20 Examples of Realism Literature

The realism literature is the set of literary works that were produced in realism, an artistic movement that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century and whose main objective was to make a faithful representation of the society. For example:Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.

Realism was opposed to Romanticism, because in the first it was considered that literature had to be an objective and true testimony about the present. In contrast, in Romanticism, the content of the works was idealistic and subjective.

Realism originated in France and it was an author from this country, Honoré de Balzac, who established the basic guidelines of this movement, for example, held that literature should reflect all human characters, that is, what they were like and how they behaved. people related, and that a work had the power to represent all social phenomena, including their causes and consequences. impact.

Although realist authors wrote poetry Y theater plays, the narrative genre had more predominance, because the

novel It was the ideal type of text to document and analyze reality and to denounce and criticize different social situations.

Over time, realism reached other countries and continents and gave rise to naturalism, a literary movement that shared characteristics with its predecessor, but that used scientific theories, such as empiricism and biological determinism, for the composition of the works.

To take into account: The content of the works of realism is plausible and truthful, that is, it is believable and has a correlate with reality, however, does not imply that it ceases to be fictional, that is, that it has been invented by an author.

• See also: Literary trends

Characteristics of the literature of realism

• Context. In relation to politics and society, the bourgeoisie was the ruling class and the workers showed their dissatisfaction with labor and social conditions. In addition, at this time scientific knowledge was highly valued for its objective nature and for its quality of being able to classify and describe almost everything that existed.
• Topics. The topics are very varied, but they always focus on transmitting the social, political and economic reality of the present. For example, a novel can be about a war, customs, social classes, inequality or life in the city.
• Style. The style is simple, clear and objective, because it is sought that a work be easy to understand and that it can faithfully transmit the functioning of a part or the totality of society. In addition, it is critical, because it shows the perspective that the author has regarding society and, in some cases, it is moralizing or satirical, because there is a negative judgment or because it considers how the world.
• Form. The form is influenced by the scientific currents of the time, since this literature not only seeks to narrate and describe how reality is, but also explanations are included, that is, the causes and consequences of phenomena. In addition, plots are usually presented chronologically.
• Storyteller. The narrator is usually in third person and it is usually omniscient, because it allows to describe and relate the facts in an objective and impersonal way.
• Characters. The characters are very varied, because they represent the different classes and the different types of people that exist in a society. In realistic novels there may be one or several main characters and, generally, the changes in their lives and their psychological evolution are narrated.
• Language. The narrator's language is simple and direct, since it is not ornamental or overloaded. But the language used in dialogues it is very varied, since parliaments are usually a reflection of how people speak in reality. Therefore, it is very common to include words from different dialects and everyday use.
• Rhetorical figures. The most used figures of speech are those used to describe characters, places, objects and situations, for example, the prosopography, the etopeia, the portrait, the crinography, the chronography and the cartoon. In any case, others are usually included, such as the metaphor and reification, although their use is not as frequent because they clash with the objective style.

Main authors and examples of realism literature

Honore de Balzac (French, 1799-1850)

He was the father of realism and set out to write the human comedy, a set of novels and stories that would reflect social reality with a critical view.

1. louis lambert. This novel tells the story of Louis Lambert, a young man who promises much as a writer and as an intellectual, but who ends up in madness.
2. The search for the absolute. This novel tells the story of a family and, in particular, the plot focuses on the obsession that Balthazar Claës, the father, has with the search for the philosopher's stone.

Gustave Flaubert (French, 1821-1880)

He was one of the most influential authors of realism and stood out for the description and evolution of the psychology of the characters.

1. sentimental education. This novel tells the story of Frédéric Moreau, a young man who falls madly in love with a woman, and refers to the context of the Second French Empire.
2. "A Simple Heart". This story tells the story of Felicidad, a young woman who is a servant of a family and who is not comfortable with her life. In addition, the story works as a critique of bourgeois society.

Stendhal (France, 1783-1842)

His real name is Henri Beyle and he stood out for writing autobiographical books and novels that reflected the psychology of the characters and a critique of reality.

1. red and black. This novel tells the story of Julien Sorel, a young man who wants to move up socially, but who encounters various problems.
2. Life of Henry Brulard. This novel is Stendhal's autobiography and is a realistic depiction of the author's context.

Charles Dickens (England, 1812-1870)

He was a prominent writer in his country for describing and criticizing Victorian society in a humorous and satirical tone.

1. Oliver Twist. This novel tells the story of an orphan boy, Oliver Twist, who escapes from the orphanage to go to London, where he will begin to steal in order to survive.
2. David Copperfield. This learning novel tells the story and journeys of David Copperfield from his birth to his transformation into a writer.

Mark Twain (United States, 1835-1910)

He was a writer and chronicler who dedicated himself to critically describing what society was like in his time and that of other times.

1. Tom Sawyer's adventures. This novel narrates the adventures of Tom Sawyer, a young man who, after having witnessed a crime, decides to escape to an island.
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This novel tells of the escape of Huckleberry Finn, a boy, and Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi River. This story is the continuation of Tom Sawyer's adventures.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russia, 1821-1881)

He was one of the most recognized authors in the world and in his novels the life of different types is portrayed with a critical and pessimistic tone and with a description of the psychological characteristics of the characters.

1. humiliated and offended. This novel narrates the love story of the protagonist, but also emphasizes events of different characters highlighting their thoughts and feelings and the problems caused by their situation Social.
2. Crime and Punishment. This novel tells the story of Rodión Románovich Raskólnikov, a young student who commits a crime and who over time begins to feel remorse for what he has done.

Leo Tolstoy (Russia, 1828-1910)

He was a pedagogue and an outstanding writer for his critical style and for having developed complex characters internally.

1. War and peace. In this novel, different stories of characters are narrated during the Napoleonic invasions of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century and the psychological and spatial descriptions are highlighted.
2. AnaKarenina. In this novel the love story of Ana and a count is narrated and reference is made to the political and economic changes promoted by Alexander II of Russia.

Anton Chekhov (Russia, 1860-1904)

He was an outstanding author of short stories and plays for his pessimistic tone and his handling of monologues and the construction of the characters.

1. Seagull. In this play, the story of four artist characters who debate on various topics and who demonstrate their personal and professional frustration is represented.
2. Platonov. This play tells the story of a school teacher who goes through feelings of boredom and repudiation by society.

Leopoldo Alas (Spain, 1852-1901)

Also known as Clarín, this author was one of the greatest representatives of narrative realism in Spain due to his critical style and by the inclusion of the monologue and indirect style to characterize the psychology of the characters.

1. The Regent. This novel tells the story of Ana Ozores, a woman who got married in an arranged marriage, who she feels frustrated with her life and that she is a representation of the decadent aristocracy of the Restoration Bourbon.
2. moral tales. This book includes various stories that aim to satirize and criticize certain customs and subjects of society, but that also focus on showing the interiority of the characters.

Ramón de Campoamor (Spain, 1817-1901)

He was an author who devoted himself almost exclusively to writing poetry, theater, philosophy and essays. From his poetry books stand out the pain Y human glories.

1. “There is no joy on earth”

As a child, in vain dressing
of youth dreaming,
I spent my childhood crying
with all the sorrow of a child.
If the man starts grieving
when not even an evil reveals him,
oh!
the happiness that man longs for
where is it?…

 Already young, lacking in calm,
I seek the pleasure of life,
and each lost illusion
It rips my soul when I leave.
Yes, in the most flowery season
there is no evil that the soul does not hurt,
oh!
the happiness that man longs for,
where is it?

Peace with importunate longing,
I search in inert old age,
and I will search evil so hard
next to the tomb the cradle.
I fear death, and death
consoles all ills.
oh!
the happiness that man longs for,
where is it?…

1. "The intelligence"

A century and a hundred pass, time passes
like Scythia who kills on the run;
executioner and creator, as soon as he reigns,
the humble exalts and the arrogant devastates.
Life time at what rate exists,
but, always useless, his fierce scythe
On the great Plato, age after age,
with excused eagerness he passes and reviews.
And it is that the idea that floats in the skies,
fixes which God, as God's essence,
of moving time the scythe dulls.
Therefore, in declining from existence,
from among the ruins of the worlds springs,
immortal chrysalis, intelligence.

Interactive test to practice

Follow with:

• types of literature
• baroque literature
• Latin American stories
• modernist poems
• avant-garde poems
• Poems of Romanticism

References

• Balzac, H. (October 15, 2019). Prologue to The Human Comedy (AND. Bernini and V. Castello Joubert, Trad.). Available in: Fourth Prose
• FDI. (November 7, 2017). Literature in the second half of the 19th century: Realism. The realist novel in continental Europe. commons Available in: commons
• Lissorges, Y. (2008). The realism. Art and literature, technical proposals and ideological stimuli. Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library. Available in: Virtual Cervantes
• Urrutia, J. (1976). Reconsideration of realist poetry of the 19th century. Bulletin of the European Association of Teachers of Spanish, VIII,(15), 95-107. Available in: Cervantes Virtual Center