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The Cambridge introduction to American literary realism [electronic resource] / Phillip J. Barrish.
Material type:
TextSeries: Cambridge introductions to literaturePublication details: Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.Description: xii, 225 p. : illSubject(s): - American fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism
- American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism
- Literature and society -- United States -- History -- 19th century
- Literature and society -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- Realism in literature
- Popular literature -- United States -- History and criticism
- National characteristics, American, in literature
- 810.9/1209034 23
- PS374.R32 B37 2011
Contents:
Summary: "Between the Civil War and the First World War, realism was the most prominent form of American fiction. Realist writers of the period include some of America's greatest, such as Henry James, Edith Wharton and Mark Twain, but also many lesser-known writers whose work still speaks to us today, for instance Charles Chesnutt, Zitkala-Ša and Sarah Orne Jewett. Emphasizing realism's historical context, this introduction traces the genre's relationship with powerful, often violent, social conflicts involving race, gender, class and national origin. It also examines how the realist style was created; the necessarily ambiguous relationship between realism produced on the page and reality outside the book; and the different, often contradictory, forms 'realism' took in literary works by different authors. The most accessible yet sophisticated account of American literary realism currently available, this volume will be of great value to students, teachers and readers of the American novel"-- Provided by publisher.
Machine generated contents note: Introduction: American literary realism; 1. Literary precursors, literary contexts; 2. The 'look of agony' and everyday middle-class life: three transitional works; 3. Creating the 'odor' of the real: techniques of realism; 4. Conflicting manners: high realism and social competition; 5. 'Democracy in literature'? Literary regionalism; 6. 'The blab of the pave': realism and the city; 7. Crisis of agency: literary naturalism, the changing economy, and 'masculinity'; 8. 'Certain facts of life': realism and feminism; 9. 'The unjust spirit of caste': race and realism; 10. New Americans write realism; Conclusion: realisms after realism; Further reading; Index.
