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American Literature at the Turn of the Century (1865-1914)Realists, Regionalists, & Naturalists

English 42 – Dr. Karen Rose

Romanticism was one of the dominant modes of artistic expression in the 19th century.

Romanticism emphasizes the imagination and emotions over intellect and reason. Generally speaking, Romanticism might be said to involve a belief in the innate goodness of man, individualism, and idealism.

Above all, Romanticism conveys an innocent and dreamy sense of wonder, faith in nature, belief in goodness and the potentiality of things.

Historical Context

Some say Romanticism presents life as we wish it

would be.

As a result of the Civil War (1861-1865) , technological and industrial developments, America seemed to have lost its innocence.

Writers felt that the optimistic spirit of Romanticism could no longer convey the American experience.

Romanticism gave way to a new literary movement:

Realism.

Literary works written in the mode of Realism evoke the sense that its characters might, in fact, exist and that such things might actually happen.

In other words, writers who followed the conventions of Realism attempted to portray life as accurately as possible.

REALISM

Realism is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material.

– William Dean Howells

Several of the authors we are studying this semester are highly regarded Realists:• Mark Twain (1835-1910) • Charles Chesnutt (1858-1932)• Mary Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930)• Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935)

Their works are characterized by objectivity of reporting, the use of authentic American speech and dialogue, and a fidelity to the material world. They resisted the emotional extravagance and fanciful settings that had characterized Romantic fiction and, instead, focused on unrefined and “ugly” subjects.

Under the umbrella of Realism are included Regionalism and Naturalism.

Realism

Regionalism Naturalism

RegionalismBy the end of the century, almost every region of the country had

its “localcolorist.” These writers sought to immortalize the distinctive features of their regions: characters, dialects, customs, topography, history, etc.

Twain, Wilkins Freeman, and Chesnutt are highly regarded Regionalists.For example, Wilkins Freeman wrote of economically impoverished rural life in New England, and Chesnutt and Twain wrote of the pre-Civil War South.

RegionalismRegionalism flourished after the Civil War as Americans started

to conceive of themselves as part of a single unified nation, and curiosity grew about disparate regions of the country.

Many scholars believe that Regionalism was an act of nostalgia and conservation in response to rapid postwar industrialization and the standardization of American culture, the result of mass-produced consumer goods, the mail-order business, periodicals, and newspapers).

NaturalismWriters who embraced Naturalism as their literary mode were greatly

influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution (1859).

Naturalists believed that a human is merely a higher-order animal whose character and behavior are determined by two forces: 1) heredity 2) environment.Naturalists emphasize the manner in which an individual’s destiny is determined by compulsive biological instincts – hunger, sex drive, fear, etc. – and the social and economic forces in the family, class, environment into which that person is born.

Naturalism

This is a pessimistic way to view humanity because the individual is “trapped” by the limitations of his/her biology and environment.

As you can imagine, given their dark view of human nature and possibility, the ending of literary works written in the mode of Naturalism is usually tragic.

Some of the authors we are reading who are regarded as Naturalists are:• Theodore Dreiser• Jack London• Kate Chopin

Sigmund Freud “Biology is destiny.”