REALISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Realism in American Literature

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Realism in American Literature

Introduction

United States of America got remarkably changed after the industrial revolution that took place in the last decades of 19th Century. A range of inhabitants had shifted their settlements from rural regions to urban cities, in the gluttony of rapidly increasing employment occasions. The American culture was changing towards factory production, and utilization of industrial tools and machinery had becoming common. Now inhabitants did not have to restrict their professions to farming and agriculture to support their folks. At the same time, colonists from all over the globe migrated to United States to take advantage of newly developing industrial settlement. However, the growing social, economic and political scenario had supported the success and expansion of American Realism.

The realism of the 1880s prominently includes the literature of Mark Twain, Henry James and Howells. At that time, Realism in American literature was limited to writing on selected subjects. Examples of such selected practice include “the factory workers” of Upton Sinclair and Rebecca H. David, Kate Chopin's analyses of feminism, marriage and women's roles and Paul Lawrence and Charles Chesnutt's stories of black life.

The literature during this period was also limited to regions and possesses certain aspects of the particular region. The industrial revolution was called for homogeny, mass production of commodities and modernized channels of distribution. However, the modern developments had made people anxious that rising industrial revolution may soon peter out the traditions and folkways of American literature. Responding to such emotions, realistic writers set their stories around particular American regions, to incarcerate the regional culture and tradition before it got lost. They mostly structure their literature upon the sometimes harsh realities of everyday life of American culture, showing the collapse of traditional values and the rising difficulties of the modern urban poor. American realists structure their intrigues and characters around people's ordinary and every day lives. Furthermore, their works were limited to local vernaculars and extensive dialogues, which connects public with the literature. As a result, readers were more attracted to realism in literature because it reflects and quote their struggle in books. On the other hand, people had less appreciation for the low paced narratives, metaphor and imagery of the romantic novelists. America was shifting into superior gear and readers were more interested in such writers, who directly communicated the complications of their actual life experiences.

Definition of Realism in American Literature

Many American literature schools practice realism, and they defined it as "the faithful representation of reality”. Even though, harshly speaking, realism is a method; it also denotes a particular kind of topic, especially the represents the intrinsic life of middle class people. It came into being against reaction for romance; the arrangement of the study of history documentation and the power of coherent viewpoint, all affected ascend of realism. According to Harmon, W. and Holman, H., Where romantic writer exceed the direct to find the ideal, and naturalists examine the real or superficial to ...