The document discusses the literary movement of regionalism and realism in the U.S. between 1880-1910, highlighting the shift from romanticism to a focus on authentic life experiences and the representation of distinct regional traits. It explores key figures in realism such as Honore de Balzac and American authors like Kate Chopin, who depicted the complexities of society and individual struggles, while also noting the impact of naturalism influenced by Darwinism. The text emphasizes the movement's broader effects on various forms of media and its role in reshaping American literature through candid portrayals of life.

1. M S . Y A E G E R
Regionalism and Realism
1880-1910

2. Literary Movement
 Post Civil War
 U.S rapidly changing
 Writers turn away from Romanticism
 Life as they saw it, not imagined
 Regionalism- the color movement
 Writers portrayed distinct traits of parts of the U.S
 Naturalism- later, more extreme
 Scientific objectivity the effects of environment and heredity
on character
 Darwinism

3. Areas of Study
 Realism
 Regionalism
 Naturalism
 Regionalism and Naturalism-subsections of Realism

4. Realism
 Honore’ de Balzac- father of Realism
 The Human Comedy
 90 novels-detail the panorama of French society
 Focused his work on all social levels
 Focused on the “faithful representation of reality”
 Believed the individual was simply a person
 Think of realists as almost pessimists

5. European Realism Leaders
 Gustave Faubert
 Leo Tolstoy
 George Eliot
 Charles Dickens
 All examined the psychology of human behavior

6. Realism
 European novelists examined the psychology of
human behavior
 Created characters who struggle w/ problems
readers could recognize
 U.S Realism
 Traced to disillusionment following Civil War
 War destroyed romantic view of humanity
 Presented life as cruel and never embellished

7. American Realists
 Kate Chopin and Women
 Criticized for her realistic portrayal of women.
 First American to write frankly about suppression and gender
roles.
 “The role of an artist is to be a rebel”
 Sometimes considered a Regionalist
 Stories depicted customs of Creoles and Cajuns in L.A
 Used their language to describe their lifestyles
 Made their world real and refused to judge their lives or
struggles

8. Feminist Movement Leaders
 Emily Dickinson
 Harriet Beecher Stowe
 Sarah Orne Jewett
 Kate Chopin
 Edith Wharton
 Ellen Glasgow
 Willa Cather

9. Paul Laurence Dunbar and African Americans
 Earliest African American poets to gain widespread
recognition
 Best known for use of African American dialect
 Reflect post-war lives of African Americans
 Frustrated aspirations in a society dominated by whites
 Struck a balance between European literary
conventions and African American folk culture

10. Edith Wharton and the Upper Class
 Characters inhabited the upper crust of New York
society
 Depict desires, prejudices, and foibles of her
privileged and affluent characters
 The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth
 Presents culture which devalues the individual in favor of
class divisions
 Social status
 Pursuit of enjoyable wealth
 Satire of the hypocrisy of the American aristocracy-of which
she was a member

11. Naturalism
 End of 1800’s
 Strongly influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of
evolution
 People had little control over their lives
 Wrote about ordinary people; but focused on the
middle class and the poor

12. Edwin Arlington Robinson and Fate
 Felt “doomed” or sentenced for life, to the writing of
poetry
 Characters often loners or misfits; like Edwin
himself
 Creativity is misunderstood or simply ignored
 Focus on individual or individual relationships
 Tone; blend of irony and compassion
 Characters lives end in failure or despair

13. Jack London and Nature
 Helped support family with hard labor from age 9
 Sympathetic towards working class
 Convinced capitalist society was brutal and repressive
 Drawn to Darwinism
 Seen in many works such as
 The Call of the Wild
 The Sea-Wolf
 Spent time in Alaskan wilderness and the South Seas
 Stories demonstrate power of nature over
civilization

14. Stephen Crane and War
 War ended 6 years before he was born
 Used it as the subject of his works
 Red Badge of Courage
 Short stories express belief in the necessity of
courage, honesty, and poise in the face of an
indifferent universe
 “An Episode of War”- “Oh, well,’ he said, ‘I don’t
suppose it matters so much as all that.”
 After a young officer reacts to the loss of his arm

15. Wrap up
 1880-1910-Midwest, Great Plains, and West enriched
literature w/new kinds of American landscapes,
characters and styles of speech
 Realism-widespread effects, seen in journalism, film,
the novel, and painting.
 Challenged the conventions of Romanticism
 Redefined boundaries of acceptable content
 Beginning in the 1890’s-Naturalism shone a bright,
but harsh light on the human condition
 Presented life as brutal, losing battle between individuals
 Extremely diverse-crossing many cultural boundaries

16. Assignment
 Present author to class- from text book
 Focusing on literary techniques
 Language
 Story lines
 No Laptops