Outline of American Literature 3.doc

Part Ⅳ The Literature of Realism Historical Background (The American Civil War) 1860 Presidential campaign; success of Republican Party (Abraham Lincoln) 1862 Emancipation Proclamation 1865 Southern army surrendered Industrialization Sufferings of the laboring people The Gilded Age What is realism? Realism was a literary doctrine that called for “reality and truth” in the depiction of ordinary life. Realism first appeared in America in the literature of local color William Dean Howells defined Realism as “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material.” Some representative local colorists : Bret Harte (1836—1902), the first American writer of local color to achieve wide popularity. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin Kate Chopin, The Awakening Mark Twain American Realism has its salient features: Verisimilitude of details derived from observation Representative in plot, setting and character An objective rather than an idealized view of human experience American Realism produced three great masters: William Dean Howells (1837—1920) Henry James (1843—1916) Mark Twain (1835—1910) American Naturalism Charles Darwin Struggle for existence Natural selection Survival of the fittest Herbert Spencer (Social Darwinism) Definition: Those who are weak, stupid will be got rid of by the society Major Features Heredity Environment Thematically, naturalistic writers wrote detailed descriptions of the lives of the downtrodden and of the abnormal had frank treatment of human passion and sexuality were concerned about how men and women were overwhelmed by the forces of environment and by the forces of heredity Technically, naturalistic writers made detailed documentation of life: nothing but the truth, more naked and wicked than realism created gloomy and pessimistic atmosphere Walt Whitman One of the great innovators in American literature He gave America its first genuine epic poem: Leaves of Grass The themes in Whitman’s poe