American Realism1850-1900

Lit Book Pg. 410

The Civil War (1861-1865):• April 1861: Confederate attack

on Fort Sumter, opening shots of Civil War

• Deadliest conflict in American history (more American lives lost than in all other wars– combined)

• Destroyed American lives, property, and sense of identity

Writers & Thinkers Respond to the War: • Optimism (Whitman & Emerson)– Many had optimistic and idealistic

response to war– Saw it as just and inevitable

(abolition of slavery)– Filled with patriotic pride

• Pessimism (Melville)– Others were disillusioned by war

and its effects– Their writing examined humanity’s

basic evil

The War in Literature:• Very little literary output• Most major American writers did not see the

war first hand (at home, abroad, or dead)• Whitman, a hospital volunteer, was one of the

few who witnessed it first hand• Traditional literary forms not sufficient to

express horrors of war• “Realistic novel” not developed yet

Realism:• Began in Europe• Portrays real life objectively and

accurately—not romanticized or idealized

• Focuses on a wide range of ordinary subjects

• Attempts to explain why people behave the way they do

• Dependent on new social sciences (psychology, sociology) and on biology

Psychological Fiction:• Psychological novel focuses on character

motivation• Exploration of complex social and

psychological situations• Behavior in the midst of stressRegionalism:• Focuses on a particular

geographical region of the country (including speech, culture, etc.)

Ironists:• Juxtaposing human pretensions (arrogance)

with the indifference of the universe

A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!"“However,” replied the universe, “The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation.” - Stephen Crane