REALISM1.1865 – end of Civil War.CW put an end that Ams is the most perfect nation existing on the earth. CW was a very brutal, bloody affair which involved a number of casualities, a real trauma. 1865 puts an end to idealistic visions of Am. Nation had to face reality as it was. The Am society was growing rich. Middle of 19c is the time of rising of middle class which started to dominate the intelectual life of Am. A number of ppl made spectacular fortunes on oil, gold rushes, silver rushes. Banking dynasties came into existance. Am strarted to be perceived as a country of spectacular consumption. Am became a consumorous society. Because of the rising standard of living and rise of Rockefeller/Morgan dynasties that period of time is sometimes called the Gilded Age (Mark Twain's term) – golden only on a surface (poz³acana). 2. Since the end of 19c is dominated by middle class the lit is mostly about the middle class. The description of the life of middle class, for and about the m.class . Theres a growing ploretariat too. The end of 19c is a time of frist industrial strikes in great cities. On the whole, if we think about lit written after the CW we can notice that new themes, forms came into existance. Actually before the CW we mostly had intelectual and cultural activity in New England and in the South but from the middle of 19c Am expands dramatically so new regions strats to be represented especially the West. A number of so called Dime Novels (cheap) propagated myth of the west and the western hero – the cowboy, the sheriffe, the outlaw etc. eg Bufallo Bill. On the whole, the charas of new fiction are mostly more down to earth charas than in romanticism. Romanticism presented outstanding charas like Captain Echo and symbolic chara – now they are real-life and whose names make much modest claims on the audience (common charas). Industral workers started to be represented in lit, ambitious business leaders, prostitues, ppl who had no permament home, women from many social groups, emigrants, minorities – sth new! Those groups become representated in lit more and more commnon. New am. realistic lit is characterised by emphasise of common place (not the exotic or strange). It concentrates on descriptions, the settings are recognasible. It individualises speech (the vernacula). Charas facing everyday problems, spoken lg becomes priviliged.3. When we come to representatives of realistic literature:- William Dean Howells- Mark Twain- Henry James- Edward WhartonWILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS1. The editor of important cultural magasine. He had a natural oportunity of introducing the new lit to readers. He introduced continental realistic writers eg Zola or Chechow. He also introduced MT and HJ. He himself was a writer and wrote realistic stories and novels. He also was a critic. He believed that realism should reflect am reality as its lived every day and its optimistic. He insisted am needed no native Dostoyewsky because its more positive and smiling. In one of his essays he claimed that the writer had the responsibility to the reading public and cant introduce indicent topics because readers can be shocked. WDH in 1st period of his career was working under puritanical belief that some things should not be mentioned to the public (especially Zola's lit). Lit should present the smiling aspects, no tragedies. His ver of realism seems as common place or not very intelectual (middle-brown) lit. He did a lot to introduce realism though. He became more socially conscious later on when the 1st strikes were being organisied. He was against social injustice so his novels were containing utopian visions of am society – as it should be rather than as it is.2. Most famous utopian novel were written in 19c looking back to 1807 by E.Bellamy (?). The protagonist wakes up in 2000 and Am is a diff country where ppl live better lifes and quality of life improves. MARK TWAIN1. MT & HJ are the giants of literature although Twain is not a true realist. He is a realist in the sense that he gives a flavor to a particular place. He makes charas realistic, the speech is usually very realistic, he concentrates on actuall problems of charas but use a number of romantic ideas eg symbolism. In time his fiction grows escapist. MT was associated wit h Missisipi. He was a pilot on Missisipi river. He gained a lot of experience of a South in pre-war years. The war disrupted the business and MT went to Nevada with his bro during the Silver Rush. He went to Cali where he became a newspaper reportet so he was sent aboroad to the Holy Land. This adventure was an origin of a book Innocents Abroad. The comparsion between Eu and Am became imp motive. Twain in IA presents a group of am tourists who go to Holy Land traveling through Europe. He is not interested in long history of Eu so he's able to laugh at Eu conventions and Am tourists (they show enthusiasms to things because they follow guides). MT is not intimidated by Europe. 2. Hackelbery Fin is a prequel to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The book for boys and about boys. The sequul – the Adventures of Huckelberry Fin is more serious. In both novels we deal with the same charas, very similiar and different. TS is more conventional, he has wide imagination he invents a number of stories as if he was in a gang. Though in the evening he plays a role of a good boy in his family and he goes to school. In contrast HF has no family (only drunken father) so Huck is forced to fend for himself and grow up very quickly. Was is simply played for Tom – Huck is a real outcast. He heas some adopted family but he does not like it because he is only half civilised. He had to learn to live on his own so he resists conventionalising forced of the society. When he's supposed to read the Bible he finds it engaging unless he finds out its about dead ppl. He doesnt like idea of school and he questions religious principals (eg Heaven because it seems boring). The main idea is much serious – HF is forced to take a decision what to do with a run away slave. (slavery motive!) Jim is a slave who runs away. Huck knows about it and does not know what to do – on one hand Jim needs Huck's help and H knows its good to help a friend but on the other hand the law turns Jim in (the future of Slave Act 1815). HF feels guilty. He is an adolescant and have to make imp decision. He decides to help Jim after a struggle. He opposes conventions. He shows his independence. Tom would never do that. HF lives a real drama. Huck brakes the law. Another imp theme is Huck's search for identity. He does not identify with the morality imposed on him by a town so he has to discover himself. He needs to do it by escaping the town and confronting the reality. Reader is presented to a panorama of thievs etc . HF assumes a number of false identities untill he finally discovers he is a free person. Huck does not want to return home. He rejects 'civilisation' which he started to identify with cruelty and egoism. He wants to be himself so he needs to be free. Paradoxically AofHF was claimed as the boy novel but then it was claimed of one of the greatest books of american literature flow, because it contains the issue of inhumanity of slavery and humanity of a slave, searching for oneself. While reading the AofHF u can notion that every charas speach is individualised. Theres Southern dialect, drunken monologues. Its one of the reasons while eg Ernest Hemingway claimed AofHF as a real beginning of am lit. 3. TS and HF deal with boyhood and they already inniciate undercurrance in MT's novels. Although he is the humorist beginning with AofHF he grows petimistic and withdraws from the imidient reality, firstly from boyhood as a way of escaping of am reality. He was dissatisfied with it, especially with idealistic ideas. Ppl were using their ideas. The next novel he wrote was the Connecticit Yanker in King Arthur's Court. The main chara is a businessman who is an inventor who somehow finds himself in 6th c England in medieval court of King Arthur. He tries improving medieval society, make a reality reformed. Its a source of number of hilarious scenes. Later on MT withdraw even more into a kind of allegory (not a realisitc lit anymore) especially with Mysterious Stranger (boys meets an angel who shows them how to be good).4. MT is not a pure realist, his fiction is mixed with romantic idealism and allegorcial stories. HENRY JAMES1. Major writer of realism. MT was a humorist but he loved America. HJ cant find himself in America and is an intelectual and believe of Am could not nourish his intelect. He is much attracted to Europe. He traveled there and decided to stay there. He became an English citizen. His novels are much more european. His father was an intelectual and his bro was famous am sociologist (William James).HJ was interested in seeing world through eyes of one of the charas. His novels are called dramas of perception. He was interested how consciousness works.5. Periods of career: a) the American – the novel focusing on the Charles Newman traveling on the Europe. HJ is famous for portraits of female charas. eg. A novel about lady eager to explore Europe defeated by european conventions. (Daisy Miller) .This episode of his writing ends with Portrait of a Lady – what matters is the inner drama not the plot. A beautiful young am girl traveling in europe. The center of the novel is when Elisabeth realises her mistake. b) 2n period – HJ experiments with naturalism. He wrote for the theater. If u write a play u cannot describe but show. HJ contributed with modernism. Dramatise, dont describe the show, make it happen! He also wrote a lot of stories about ghosts.c) major stage – major novels eg The Ambasadors, The Golden Bowl. His mature style is at its best.6. Style is the story itself. Sophisticated and ele...
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