Nedra Collins
Rough Draft
Brittish
Literature
Ms. Kollais
12/10/1998
The Influence of
Realism on Literature
After World War I, American people and
the authors among them
were left
disillusioned by the effects that war had on their society.
America needed a
literature that would explain what had happened and
what was
happening to their society. American
writers turned to what
is now known as
modernism. The influence of 19th Century
realism and
naturalism and
their truthful representation of American life and
people was
evident in post World War I modernism.
This paper will try
to prove this by
presenting the basic ideas and of these
literary
genres, literary
examples of each, and then make connections between
the two literary
movements. Realism Modernism not only depicted
American society
after World War I accurately and unbiasedly, but also
tried to find the
solutions brought upon by the suffering created by
the war (Elliott
705).
The realistic movement of the late 19th
century saw authors
accurately depict
life and it’s problems. Realists
attempted to “give
a comprehensive
picture of modern life” (Elliott 502) by presenting
the entire
picture. They did not try to give one
view of life but
instead attempted
to show the different classes, manners, and
stratification of
life in America. Realists created this
picture of
America by combining
a wide variety of “details derived from
observation and
documentation...” to “approach the norm of
experience...”
(3). Along with this technique, realists
compared the
“objective or
absolute existence” in America to that of the “universal
truths, or
observed facts of life” (Harvey 12). In
other words,
realists
objectively looked at American society and pointed out the
aspects that it
had in common with the general truths of existence.
This realistic movement evolved as a
result of many changes
and transitions
in American culture. In the late 1800’s,
the United
States was
experiencing “swift growth and change” as a result of a
changing economy,
society, and culture because of an influx in the
number of
immigrants into America. Realists such
as Henry James and
William Dean
Howells, two of the most prolific writers of the
Nineteenth-century,
used typical realistic methods to create an
accurate
depiction of changing American life.
William Dean Howells,
while opposing
idealization, made his “comic criticisms of society”
(Bradley 114) by
comparing American culture with those of other
countries. In his “comic” writings, Howells criticized
American
morality and
ethics but still managed to accurately portray life as it
happened. He attacked and attempted to resolve “the
moral
difficulties of
society by this rapid change.” (Elliott 505). He
believed that
novels should “should present life as it is, not as it
might be”
(American Literature Compton’s). In the
process of doing
this, Howells
demonstrated how life shaped the characters of his
novels and their
own motives and inspirations. By
concentrating on
these characters’
strengths as opposed to a strong plot, he
thematically
wrote of how life was more good than evil and, in return,
wanted his
literature to inspire more good. On the
other hand, Henry
James judged the
world from a perspective “...offered by society and
history...”
(704). He also separated himself from America to create an
unbiased view of
it as a “spectator and analyst rather than recorder”
(Spiller 169) of
the American social structure. He wrote
from a
perspective that
allowed him to contrast American society with that of
Europe by
contrasting the peoples’ ideas. By
contrasting social
values and
personal though about America in America, he presented to
the people the
differing motivational factors that stimulated the
different social
classes (Bradley 1143). Overall, these
writers
managed to very
formally portray America as it was while adding their
own criticisms
about it in an attempt to stimulate change.
The naturalist movement slowly
developed with most of the same
ideals as those
of the realists in that it attempted to find life’s
truths. In contrast, Naturalists, extreme realists,
saw the corrupt
side of life and
how environment “deprived individuals of
responsibility”
(Elliott 514). Literary naturalism
invited writers to
examine human
beings objectively, as a “scientist studies nature”
(“Am. Lit.”
Compton’s). In portraying ugliness and
cruelty, the
authors refrained
from preaching about them; rather they left readers
to draw their own
conclusions about the life they presented.
Generally, these
authors took a pessimistic view to portray a life
that centered on
the negative part of man’s existence.
When dealing
with society
directly, naturalists generally detailed the destruction
of people without
any sentiment. To do this, they wrote
more open
about society’s
problems in a more open manner usually using nature as
a symbol for society. Naturalistic
literature, like realistic,
served as a
catalyst for change but, in contrast, was a little more
like
propaganda.
Even though only twenty years may have
separated them, the
transformation
from realism/naturalism to modernism was a long one in
terms of how much
society had changed. The aforementioned
rapid
change in
American society and America’s relation with the rest of the
world left
America in disarray. After the first World War, American
society was
divided and left without definition.
This called for a
new age of
literary expression to control and document the
“isolationist
fears”, “corruption”, and “disenchantment” (Bradley
1339-1340) caused
by the war. Authors looked to explain
their
generation and to
respond to the “social and moral confusions” (1340).
The World War broke down America’s fundamental
institutions by
dehumanizing the
people that provided their strong foundations (1339).
War diminished the individual identity and the
society as a whole.
The human
personality was “dwarfed” as much by the “...dehumanizing
magnitude of
modern events...” as by natural laws that con!
trolled man to
their own destiny.
Authors after World War I created a new
literature “of
enduring merit...that
shattered conventional taboos in their
expression of
physical and psychological actuality.” (Bradley 1339)
This was the
beginning of modernism. Modernism,
although strongly
influenced by
realism and often referred to as an extension of
naturalistic
values, was the answer to America’s new-found problems.
Modernism
promoted and combined the scientific aspects of naturalism
along with a
psychological examination of the individual and the
culture. By being so experimental (1340) and
intense(1337), modernism
was able to unite
America after a period of crisis.
Modernism
centered on
“explorations into the spiritual nature of men and the
value of his
society and institutions.” (1337) Like
realism,
modernists
focused on changes on society (Elliott 699) and used
symbolism,
although in this case spiritual, to draw their fiction
(Bradley
1340). Modernist writers, like most
Americans, were amazed
at the
destructive power of war on the common man.
Writers such as Ernest Hemingway,
William Faulkner, and F.
Scott Fitzgerald
spearheaded the modernistic renaissance by employing
realistic and
naturalistic techniques. Hemingway’s The
Sun Also Rises
details the principle of an “alienation from
society that had been
forced upon by
the circumstances of the time” (Spiller 271).
In this
case, it
describes a young boy alienated from society because of his
involvement in
World War I, the “...loss of faith and hope...”, and
“...collapse of
former values...” that occurs (Hart 284).
His
earlier works can
sometimes be described as containing “characteristic
influences of
naturalism” (Bradley 1339). This can be
reflected in
his “presentation
of the strict relations between environment and
fate...” (1339). Later in his career, Hemingway once again
took the
alienation from
society route. This time, in the spirit
of realist
Henry James, he
separates himself from American society to better
judge it. With his novel The Rolling Hills of Africa,
Hemingway
compares American
culture to that of another. At times,
Hemingway
“...began to seem
like a little more than a modern realist...”
(Spiller Lit His
1300).
William Faulkner, producer of some of
the most important books
of the
twentieth-century, also draws the connection between
environment and
fate strongly. He combines naturalism
and
primitivism, a
literary technique involving clear imagery, to create a
sometimes
confusing and complex detailed reading that involves
“...people of all
sorts wealthy and poor, evil and good, slave and
free come into
sharp focus in his writing.” (“Faulkner” Compton’s)
This idea, much
like that of realist James, provides the reader with
the whole picture
of society.
The novels and short stories of F.
Scott Fitzgerald are famous
for portraying
the "lost generation" of the post-World War I era.
Faulkner's moral
values were “social rather than personal”
(“Fitzgerald”
Compton’s). He believes that his writing
should address
the problems that
society has and the problems that he has with
society. Faulkner's prose is ornate and complex. His
sentences are
long and
complicated, and many nouns and adjectives are used.
Hemingway's style
is quite the opposite. His sentences are short and
pointed, and
adjectives are used sparingly. The effect is one of great
power and
compression. By compressing his literary ideas in his
writing, he makes
his literature easily understood and direct to his
readers.
Many connections can be made between
the literature of the
late 19th century
realism and naturalism and that of post-World War I
modernism. First and most importantly of all,
modernists, like
realists and
naturalists, attacked society’s problems by using
symbolism to make
their own judgments of the basic foundations of
American
life. Modernists, such as Ernest
Hemingway, looked at
American society
and compared to that of other cultures of the world.
This technique had been extensively employed
by such realists as
Henry James. Modernism used the naturalist method of
scientifically
exploring the
individual and the society.
Stylistically, modernists,
with the
exception of Hemingway, wrote in a very formal, defined form.
Modernists and realists both attacked the
moral dilemmas in society.
The only difference was that these dilemmas
were different.
While that realists attempted to “give
a comprehensive picture
of modern
life...” (502), modernists wished “express the whole
experience of
modern life.” (Elliott 598). These
authors of the
realistic and
modernistic period had the same goals so naturally they
wrote using the
same ideas, methods, and principles. Realists focused
on different
literary aspects to detail how American culture was
effected by these
changes. They detailed characters shaped
by society
and tried to
convey the good and evil aspects of life.
Mirroring this
technique,
modernists portrayed people alienated and rejected from
society because
of the effects of the first World War.
Both focused
on detailing
problems facing their characters, externally and
internally, while
not focusing on plot development.
Thematically,
both groups of
authors conveyed the good and bad aspects of a
changing American
society. Both rallied for change and
both asked for
the unification
of society, but both still lingered more on the
presence of
corruption in America.
The only thing that separated the two
movements was the
societies around
them. While both societies were
experiencing major
change quickly,
they were so different. The two
literatures had to be
distinguished not
because of their content and character, which was
for the most part
the same, but instead because of the differing
conditions that
existed around the literature. Even
though both
wanted to
accurately depict life, they were written in two very
distinct times in
American history. In one, American
culture was
expanding and
adapting. In the other, life was being
oppressed by the
dehumanizing agents of warfare on a large scale. As we know, culture
influences
literature. Even though these two
literary movements may
have only been
separated by about twenty years, in these twenty years,
focus shifted
from the interior of American society to how American
society was
effected by a conflict created as a result of opposing
cultures. This idea of differing cultures produc!
ing differing
literatures provides the basis for the differences in
the movements.
Modernism after World War I was
influenced by the
realistic/naturalistic
movement of the late Nineteenth century.
The
literary goals,
techniques, and principles of the modernists and
realists/naturalists
were the same. Both wanted to paint an
unbiased,
accurate picture
of society by confronting the problems of the
individual and of
the society. To do this, most of the
time they
resorted to the
same techniques. They created literature
that
combined
scientific reasoning, unidealistic views,
and physical and
psychological
examination that painted a portrait of society that
could be used to
help American society adjust, define, and heal.
Realists of the
late Nineteenth century and modernists of the 1920’s
wrote alike but
were divided on the basis that their respective
societies were so
different.
--
Works Cited
“American
Literature”. Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia (Computer
Program) 1995
Bradley, Sculley. The American Tradition
in Literature.
New York City:
W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1967: 1336-1342
Elliott, Emory.
Columbia Literary History of the United States.
New
York
City:Columbia University Press:1988, 502-504, 599
“Faulkner,
William”. Compton’s Interactive
Encyclopedia (Computer
Program) 1995
"Fitzgerald,
Scott F.". Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia (Computer
Program) 1995
Hart, James D. The Oxford Companion to American
Literature. New York City:Oxford University Press, 1995:
284-285
Pizer,
Donald. Realism and Naturalism. Carbondale: Southern Illinois
University Press,
1966: 3, 10-11
Spiller, Robert
E. The Cycle of American
Literature. New York City:
The MacMillan
Company, 1966: 269-303
Spiller, Robert
E. et al. Literary History of the United States. New
York City: The
MacMillan Publishing Company, 1974: 1300
Word Count: 2174
No comments:
Post a Comment