This is a philosophy of education that views the world as it is. In addition, it is founded on the principle that reality is what we see and judge as to the truth (what we sense and view). It also postulates that goodness is obtained from the laws of nature. Schools, therefore, exist to expose laws of nature by imparting information to the students. The Realistic movement began in the 16th and 17th centuries, a period that saw great discoveries being made which led to an increase in man’s store of knowledge. The attention given to literature and language began to decline as the focus was diverted to the study of man and his environment. This led to a demand for education that addressed truth instead of beauty. Realities of life were important as opposed to its beauties and a general interest in the natural occurrences and social institutions. This came to be known as Realism (Chaugule, 2010).
Discussion
Fundamental Postulates of Realism
The main assumptions of this philosophy are as follows:
The outer world is a solid reality irrespective of man’s knowledge of its existence. This reality exists independently from the mind’s perception and man can only understand it through his senses.
Realism bestows great values on man and on human undertakings that should be merged with science and logic. It states that ‘man is finite’ and education is a necessity for a finite man.
Realism asserts that the mind is like any other matter and therefore has its mechanical workings.
It attempts to build up a system of organized knowledge by ensuring that is firm and conforms to the perspective of physical sciences. It states that every reality can be verified by observation, familiarity, practice, and scientific interpretation.
Finally, the philosophy avows that values are eternal. Even though institutions and perspectives differ by magnitude, the basic values of a society should not be altered.
The practicality of Realism in education is the training of senses since they act as gateways of knowledge through which learning occurs. Sense-realists assert that the senses can act as treasure houses for knowledge.
Social realism is a view against education that produces scholars and experts in different fields in total disregard of the affairs of society. Social-realists state that education should not be productive members of the society who are unfit (Chaugule, 2010). My choice of Realism is based on my recognition of science as a core subject in schools as proposed by the philosophy.
Alfred Whitehead (1861- 1947)
Alfred North Whitehead was a Mathematician-turned-philosopher who did works on logic, algebra, mathematics, and science. Elements that Whitehead attributed include:
Trying to merge some facets of Idealism with Realism;
The main things to be learned are ideas;
Education should be aimed at addressing living ideas (ideas related to students’ experience).
He also affirmed that philosophy is an exploration of a pattern in the universe.
Impact of Realism on the Educational Discipline
Realism states that the learning process should proceed from easy to complicate and then from concrete to abstract. An educator should himself be taught and be well informed of the tradition and culture of his learners. The philosophy recognizes the importance of the learner as an actual unit with real existence and feelings, desires, and some authority. Besides, the child is to be recognized as a creature of the real world. He is not supposed to be made God but should be taught to become a man (Pandey, 2010). On school organization, the philosophy says that these should be focused on addressing the needs of the society. The establishment of science classes in the school is necessary. Finally, Realism recognizes discipline as an alteration to objectivity that is necessary to enable a learner to suit the environment and focus on his work (Chaugule, 2010).
Conclusion
The Realism movement can be attributed to two contributions; it attempted to remove the rift between life and education, secondly, it put forward the theory of experimentation and observation as applied in education.
Reference List
Chaugule, S. S. (2010). Realism in Education.
Pandey, R. S. (1982). An Introduction to Major Philosophies of Education. ISBN EBK0037416
Critical realism is a philosophical approach to understanding science. It is one of several types of philosophical realism and forms of realism advocated within social science, such as analytic realism and subtle realism. It contrasts forms of empiricism and positivism, seeing science as identifying causal relationships (Rundell et al., 2005). In contrast to positivism’s dogmatic and empiricist epistemological basis, critical realism argues that science must be constructed from an explicit ontology (Benton & Craib, 2001). Critical realism is said to be a broad basis for social research. However, it can be considered as such only when combined with other approaches.
This is because each concept is in its own way biased on the one hand, and on the other, carries with it a high potential for cognitive, social wisdom. At the same time, this potential cannot be called absolute. Critical realism is an attractive base for sociological research because its discourse is based on causal connections (Vandenberghe, 2009). At the same time, it seeks the advantages of realism in the social sciences, especially in sociology. This is proved by the fact that realism as a philosophical metatheory is an appropriate philosophy for the social sciences (Benton, 1981). In fact, it is the first valid philosophy of the social sciences. Particular attention is paid to sociology as the subject of realism’s metatheoretical interests. Traditional philosophy of science, including positivism and empiricism, did not deal with the social sciences because it believed that they were not sciences (Outhwaite, 1987). Against this background, the main goal of critical realism is to reconstruct the rules of empirical scientific practice in social cognition.
It is worth identifying the main differences between critical realism, positivism, and empiricism in this context. The main difference between positivism and empiricism is that positivism claims that all authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge. In contrast, empiricism claims that the sensory experience of perception is the source of all knowledge. Positivism and empiricism are two interrelated philosophical theories. Positivism describes the nature of knowledge, the testing of knowledge by scientific methods. On the other hand, empiricism describes the source and origin of knowledge (Harré, 1972). In addition, it is essential to note that positivism is built on the theory of empiricism. Positivism is the kind of epistemological position that has long since lost all influence in the philosophy of science and is currently not supported in its pure form by anyone.
According to positivists, scientific knowledge is empirical, derived from experience, based on what is directly given. Only those judgments that can either be directly reduced to protocol propositions or deduced from them by logical operations are scientific (Danermark et al., 2001). In contrast, critical realism asserts that it is not the statement confirmed by experience that can be considered scientific (Sayer, 2000). The thesis for which the conditions for its refutation, or falsification, have been proposed. The process of scientific cognition, according to realism, is a way of rejecting false hypotheses as a result of experimental tests.
The primary efforts of the realist critique of positivist and empirical metatheory are directed against their tendency to reduce ontology to gnoseology and both, ultimately, to methodology. This is because this ontological relation between structure and action is not just a matter of methods (Collier, 1994). The two dimensions can and should be analytically divorced, as proven by successful research using such a system. Thus, critical realism is a reasonable basis for sociological research. However, the social sciences require multiple methodological approaches no less than the natural sciences (Laudan, 1996). The merits of such systems can only be judged by the practice of the sciences and the extent to which they enrich understanding of the social world. Therefore, it can be claimed that critical realism as a metatheoretical position creates the possibility of rational debate. Consequently, combined with other theoretical approaches, it can serve as an objective basis for sociological science.
The dominance of the realist approach to international relations is being challenged by constructivism which finds the overemphasis of realism on power, national security and national interests being the chief reasons for increasing global instability. This essay examines three ways constructivism brings new perspectives to international relations and how these ideas challenge the foundations of realism.
Constructivists reject the materialist outlook of the realists to argue that international relations are governed more by social factors such as human awareness or human consciousness (Jackson and Sorenson 162). Realists believe that the world system is inherently anarchic in nature. Constructivists challenge this precept to say that anarchy in a system occurs because humans create such concepts and ideas. Constructivists believe that “identities and interests of purposive actors are constructed by these shared ideas rather than given by nature” (Wendt 1). Realists argue that because of inherent anarchy and constant competition amongst nations for pursuit of power it becomes necessary for states to resort to ‘self help’. Here again constructivists say that self help is not a constant automatic feature but a construct that emerges out of shared ideas of the actors involved, which implies that ‘self help’ can be modified. The realist formulation of national security based on power politics has been recast by constructivists who argue that since security is just a set of shared ideas, these can be changed and thus security could be envisioned in terms of human security, food security and human rights all of which required an internationalist approach (Steans 73-75) based on a cooperative model instead of a combative model that Realism predisposes the international system with. The current era of globalization may force nations to develop more flexible notions of sovereignty (Naim 65), an idea completely incompatible with the realist theory. Constructivists however, take globalization in their stride by viewing the challenges and opportunities of globalization through the prism of shared ideas and concepts which then yields positive outcomes. Moral values and morality have very little value in a realist outlook while constructivists offer a better understanding of morality and its importance in human affairs (Shafer-landau 51).
It therefore can be concluded that constructivism offers a new understanding and methodology for explaining and conducting international relations, which is more cooperative and benign rather than the combative realist model. The three constructivist ideas that differ from realism are that the state of anarchy in IR are not given in nature but created by human thoughts and ideas, that power politics is not a central unyielding precept but what humans make out of it and that interpretation of security is not as narrow and strictly defined as the realists believe but encompasses larger issues of human security, food security and human rights which require global cooperative approaches rather than state centric exercise of power approach. Lastly, constructivists believe that morality has a greater part to play in the development of the society rather than dismissing it as peripheral as the realists do. The accommodative, shared ideas approach of constructivists makes them better placed to absorb the challenges of globalization and change long standing realist dogmas.
Works Cited
Jackson, Robert H and Georg Sorenson. Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Naim, Moises. “The Five wars of Globalization.” Jackson, Robert. Annual Editions: Global Issues 05/06. NY: Dushkin, 2006. 61-66.
Shafer-landau, Russ. Moral Realism: A Defense. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2003.
Steans, Jill. Gender and International Relations. NY: Rutger University Press, 2006.
Wendt, Alexander. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
“Reality is more than the thing itself. I look always for the super-reality. Reality lies in how you see things. A green parrot is also a green salad and a green parrot. He who makes it only a parrot diminishes reality. A painter who copies a tree blinds himself to the real tree. I see things otherwise. A palm tree can become a horse.” – Pablo Picasso.
Ghost could be the element being used in Pedro Paramo that made the book inspired the creation of the magic realism genre. The short novel written by Juan Rulfo, originally published in 1985, tackles the death of Comala through the narration of the ghosts of the former inhabitant of the town.
Juan Preciado, the protagonist of the story traveled to Comala, Colima as being beseeched by his dying mother in the beginning. He intends to seek the answer in this place of the revenge that his mother wanted him to do to the man responsible for his biological existence, Pedro Paramo. She left Pedro Paramo.
Pedro Paramo had stolen all the supposed lands and the inheritance of Juan Preciado. As the story progresses he eventually learned about Comala’s history through the ghosts of the town.
Although it tackles real pains and sufferings of humans in such circumstances, it was delivered in a surreal situation using entities that were not acknowledged to be real in some aspects – putting it in a magical context or the genre that is called magical realism.
Magical realism is regarded as an artistic genre usually being used in films and literature, where creators are using unusual elements such as mystical entities or even scenarios far from reality while it was told in a realistic setting.
Using such element is to convey the message that is more effectively executed by using entities that has some literary relevance, the message, and its characteristics. These are being considered for poetic license and aesthetic value of the text.
Although the term was initially coined by German art critic Franz Roh in his painting to point out an altered reality and in writing it was the Cuban Alejo Carpentier who formally claimed he used magical realism in his work, still Rulfo’s work had a major influence on the creation of the genre through his novel Pedro Paramo. In it he executed the story in a painting like narration, using first-person and third-person points of view.
Upon scrutinizing the text, Rulfo’s work is nevertheless a fiction especially using such elements but the realism and accuracy of the historic Mexican Revolution discussed as subtext is cannot be ignored. The novel is also regarded as the breakthrough of the “realists” trend of the novel during its contemporary, which was popular and at its peak during that period.
Dissecting the term, it can be explained as a combination of reality and fiction or a fantastical realm. Indeed this is how Pedro Paramo was executed, meeting both the essences of the genre.
Through the execution of the story, it is implying that the genre of magical realism is witnessing. Witnessing and aesthetically retelling the things it witnessed of the realities even how ugly those things are.
It is trying to be honest in relaying to the audience or readers the spinoff that embodies the real matter. The spinoff is the presentation of the genre. In this tale, it is the cultural struggle and human oppression during the Mexican Revolution – the death of Mexican people.
Magical realism will take the audience in the magical spinoff then it will bring back in reality. Just like Pedro Paramo’s statement in the novel “this death really hurt me, my shoulder still sore.”
The naturalism movement (the 1870s-1880s) was a reaction against realist literature. The main writers belonging to this movement are Abraham Cahan and Jack London, Stephen Crane, and Theodore Dreiser. Within this literary movement, a man can be explained in terms of the forces, usually heredity and environment, which operate upon him. American naturalism is a genre and not simply the reflection of a philosophical position as elements of the novels. Critics consistently assert that novels, in one way or another, fall short of, or from another perspective, fortunately, escape — the rigorous application of determinist principles.
The themes of naturalism include a characteristic opposition between human will and hereditary and environmental determinisms that both shape human beings and frustrate their desires. That opposition is also implicit in naturalism’s aesthetic and philosophical premises. However, this formulation is considerably more adequate than the idea that because of those premises, naturalism is or should be deterministic. Following Pizer (23), it is not the sheer content of a novel but the organization of its semantic field that establishes its possibilities for meaning. The idea of “fate,” for example, is operative both in Greek tragedy and in American naturalism, but it takes on a distinctive significance in each because it operates in different conceptual structures because it is opposed to different terms.
To put it another way: critics distinguish naturalism as a genre, not by the answers texts give to questions, not even by the questions they ask, but by the terms in which they ask those questions and the very kinds of questions that they can formulate. Human desire is one of those inscrutable forces, but it is also a response to beauty, a form of the passionate awe and longing that Dreiser depicts as the sensitive individual’s response to this universe. In a sense, Carrie (from Sister Carrie by Dreiser) is the victim of her desires, as she is drawn after first one object, then another. Yet, the peculiarly passive and dedicated pursuit of her dreams is also an exercise of will that draws her from one level of understanding to another and thus draws her closer to the realm of freedom. Carrie’s desiring disposition is the dominant attribute of her character, and it is constantly conveyed to the reader in descriptions of Carrie and in reports of her thoughts and actions (Walcutt 92).
The unique naturalist strategy consists of a group of devices for arranging essentially static material according to documentary logic. The strategy, decline or fatality, structures a narrative as the anatomy of progressive deterioration, also enables the construction of an intelligible series and, above all, catastrophic closure. These strategies for generating a narrative syntax complement the immanent ideology. There are other strategies as well (Pizer 65). When cast in narrative form, that gesture of control not only inscribes its own disruption but must coexist with heterogeneous and even contradictory materials derived from other genres. One principle of genre criticism is the inevitable articulation of different generic discourses in a specific text, and such generic discontinuities are particularly marked in this form. Naturalist novels frequently incorporate conventional elements from popular literary genres like the adventure story and the domestic novel and, in general, have a complex relation to mass culture.
Naturalism exists in constant dialogue with realism (Walcutt 94). Very often, plot and theme must be constructed from the separable units of the text; they still aspire toward a coherent, unified figure of action and significance. The profound yet partial, painful empathy that constantly distinguishes London’s stories itself manifests the characteristical naturalist tension between spectatorship and participation. Although this protean vulnerability emerges with particular force, ambivalent relations to some characters are already implied by the specter of proletarianization and the plot of decline (Pizer 51). This narrative strategy is based on biographical sequence — one of the most fundamental and powerful categories of storytelling –, and through the inexorable progress of deterioration and the inevitable disaster that closes, it quite successfully generates a consequent and coherent narrative. The tale of decline at once risks and rescues the reader, for it figures the fascinating, repellent possibility of a privileged character being swallowed up by brutality; yet the very fatality of the procedure always suggests that the character somehow inevitably belonged to the realm of forces and not the realm of freedom (Walcutt 98).
In naturalist novels, characters face both external and internal forces. They are thwarted by nature and by the man-made “second nature” of social forces. The typical characters are found in Sister Carrie, An American Tragedy and trilogy of Desire by Dreiser, the Red Badge of Courage and war in Kind by Crane, the Call of the Wild by Jack London. They find themselves struggling with their own natures, with the forces of instinct and heredity that embody nature within the very boundaries of the self (Perkins and Perkins 104). The social to invades the self is more properly a self-image and is the creature of the social. The characters’ freedom is assaulted by both nature and society, by both internal and external determining forces. Since the integrity of the self is so often precisely what is at stake, critics find that these categories are not finally separable (Pizer 92). Omniscience, after all, is not necessarily omnipotence; holding the personality intact does not ensure control over external as well as internal forces.
The inscrutable, overwhelming forces that “sweep through the universe” are manifested in physical and social obstacles. The protagonist’s pedigree qualifies him to represent both nature and culture. It enables us to see this collection of observations as elements of a coherent pattern of oppositions. The naturalist characters of the brute and the spectator follow from this characteristic conceptual register and provide us with categories for further exploration — moving past, but not abandoning, the notion of naturalism as pessimistic determinism (Walcutt 99). The characteristic conceptual opposition of novels — of the novels of this moment of naturalism — is an antinomy between human effort and determining forces, or, to put it another way, between the human and the brutal. The forces that press on them and the nature of their submission or resistance take different forms, but the choices characters make, and the chances that befall them assume meaning in these terms; the meaning and relations of these concepts are negotiated in terms of the stories it proves possible to tell about the paths characters. Naturalism distances readers from characters, its separation of free will and self-awareness from effective action, indeed prohibit the “direct involvement of characters in events” and “general social significance emerging in the unfolding of characters’ lives” that critics associates with realism (Pizer 77).
In sum, naturalism constantly strives for the plot. Indeed, it may achieve the correlation of plot and theme; “unity” is a vague enough term that in realism and naturalism alike, it can always be a matter for argument. Critics who claim that this or that novel by an author commonly considered a naturalist is actually realistic usually demonstrate only the novel’s congruence with their own norms and their ingenuity at selecting evidence and weaving an argument for a work’s unity; their claims are made at the expense of the distinctive formal qualities.
Works Cited
Perkins, G. Perkins, B. eds. The American Tradition in Literature, Volume 2. 11th Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill 2007.
Pizer, D. 7wentieth-Century American Literary Naturalism: An Interpretation. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1982.
Walcutt, Ch.CH. AmericanLiterary Naturalism, A Divided Stream Greenwood Press, 1973.
Written in 1905, Howell’s “Editha” describes the life of a young patriotic girl who attempts to reach a higher social rank in society by making her beloved to fight in a war. Featuring a middle-class protagonist, the author pictures an ordinary person, whose perspectives on life are formed by authoritative forces, political propaganda, and religion. With respect to literary movements, “Editha” is predominantly a Realist short story, incorporating several elements of Naturalism.
The short story contains a number of characteristics of Realism, such as the representation of real life, a focus on ordinary people, middle-class characters, interacting within themes of society and social classes. Despite having blind faith in her country, Editha is not a heroine. She sees war as a duty and an act of honor for an American, saying, “there are no two sides, anymore. There is nothing now but our country” (Howells 1444). Similarly, Editha’s lover, George, represents a Realist character, as he readily acknowledges his mistakes and understands that the prospective dangers of the war are equivalent to a death warrant. Nevertheless, ashamed to disappoint Editha and lose his sense of pride, George chooses love and self-dignity over passive safety.
Along with the Realist trends, “Editha” manifests several common characteristics of Naturalism, such as Howells’ pessimistic outlook on the war and social dynamics, influencing Editha’s and George’s behavior. From one perspective, George’s decision to go to the war is an honorable action. However, from the other angle, George is driven by natural instincts of pride to prove his manhood to Editha. Editha, in return, is reduced to act upon her basic instincts, failing to detach from the pressure of society when sharing her attitude toward the war. The story’s plot is filled with violence and corruption as extreme manifestations of Naturalism.
In conclusion, Howell’s “Editha” is a valuable piece of Realism, which includes all the essential components of this literary movement, such as the representation of reality, ordinary middle-class characters, and a focus on societal issues. However, in this case, the line between Realism and Naturalism is not sufficiently distinctive, since the story contains a pessimistic outlook and focuses on the basic natural instincts. Therefore, when analyzing the writing, it is critical to be aware of both literary perspectives.
Work Cited
Howells, William Dean. “Editha.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 6th ed., edited by Nina Baym, W.W. Norton, 2002, pp. 1441-1453.
In literature, realism is applied to the school of fiction writers describing life with utmost fidelity to fact and detail in opposition to romanticism or classicism. This tendency towards realism is common in modern writing and at different periods, but it became a definite school primarily due to French influence in the later part of the 19th century. This close analysis and stress on characterization is evident in Balzac and Stendahl, however it was Flaubert who surpassed them in “Madame Bovary”, his masterpiece. Flaubert’s achievement gave rise to works written by Goncourts, J.K. Huymans, de Maupassant, Zola and others. A heated controversy came up regarding the tendency of realistic writing to overstress what is corrupt and sordid; however their influence in the novel has become apparent and their detailed descriptions have lessened.
Background
English realism has been tempered by moderation. Representing periods of its growth are George Eliot, Meredith, George Moore, Hardy, Wells and Bennett. This change is evidenced in the importance put on detailed psychological analysis, as in the novels of James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson, Gorky, Cheknov, Strindberg, Sundermann, Couperons and Hamsum, typifying their respective countries. Corresponding tendencies in the drama are shown in the writings of Ibsen, Hamptman and Galsworthy. “In the United States, Wolfe, Hemingway and Faulkner are among the leading representatives of the modern school of realism.” (Groiler Encyclopedia, 1961: 279). This paper, hopefully will prove Howells, Twain, James, Crane and Norris, respectively prove how five American writers have been categorized as realists.
William Dean Howells
Our first realist, William Dean Howells (1837 – 1920) was an American man of letters born at Martin’s Ferry, Ohio on March 1, 1837. He was the son of William Cooper Howells, a newspaper proprietor. A compositor at his father’s printing office, he turned journalist with definite literary aims. He became consul at Venice, Editor of the Atlantic Monthly and Harper’s Magazine. He also worked for the New York Times and the Cosmopolitan Magazine.
In 1862, he wed Elinor G. Mead and died May 11, 1920 in New York. He served as president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters from the time it was founded until he died. His 70 works consist of poems, travel books, essays, plays and criticism. His first book was a campaign life of Lincoln and of his books Venetian Life and Italian Journeys are delightful transcripts of personal experience, which cannot otherwise be authentic. He was chosen Leader of the Realistic School in American Literature. His novels reflect analytically the life of his time, realistically, but in proper perspective. “He was a successful short-story (as adjudged by Editha), a penetrating critic and some of his poems reflect the qualities of his prose, which is consistently clear, compact, exact and felicitous. Several successful faces agreeably reflect his sweet and quiet humor.” (Groiler Encyclopedia, 1961: 30).
We now venture into Howell’s short story, Editha, which was first published in Harper’s Monthly in January of 1905. We hope to glean from it such qualities as will categorize it as realistic writing. To begin with, the setting of the story is the period circa the First World War, which occurred during Howells’ lifetime and Howells makes the reader believe the story actually happened, not just to the characters in the story, but also to many others. It is very clear even in the first paragraph how Howells’ pays attention to detail in his description of the setting. “The air was thick with the war feeling, like the electricity of a storm which had not yet burst. Editha sat looking out into the hot spring afternoon, with her lips parted, and panting with the intensity of the question whether she could let him go”
Lastly, the ending of the story isn’t what most romantics expect and desire. It ends with the sordidness of war. George gets killed and Editha fulfills her promise to him by going to visit his mother who fails to receive her with warmth. This is understandable and realistic since George’s mother cannot come to terms with the war as she and George’s father suffered greatly earlier war. But all’s well that ends well and the realistic approach is for the girl to pick up the pieces of her life and begin to live life again.
Mark Twain
Our next American writer of realism is Samuel Clemens more popularly known as Mark Twain. Born in Florida, Missouri, November 30, 1835, Clemens claimed descent on his mother’s side from the Lambtons of Durham, England and on his father’s side, from men who were pirates and slavers. He started life as a compositor. In 1851, he became a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi. From this life was derived his pen name “Mark Twain”, a leadsman’s cry meaning two fathoms. He started his writing career as a compositor. After working as a reporter in Virginia City, Nevada, he tried mining and journalism in San Francisco and visited the Sandwich Islands.
Paying great attention to detail but without exaggeration is part of Twains’ realistic style of writing. “Mart Twain loved the little town of Hannibal. It was tranquilly content, content as slave towns are in general. He remembered it as the white town drowsing in the sunshine of a summer morning… the great Mississippi, the magnificent Mississippi rolling its mile-wide tide along, shining in the sun, the dense forest away on the other side.” (Paine, 1912: n.p.). His book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is the story of an adventurous boyhood along the Mississippi. The realism here is that the account is much like the author’s own. The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a highly dramatic reflection of river life, and by common consent ranked as the author’s masterpiece. In 1907, Oxford University conferred on him the honorary degree, Doctor of Literature.
Still another proof of realism in Twain’s writing is this vivid representation of scenes in a letter to Will Bowen, a childhood friend: “The old life has swept before me like a panorama, the old life trooped by in their old glory again, the old faces have looked out of the mists of the past, old footsteps have sounded in my listening ears, old hands have clasped mine, old voices have greeted me and the songs I loved ages and ages ago have been wailing down the centuries.”(Cox, 1966: 78).
Henry James
Henry James (1843 – 1916) comes next. He was an Anglo-American novelist, born in New York. He was the son of Henry James, a well-known Swedenborgian. His older brother was William James. He studied law at Harvard, but early turned his attention to literature, at first in the form of short stories and contributions to periodicals.
James first sent Daisy Miller to the Philadelphia magazine Lippincotts, which rejected it on the basis of their belief that the portrayal of Daisy was “an outrage on American girlhood.” After extensive revisions, he succeeded in burying the unassuming simplicity of his early style under the mannerisms of the Master. The novelette was a great success. His fellow realist, William Dean Howells wrote to James Russell Lowell: “There has been a vast discussion in which nobody felt very deeply, and everybody talked very loudly. The thing went so far that society divided itself into Daily Millerites and anti-Daisy Millerites. I was glad for it for I hoped that in making James so thoroughly known, it would call attention to the beautiful work he had been doing for very few readers.” (Moore 1878: n.p.).
Moore’s introduction to the Penguin edition draws parallels between Daisy and Huck Finn written by fellow realist Mark Twain and Emerson’s concept of self-reliance. Moore says, “For us, the readers, it is Daisy who is on the side of the angels, and I am sure that James meant it to be so, despite the fact that he invoked poetic justice in consigning her to her doom for being such a wicked flouter of convention. If there is one abiding theme which runs through the American experience it is that men and women must have the courage to go it alone, setting their faces resolutely against what they see as arbitrary and outmoded rules and regulations. The relating of this experience is definitely part of James being a realist.
Moore concluded by saying that in Daisy Miller, there is the seed of what we are to find in full bloom at the end of James’ career… the pitting of values of America against those of Europe. The reason Daisy has nothing in common with her fellow Americans in Rome is because they subscribe to the European way of looking at life, a way which so many of James’ novels reveal to be shallow, superficial and cynical. Daisy is honest, fresh and open.
The consensus of opinion regarding naturalism is that it is a sub-genre of realism. All naturalists are also realists; but not all realists are naturalists. The naturalists we shall touch upon are Frank Norris and Stephen Crane. Naturalism has been defined as “the doctrine that there is no interference of any supernatural power in the universe.” (Haddock, n.d.).
Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane (1871 – 1900), American writer was born in Newark, N.J. In 1890 he moved to New York City to do intermittent reporting for the Herald and Tribune. His first book, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, picturing life in the slums, was hailed as the first naturalistic novel of the U.S. In 1895 appeared, The Red Badge of Courage, Crane’s great realistic study of ordinary men amidst the storm and tumult of war. It was an instant success.
“Attention turned to Maggie and Crane’s reputation was established. In 1896, from experiences gained when he suffered shipwreck, he wrote The Open Boat, best know short stories. In 1899, he went to live in England where he died in 1900.”(Groiler Encyclopedia, 1961: 203)
Stephen Crane’s The Open Boat is characteristically realistic writing since it endeavors to describe life as it actually happened. It is also naturalism in that it involves the characters’ singular experience in their struggle against nature. The Open Boat is a fictionalized account of a very traumatic personal experience in Crane’s life: a ship on which he was a passenger sank off the coast of Florida, and he found himself one of four men in a tiny open dinghy, struggling to make it through a narrow strip of rough sea and pounding surf that separated them from dry land.
Many sailors or those who travel sea have, at one time or another, undergone a shipwreck experience, but what makes Crane’s narrative naturalist writing is that it accentuates the gulf between an objective journalistic rendering of going down with a ship and the only way to convey the full horror of this experience. In addition to vivid language, Crane uses carefully chosen anecdotes to make the situation seem harrowing.
Frank Norris
Frank Norris (1870 – 1902), an American novelist was born in Chicago and educated in Paris, at Harvard and at the University of California. He was war correspondent in South Africa for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1896. He was editor of the San Francisco Wave in 1807. “The powerful realistic Mc. Teague, 1899, was his first novel to attract attention. His uncompleted trilogy, The Epic of the Wheat is generally considered his greatest work. In some ways, his writing seems to have been influenced by the French author, Alphonse Daudet.” (Groiler Encyclopedia, 1961: 73).
A Deal in Wheat by Norris has its protagonist in Sam Lewiston. The setting of the story is factual – a ranch in southwestern Kansas. Lewiston and his wife were two of a vast population of farmers, wheat growers who at that moment were passing through a crisis – a crisis that at any moment might culminate in tragedy. Unable to conduct his farm upon a paying basis at the time when Truslow, the “Great Bear” had sent the price of grain down to sixty-two cents a bushel, Lewiston had turned over his entire property to his creditors and left Kansas for good.
Norris’ account is the singular one – the only one of all the men who has struggled up to the surface again. How many others had gone down in the great ebb? Grim question, he dared not think how many. There were countless ones like Sam who were victims of a great wheat operation – a battle between Bear and Bull. What makes the story an exercise in naturalism is that although there were many who suffered just like Sam, it was only he who made it – who survived, perhaps by hard work or a streak of good luck.
Conclusion
After an extended analysis of the above-mentioned authors known to be American realists, it is not easy to come up with an original definition of American realism. Realism in American literature is a style of fiction writing influenced by the French in which life is described with strict fidelity to fact and detail. Naturalism, on the other hand is a sub-genre of American which involves the character/ characters’ singular struggle against the forces of war, nature and the like. Although there are a lot of similarities between American realism and European realism, from which it originated, the former puts a stress on that which is optimistic and aesthetic, reflecting the American way of viewing life.
References
Barnhart, C.E. (ed) (1959) The American College Encyclopedic Dictionary (Vols I and II). Chicago: Spencer Press Inc.
Cox, J. (1966) Mark Twain: The Fate of Humor. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Groiler Encyclopedia. (1961) New York: Groiler International.
Haddock, P. (Pub) (n.d.) The Concise English Dictionary. USSR: Blackie and Son.
Moore, G. in James, H. (1878) Daisy Miller, A Study in Two Parts. New York: Harper and Brothers. 2007. Web.
Paine, A.B. (1912) Mark Twain, A Biography. New York: Harper and Brothers.
The nineteenth-century gave rise to realistic and symbolic movements that were still closely intertwined with visions creating more ambiguity and ambivalence. Based primarily on the true story, Flaubert’s Madame Bovary was often considered as an example of a romantic novel because of the protagonist’s delusion outlooks on life, relations, and attitudes to people. However, the story is also seen as a realistic representation because the author resorts to representing romantic delusions that prevent the main heroine from living in a grim reality. Thus, this essay shall analyze realism in Madame Bovary and the symbols used by the author.
In this regard, romanticism is heavily attacked by verisimilitude and disappointment that were experienced by Emma Bovary in her attempts to build an imaginary world full of passion, emotion, and beauty (Flaubert 1033). The author focuses on character development to disclose the ambivalence of the plot and provides realistic details becoming symbolic in light of the romantic recession.
The character development in the story is presented through Emma’s realization of the imperfection of the world. She lives in a false reality that prevails in her imagination, disclosed through cultural modes of visions. The heroine is incapable of distinguishing between the fantasy and reality, past and present; she also has a false imagination about the man. Therefore, the author makes use of realism to make Emma realize that the world is not a romantic fable; it is overwhelmed with problems and routines (Thornton 982).
Viewing the tragedy novel as a confrontation between romanticism and realism, the story, on the other hand, provides a romantic and illusionary world created by Emma Bovary to detach herself from reality. On the other hand, psychological realism still dominates in the novel because all dreams and utmost expectations are shattered in the end. The world surrounding the heroine is realistic because reason takes control of emotion. In this respect, Emma’s particular visions dictated by her cultural background prevents her from accepting real life.
Although Madame Bovary as a realistic novel is widely recognized, Flaubert’s quest of distortions and illusions lead to the idea that the work itself is a protest against the dullness of the existence. Such an apposition generates more deliberations on the nature of the novel’s ideas and insights (Doering 80). Flaubert’s deep contempt for reality does not allow him to be detached and indifferent enough for expressing aesthetic distance.
The writer’s vacillation between pretentious objectivity and passionate subjectivity prevents him from disclosing his full affiliation to the realistic tendencies of the nineteenth century (Doering 80). Hence, the heroine is more obsessed with her romantic adventures. As is clear from the summary, her aspiration to go beyond the established reality is impossible because the frames within she lives do not allow her to turn her imaginary world into the truth.
While reflecting on the essence of Flaubert’s ideas, Doering states that “the romantic proclamation of the individual’s right to happiness proved illusory because for him happiness itself proved to be an illusion” (79). This melancholy later turned into pessimism and realization of moral solitude, as the writer is aware that real life has no meaning. Despite the mentioned instances of romanticism in Madame Bovary, the novel still proclaims that this movement was gradually suppressed by realistic waves.
In the novel, the writer also oversees a significant literary dimension through the display of realistic details. Even though Flaubert the master of realism, he still refers to reality as to the point of departure for the creator. While striving to render the beauty of the ideal world, the writer also makes use of realistic details to initiate the reader into metaphoric and romantic dimensions of the concealed world created by Madame Bovary.
Her false visions are explicitly represented through realistic precision, providing a ground for symbolism that forms the essence of the novel’s themes (Black 177). Hence, the main heroine’s hidden world is full of passion, emotion; it is too ideal for reality, but it makes Emma be protected from the boredom and existentialistic tendencies of the nineteenth century’s society.
At the same time, the ideal she creates does not fill in her life with sense because she is a constant and desperate search of the unknown, of something that does not exist.
In conclusion, it can be stated that, although the author has introduced notes of romanticism in the novel, the core of work is still focused on the rise of realistic tendencies that suppress any displays of passion, emotion, and beauty. Therefore, Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary is an example of the realism genre.The proclamation of the reason is still accompanied by the author’s rigid confrontation with the reality that does not provide people with the right to be happy and independent in making decisions. Thus, this can be viewed as the main evidence of realism in Madame Bovary.
More importantly, the established ambivalence makes the novel even more realistic and compelling as it contributes to a better understanding of why the era of romanticism was suppressed. Making use of metaphorical dimensions and resorting to the description of realistic details, Flaubert creates a harmonic tandem where romantic spirits serve to render the symbolism of Madame Bovary’s plot as well as the author’s disappointment with the advent of the realism.
Works Cited
Black, L. C. “Madame Bovary”: The Artist and the Ideal. College Literature. 12.2 (1985), pp. 176-183
Doering, Bernard. Madame Bovary and Flaubert’s Romanticism. College Literature. 8.1 (1981): pp. 1-11.
Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. In The Norton Anthology: Western Literature Volume 2. Ed. Sara Lawall. US: W W Norton. Web.
International relations theorists suggest that realism and neo-realism are both theories that best explain international relations due to their principles which are based on dominance and self- help systems. The book entitled Theory of International Politics by Kenneth Walts defines neo-realism as international relations based on anarchy and capacity distribution.
On the other hand, realism denotes that political power is the central component in all matters related to politics. It is imperative to point out that while both express politics and realpolitik, an exercise of power or principle by a state differentiates the two aspects since they are controlled by competitive self-interest.
One of the key differences between classical realism and neo-realism is their influence that causes conflicts in international relations. The emphasis laid by classical realism is that states are power-seeking units. Thucydides asserts that states are self-interested units. Unlike realism, which is based on power that has the potential to influence other people, nations or groups, classical neo-realism is based on unchanging nature.
Realism points out that power is based on characteristics that can be tangible or intangible, and can emanate from the use of the armed forces, level of income, and the size of a state. It further indicates that power can be based on non-material elements such as influence that may depend on popular support, diplomatic skills and national will.
This also works well under nationalism, ideology, religion and domestic mobilization. Internationally, power is gained by forming rules and sharing them among states. Conversely, neo-realism views the state of anarchy as a source of conflict in international relations. Besides anarchy, states may develop self-help systems of power in the absence of an overarching authority.
Moreover, realism theory is based on the belief that states form the key actors in international politics and are therefore the highest levels of authorities in the globe. Consequently, they form the main center of power which is exercised for survival in the international arena.
Realism is considered as a major struggle for power largely for raw materials and consolidation of markets. This model differs from the neo-realism’s view, which acknowledges the existence of top institutions or authorities that control means of production either at the local or international level.
Prospects for international cooperation
The thought-provoking analysis of John Mearsheimer, Stephen Walt, and Robert Jervis on the need for international cooperation indicates that states have lived in restrictive structures whereby their values and demands have been strictly dictated by the norms and conservative beliefs.
Arguably, these systems have directly or indirectly been structured in political leaderships that predetermined their extent of expression and mode of application.
However, the need for international cooperation curves the necessary autonomy, where expression of the communities and contributions from individuals becomes unlimited. International cooperation will ensure that decisions will slowly but surely shift from a central consideration to the extended boundaries of a community.
According to John Mearsheimer, modern systems offer the best platforms for the establishment of communities based on different interests such as economic development, recreation demands, leadership, and advocacy, among others.
Old mechanistic system of power and dominance should be reformed since this does not merely reduce their holistic inclusion through creative contribution. It also impedes their overall growth and development. Economic integration is an important prospect that is critical in strengthening a region and subsequent development by securing free trade area.
Written by Nikolai Ostravasky, How the Steel was tampered is a captivating socialist realist piece that reflects the picture and position of the literary world in the former Soviet Union and other socialist states around the world. The socialist philosophy around the world was based on a philosophy that was meant to glorify the position of the masses that were referred to as the working and the ruling classes, which were made up mostly of the military.
Socialism was based on brainwashing of the masses by feeding their minds on information that the state wanted them to know. In this way, the state would control everything that happened around its people. In essence, socialism controlled the freedoms of people in the nations it was practiced as the mode of governance. The purpose of socialist realism was to advance the goals of socialism and communism by controlling what was being disseminated to the masses at all levels.
This strategy too was applied to the literary world to the extent that all literary works produced had to conform to the guidelines set up by the socialist order. The book by Ostravasky confirms the same. Therefore, as the paper reveals, the book has demonstrated a great deal of relationship with Chinese fictional works such as Talks at the Yenan Forum and On the Revolution of Peking Opera based on the evident effect it has had on the two mentioned Chinese works.
How the Steel was tampered vs. Talks at the Yenan Forum
The article Talks at the Yenan Forum presents a round-table held in May 2nd 1942 to review the way literature works were being produced and if they were conforming to socialist realism.
As the reader would find out from the paper on the proceedings at the Yenan forum, there is a talk of liberating the Chinese people using all fronts. One front is the gun while the other front is the use of the pen meaning that the forum was emphasizing the use of literature to perpetuate the socialist agenda as well as to control the content of literature being produced.
The second page of the forum document talks of “the need to fit literature and art in the whole revolution machine” (Tse-tung Para. 2). When compared to the book How the Steel was tampered, one finds that the author of the book has followed a certain line of thought that is found to be highlighting the achievements of the socialist government. Although the talks of the forum were held in China, China and the Soviet Union were both socialist republics that were guided by the same tenets.
The socialist philosophy called for loyalty to the revolution asking people to give their lives to the service of the revolution. This issue can be found in the first part of Ostravasky’s work that describes his time as a young Bolshevik and the dedication he had to the revolution that, even through ill health, he never left his position lest he was invalidated from the movement.
This effort shows how socialist realism had taken root in the nations that had socialism as their political system. Ostravasky’s loyalty highlights the extreme effects of indoctrination and the expectations that all people felt they had to meet as a duty. Therefore Ostravasky went ahead to write his book extolling the achievements of Bolsheviks besides demonizing all the other groups that were associated with the bojeours.
Comparing the reasons that made Ostravasky take a pen and paper and the agenda of the Yenan talks, they both have the same agenda. The only difference was the timing. It can be assumed that Ostravasky’s book was the guide or inspiration to the socialist republics to use literature as well to advance their agenda. The Yenan forum discusses how to use the pen as a weapon for advancement of the socialist agenda (Tse-tung Para. 8).
The Yenan forum just as the book encourages writers who are writing for the socialist party to protect the interests of the party and in so doing to praise the revolutionaries both in the active as well past revolutionaries. The forum has been quoted as encouraging socialist writers to be critical of those who leave the service.
The paper cites Japan as the imperialist enemy that should be fought along all fronts especially when it calls for praising and extolling those serving in the army. It also calls for the criticism of those not serving in the army against their enemies (Tse-tung 9).
Ostravasky fights people with imperialist ideas as well as those harboring bourgeois thoughts when he depicts them in the negative in his book. He views the food merchants in the train as self-seekers who are out to exploit the hardworking masses. This similarity can also be found in the Yenan forum where some members who are believed to harbor bourgeois ideas are discussed. The forum encourages that they should be educated to make them firm members of the cause that is the socialist movement.
The socialist realists employed the use of education in indoctrinating their people on how to live a socialist life. The book by Ostravasky paints a picture of a young man dedicated to the cause of his nation who has appointed himself the custodian of the people’s wealth as produced by the people. This kind of literature that the Yenan forum is based on is encouraging for development.
The Yenan forum discusses the development of content for writers so that their writing conforms to the expectations and wishes of the socialist government. The forum presents the literary productions of writers that it finds lacking in what can be described as socialist agenda. It finds that the writers are not conversant with their audience. In this case, the audience is the army, the masses, and the working class. The forum therefore works towards describing who the audience is and or what kind of content should be fed to the audience.
Comparing the forum’s discussion with Ostravasky’s work, a conclusion that can be drawn is that the forum tended to follow on what Ostravasky had done before them and that the forum was intended to come up with a standard that other writers can follow and emulate Ostravasky’s work.
Ostravasky and the forum have a common purpose in indoctrinating the socialist movement’s tenets in the readers of literary work. The only difference is that Ostravasky had already come up with that work while the forum was intended on creating other workers like those of Ostravasky.
How the Steel was tampered vs. On the Revolution of Peking Opera
On the Revolution of Peking Opera is one of the largest Operas in China, which is known to show some of the best performances thus attracting the high and mighty of society. In China, the communist party is the single political party governing the whole country. Members of the party’s politburo are actually the leaders of the country because they are the decision makers for the whole country. Opera performances are usually based on different themes that the production is meant to portray to a certain audience.
Therefore, a part of the Opera Peking audience was the upper class of society, which was composed of the military and working class. The Peking Opera usually produced foreign themed plays or ones based on ancient Chinese society. As the socialist government was in place, it had failed to produce plays that seemed relevant to the current political philosophy. The paper by Chiang Ching evaluates the productions at the theatre and comments on whether they met the expectations of the Socialist government.
Excerpts from the paper by Ching ask why the opera should not or is not producing socialist themed plays and yet the country is a socialist state. Comparing the paper by Ching and the book by Ostravasky, there are great similarities in what Ching is asking for and what Ostravasky produced. The book by Ostravasky was produced back in the 1930s while the paper by Ching was written in the 1960s. Therefore, the paper by Ching can be said to be guided by the book by Ostravasky.
One common theme that comes out of both works is the theme of socialist realism that is being perpetuated by both writers. “It is inconceivable that, in our socialist country led by the Communist Party, the dominant position on the stage is not occupied by the workers, peasants, and soldiers” (Ching 1).
The socialist government of China expects the position that the socialist point should be advanced by all sectors of society. Therefore, as Ching expects that the opera should produce themes that praise and highlight the achievements of the socialist government and not just life before the socialist government. Therefore, the socialist government on its part has taken literature as a tool for advancing its socialist agenda.
By so doing, it has come up with a way that will guide producers on the kind of content to produce. The book by Ostravasky demonstrates one of the ways socialist governments have used literature to advance their agenda. The book paints the socialist life in a very positive way. It is a kind of recommendation on how to live as a socialist as well as in a socialist environment.
The main character Pavel is painted as a person who has given his whole self to serve the nation in different positions not as a choice but as an obligation that a citizen should have for their country (Ostravasky 256). The two works have common ground that brings them together. Both authors show their disdain for bourgeois when Pavel as a government worker in the train views the food merchants in the negative because of their capitalist nature.
The paper by Ching paints a picture of millions of peasant workers and a hand full of capitalist-minded citizens when he says, “Whereas there is only a handful of landlords, rich peasants, counterrevolutionaries, bad elements, Rightists, and bourgeois elements….Shall we serve this handful, or the 600 million” (4).
This kind of question incites the mind to think hard in terms of what is best for the nation. It is a way the author has used to encapsulate the need for fashioning the productions of the theatre to conform to the socialist agenda. The paper by Ching insists on the production of contemporary socialist themes meaning that the socialist-themed productions should be within fifteen or so years as a way of showing the recent achievements of the socialist government.
The two authors have one common background: they originate from countries with socialist forms of governments, which are Russia and China. They tend to be extreme in their socialism practices. Therefore, the use of literature and literary performances to advance the socialist agenda in this case is part of socialist realism (Castillo 41).
The language used in both works talks about the revolution, masses, workers, military, and comrades. Both writers use this language of revolutionaries in expressing their revolutionary perspectives. The paper by Ching aims to present the achievements of the revolution. He recommends that, other than contemporary themed socialist plays, the opera should also produce plays based on the lives of the citizens before the revolution happened as a way of showing people the difference that the revolution has brought in their lives.
A common factor here is the control of theatre productions by the government so that all themes that come out of the theatre should be pro socialist. Therefore, the socialist governments are bended on controlling literary productions as a way of managing the kind of information and knowledge that is disseminated to people. It is a way of limiting liberal minds that come with literature.
How the Book affected Chinese Literature
Social realism as described in the previous paragraphs was meant to perpetuate the socialist philosophy in the countries where socialism was the main type of governance. Most socialist states in the world have so far collapsed. They have embraced capitalism as a way of governance. Social realism was achieved in many ways in the pursuit of indoctrinating the citizens of socialist states.
Some of the ways included making socialism teachings part of the school curriculum, allowing only socialist themed songs to play on the state radio, which would be the only radio stations or television stations available and having newspapers publish socialist news only. China is one country that up to date has held on to its socialist philosophy. Its rigidity in refusing to change has affected almost all parts of its systems. One of the most affected is literature.
Reading Ching’s work, one finds that, due to the government policy of perpetuating socialist realism, the Chinese literature has been forced to conform to certain conditions in terms of the themes it can produce or sell to the masses. Chinese literature has been forced to be pro socialism therefore meaning that all the themes that are to be found in the literature have to conform to certain government standards for such literature to be published and sold in China.
Most of the Chinese literature works therefore have been found to be full of praise for the revolution and the achievements it has brought to the nation. The literature is also pro government because any form of criticism towards the government is not tolerable thus limiting the creativity of writers and other producers in that they have been forced to have a tunnel vision in the production of their work with themes already set.
The setting of themes by the government or the limiting of the themes to be chosen from by the government has made Chinese literature too predictable because the main themes that will tend to come out of the work would be politics, social life, and lots of praise for the socialist government. This praise comes with criticism for the perceived enemies who are bashed in the work by the writers.
Chinese literature has suffered from socialist realism because, in the quest of the government controlling any form of information being disseminated, the literary world has been muffled completely. The only form of liberal Chinese literature comes from exiled Chinese living abroad who have had to move out of China to have free space to express them. As Yang posits, Chinese literature comes out as full of revolutionary stories and the achievements made by the revolution (4).
They can be described in essence as full of legends in the form of revolution heroes who gave their full efforts for the sake of the nation. The other bit of the Chinese literature that comes out because of social realism is the one about Chinese legends in ancient China because such types of literature pose no harm to the socialist government. They have thus been encouraged as a way of deviating the reader’s attention towards other sensitive subjects.
Chinese literature has therefore suffered massive censorship from the government. It has been limited for a long time in terms of the themes to be produced, which people can access. On the other hand, Chinese literature produced by the Chinese against the wishes of their government has been found to be too critical towards the government system. The themes around such works have been anti socialism and the ills that such systems have brought to its own people.
Liberal Chinese literature beyond socialist realism has seen most Chinese writers act as a watchdog to the ills that the government has committed or to the policies of the government that hurt the people. Castillo indicates that most Chinese literary works outside social realism dwell on such issues as corruption within the ranks of the socialist party as well as on such policies like the one-child-policy (45).
Most writers have dwelt on the steps the government takes to enforce the one-child-policy on its people. This strategy still gives the Chinese literature a tunnel view in that one can easily predict what to find within works by writers because most Chinese writings other than poetry fall on either sides of the divide, which is either criticism of the system or pro system.
Socialist realism has seen the Chinese society produce a whole load of writers and literary performers trained specifically to work for the socialist cause and who have a duty in using literature to advance the socialist cause in an artistic way simply. The Chinese government intends to exercise total control on any form of information its people are meant to receive.
Conclusion
Socialist realism has seen the socialist states come up with a cadre of pro socialist literary producers who have become experts in their field of advancing socialist literary works and arts (Castillo 36). This case has affected the independence of mind that such producers would have. Being limited to just specific fields has greatly affected the quality of the works to be produced.
On the other hand, it has led to the coming up of critical writers opposed to the system who can be described as gifted writers based on the way they have brought out their work and the way they have executed their themes. Therefore, socialist realism can be seen on both the positive and the negative.
Works Cited
Castillo, Greg. “Soviet Orientalism: Socialist Realism and Built Tradition.” TDSR 8.11(1997): 33-47. Print.
Ching, Chiang. On the Revolution of Peking Opera. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1968. Print.
Ostravasky, Nikolai. How the Steel was Tampered. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1952. Print.
Yang, Zhou. The Path of Socialist Literature and Art in China. Report Delivered to the third Congress of Chinese Literary and Art Workers. Peking: Peking Foreign Languages Press, 1960. Print.