Realism And NaturalismUVM

Literary GenresLic. Dulce Rodríguez

Mayko TramontiniLamar Williams

Monday 31, October, 2011.

Realism

It is defined as “the faithful representation of reality” or “verisimilitude”. Realism is often cited as a technique of writing that some authors use, but it also is a subject of matter that includes topics such as the middle-class life and it opposes to the romanticism.

Influence of Realism

Realism had profound effects on fiction from places as far-flung as Russia and the Americas. The novel, which had been born out of the romance as a more or less fantastic narrative, settled into a realistic mode which is still dominant today.

Aside from genre fiction such as fantasy and horror, we expect the ordinary novel today to be based in our own world, with recognizably familiar types of characters endowed with no supernatural powers, doing the sorts of things that ordinary people do every day.

Naturalism

The emergence of Naturalism does not mark a radical break with Realism, rather the new style is a logical extension of the old. The term was invented by Émile Zola partly because he was seeking for a striking platform from which to convince the reading public that it was getting something new and modern in his fiction. In fact, he inherited a good deal from his predecessors.

He argued that his special contribution to the art of fiction was the application to the creation of characters and plot of the scientific method. The new "scientific novel" would be created by placing characters with known inherited characteristics into a carefully defined environment and observing the resulting behavior.

Realism and Naturalism in Fiction

During the 18th century, in France, Realism had its influences on the fiction and the theater. That is not so surprising, considering its continuous struggle against Romanticism.

Honoré de Balzac

He is generally accredited to be the grandfather of the Realism, thanks to his novel The Human Comedy, which depicted every aspect of the residents of France in the 18th century in a very clear way. Balzac was well-known for describing with such precision almost everything he wrote about.

Emile Zola

Zola was a French author, with many works being a huge influence the Naturalism movement. He argued that his special contribution to the art of fiction was the application to the creation of characters and plot of the scientific method. The new "scientific novel" would be created by placing characters with known inherited characteristics into a carefully defined environment and observing the resulting behavior.

Bibliography

http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm

http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/naturalism.html

http://www.online-literature.com/emile-zola/