Literary Timeline: Realism and Naturalism

REALISM (1865-1915)

Historical context

Civil War brings demand for a "truer" literature not idealizing people or places
Photography: Civil War; Motion pictures: Spanish American War
People in society became defined by "class" as a result of materialism
Reflection of ideas of Darwin (survival of the fittest) and Marx (how money and class
structure control a nation)
100 years to Women's Suffrage
1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900s, 1910s

Genre/Style

Realism: a reaction against romanticism
Focus on lives of ordinary people; rejected heroic and adventurous
Anti-materialism rejected the new "class" system
View of nature as a powerful and indifferent force beyond man's control
Naturalism (sub-genre of Realism)
Like Realism but a darker view of the world
The universe is unpredictable; fate is determined by chance; free will is an illusion
Characters' lives are shaped by forces they can't understand or control
Novels, short stories
Often aims to change a specific social problem
Dominant themes: survival, fate, violence, nature as an indifferent force

Major Writers

The Civil War (1855-1865)

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)
The most famous woman of her day
Uncle Tom's Cabin: most influential book of the nineteenth century
First American book to sell one million copies
One of the most effective documents of propaganda
Was said to have helped fuel the Civil War
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895): My Bondage and My Freedom
An escaped slave; one of the most effective orators of his day
Influential newspaper writer; militant abolitionist; diplomat
Autobiography an instant and enduring classic of courage

The Frontier (1865-1915)

Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Samuel Langhorne Clemens widely thought to be the greatest American humorist
Used vernacular, exaggeration, deadpan narrator to create humor
“Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi (a memoir), Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Tragedy of Pudd'n Head Wilson

Stephen Crane (1871-1900) (Naturalist)
Red Badge of Courage (most famous work; set in Civil War)
“The Open Boat” (man vs. Nature's indifference)
“An Episode of War” (short story), "The Blue Hotel," "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky"

Jack London
Pushed Naturalism to its limits
Call of the Wild (tame dog forced to revert to his original primitive state)
“To Build a Fire” (survival of the fittest)

The Local Colorists (1865-1930)
Regional writers tried to capture the essence of a particular area, or its "local color," by accurately depicting the distinctive qualities of its people and including vivid, realistic descriptions of the physical appearance of the environment. As America grew and became more diversified, the public became curious about the people and the style of life in different parts of the country. Regional literature satisfied their curiosity.