The importance of realism and naturalism in American Literature

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Realism and Naturalism in American Literature

In American literature, realism is a literary technique that shows the realities in life while naturalism on the other hand attempts to apply scientific analysis and detachment in its study of human beings. In the Norton anthology of American literature, the editor discusses the role of these two literary techniques in America’s history. In the period 1865-1920 the United States experienced high industrialization rates. The innovation of the telegraph, telephone and electricity accelerated economic growth.

Furthermore the completion of the railway in 1869 enabled businessmen to come and exploit the land for gold and other minerals. There was a high inflow of workers from Europe coming to look for work. The development however brought serious consequences. With the rapid increase in population the people needed more land and territory. The ordinary people could not protect themselves from the mighty and wealthy.

The railway company stole land from the natives. It also shrewdly eliminated other competition and became a monopoly. Other industries like steel and oil were also in the hands of a few wealthy and powerful men. Working conditions and pay for workers was poor as the monopolies had all the power. The corrupt government turned a blind eye to the actions of these monopolies.

With the increase of populations in cities there arose new publishing opportunities through several newspapers. The marginalized and under-represented people had a voice now to speak out. The writers spoke out against social injustices and inequalities due to the rapid industrialization. These were writers who had the courage to speak up. The editor of the anthology stresses the importance of realism in this period since several social issues were spoken of boldly.

These were the issues of the railroad monopoly that took the land of small farmers and the corruption of government officials. Helen Hunt Jackson spoke of the US injustices against Native Americans, Charlotte Perkins Gilman spoke of wealth and human rights and Thorsten Veblen spoke of the greediness of the extremely wealthy businesses. These writers affected the sociology, philosophy, and economy of the people. There were also writers who spoke against racial injustices.

These issues were highly challenging causing the authors to turn to aesthetic realism where they used descriptive and colorful language to represent life as it was. It was known as local color writing where dialects, social relationships and the current natural environments were depicted in their novels. Mark Twain is an example of this generation of authors who showed the vernacular dialects and added humor. This caused the readers to sympathize with the characters. American naturalism came later.

It was a continuation of realism but with a detailed focus on the lower class and marginalized communities who had bleak chances of survival while realism focused on middleclass and upper class. It was more logical than realism. Naturalism was different though in a scientific and deterministic approach. This literal technique was highly influenced by Charles Darwin book, Origin of species that spoke of survival of the fittest (Baym, 2007, p 7).

These writers for example Frank Norris and Stephen Crane attempted to show life scientifically. The characters in the novels lived in an environment with chance occurrences and the strong people usually victimized the weak. The situation was very tough and the characters lacked the intellect and resources to overcome adversity. The characters had to join forces to survive against the tough environment. At the end of the day the novels still worked towards providing social solutions.

Reference List

Baym, N. (2007). The Norton Anthology of American Literature. (7^th Ed, Volume C). New York, NY: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.

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The importance of realism and naturalism in American Literature

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