Literary Movements
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The latter half of the 19th century was a time of enormous change in American society. Such changes includes the rebuilding of the South after the Civil War, the adjustment to the end of slavery, the increasing growth of urbanism and industrialism, and the advent of new technologies. Also impacting the era were new philosophies about religion, philosophy, and individuals, such as social Darwinism and FreudÆs theories of the human psyche. Such changes also had a significant impact on the artists of the era, particularly those who wrote literature. Three movements in literature occurred almost simultaneously during the second half of the 19th century: naturalism, realism and local color/regionalism. While there are many similarities among each of these literary movements or styles, they are quite distinct in a number of ways. These distinctions most often include technique, character, setting, themes, and other characteristics. This analysis will discuss each of these literary movements in order to demonstrate these distinctions in the works of authors like Stephen Crane, Jack London, Henry James, Kate Chopin, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. A conclusion will address why such literary movements are significant in terms of understanding history and human beings in general. Naturalism in American literature is a movement that involves the application of scientific principles of ôobjectivity and detachmentö to its analysis of human b
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iated with the movement. Once again the rapid shifts in culture pervading the U.S. during this era provided such authors with their interest in the middle-class. In a sense, realism that embodies determinism and focuses on the lower-classes is naturalism. According to Richard Chase, the following characteristics are most common to the movement known as realism:
Renders reality closely and in comprehensive detail.
Character is more important than action and plot.
Ethical choices are often the subject.
Class is important, especially the middle-class.
Diction is natural vernacular, not heightened or poetic.
Objectivity in presentation.
(Realism 2003)
The works of writers like Mark Twain and Henry James demonstrate the above characteristics, though TwainÆs classification as a writer of realism is tenuous at best. However, the works of Henry James clearly demonstrate the focus on character, middle-class, and objectivity that are the primary characteristics of realism. For example, in JamesÆ Daisy Miller, we see a young, innocent, enthusiastic American girl traveling abroad with her mother. Part of the burgeoning middle-class of U.S. society, in Europe Daisy is viewed as socially unsophisticated and a flirt by the upper-class aris
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1960
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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