The Rise of Realism:Civil War and Postwar Writing

1850-1900

Influential Writers• Whitman:– One of the few writers who witnessed the war first

hand (worked in hospital)– Optimistic and idealistic response to war

• Emerson– Patriotic and idealistic response

• Melville– Disillusioned by war: changed his perspective on man

and innocence– Examined humanity’s basic evil

Literature during the war

• Very little publication of literature• Many writers didn’t write from first-hand

experience, but all were effected• Needed new types/forms of literature to

express horror of war

Realist writers

• Specific truths about common experiences.• Represented environment and life experiences

accurately.• Explained human behavior (why we do what

we do)• Dependent on social sciences (psychology and

sociology) and biology

Contrast with Romanticism

• Accurate portrayal in real settings (vs. exotic locales)

• Objective without idealism (vs. escapism)• Focus on ordinary life (vs.

extraordinary/spiritual)• Incorporation of psychology and irony (vs.

emphasis on God in nature)

Regionalism

• One type of realist writing• Emphasized specific geographic

location/setting• Accurately portrayed dialogue and behavior of

people from that region (written the way people spoke)

Naturalism

• Type of realist writing• Characters w/limited choices, subject to

natural law of universe• Focus on social questions and reform• Man vs. Nature, the fragility of man and life

Psychological Fiction

• Type of realist writing• Focused on character motivation (why we do

what we do)• Explored social and psychological situations –

impact of stress, grief, extreme situations, etc.

Ironists

• Contemplated man’s place in the universe• Human arrogance vs. vastness/indifference of

the universe