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Realism and Regionalism - Coggle Diagram
Realism and Regionalism
Postwar period
The Civil War (1861-1865) marks a historical- political dividing line in U.S. history --> historians have described it as a second foundational moment
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ended slavery in the United States in 1865 and freed 4 million African Americans
equal participation in the U.S. was still a far ways off for most African Americans and other (ethnic) minorities
the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s granted African Americans equal rights under the law but racism and the legacies of slavery continue to impact the U.S. to this day
Social and economic developments also triggered far-reaching changes
- new immigrants
- industrial growth
- urbanization
- ethnic tensions
The so-called Gilded Age witnessed a rise in wealth and materialism as well as technological innovations and the rapidly expanding railroad system that encouraged the expansion of national markets
cultural, racial, religious, and economic inequalities were rising and became more obvious --> dire working conditions for many, child labor, poverty, and the exploitation of workers became widespread
The term "gilded age" draws attention to the veneer of incredible prosperity and that which remains hidden underneath
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Realism
The term realism suggests a fidelity to reality, an imitation (or mimesis) of something found in "real" life. The term verisimilitude is also key in this context: It denotes the appearance or semblance of truth or reality, the quality of seeming true.
What creates this impression of a semblance to reality is, first and foremost, an adherence to natural laws, culturally accepted knowledge, and representational conventions --> "realism" in literature is a literary convention for representing reality that we judge on the basis of other conventions defining reality.
characteristics of literary realism: its rejection of metaphysical explanations of world (e.g. religion) and its emphasis on empirical knowledge, which can best be gained by experience and/or observation
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Regionalism
Regionalism is best regarded as a special mode or sub-type of realist fiction. It focuses on the customs and manners of a specific place or region in the U.S.
This interest in regional character and social changes became pronounced after the Civil War, perhaps as a reaction to the increased accessibility of far-away regions, but also to the perceived threat that such accessibility might lead to a loss of local manners and specificities.
It is here focused on the regional idiosyncrasies of character and customs. This also includes the idiosyncrasies of language: the use of dialect forms and the vernacular are common in regionalist fiction.
Regionalist fiction is often episodic: the sketch, the short story, and the tall tale are genres that are often used by regionalist writers
Learning processes are also frequent in regionalist fiction. If such a process is depicted, it is often triggered by an outsider figure who is new to the region. The new environment, in turn, challenges and tests this outsider's mainstream norms and values.
At times, local manners and idiosyncrasies are depicted in a humorous or nostalgic manner. If so, scholars tend to speak of local color fiction rather than regionalist fiction.
One reason that regional and local color fiction is especially significant to U.S. literary history is that it provided a venue for authors who were placed far away from the literary and cultural centers of the time --> it therefore helps to bring the ethnic and regional diversity