even in China the change was felt "In China, realism accompanied modernism in literature into the 20th century."(Diamond) Realism really was something of a worldwide shift in the way people approached literature as well as their daily lives. People all over the world were becoming more modernized and more intelligent and like it always does literature evolved a long with the rest of the world and reflected the changes in it. Realism is still around today and probably will be for a while.





Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 19th and 20th Centuries. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 8, 2011).