1. The Civil War and Postwar Period 1850-1900
The Rise of Realism
The Civil War and Postwar Period

2. April 12, 1861 Confederate attack on Fort Sumter
Opening shots of Civil War

3. Walt Whitman Learned of first shots Worked in hospital during the war
One of the few writers who witnessed the war first hand
Optimistic and idealistic response to war

4. Ralph Waldo Emerson Also viewed war in idealistic light
Warned this day would come (if slavery not abolished)
Filled with patriotic pride

5. Herman Melville Disillusioned by war
Writing examined humanity’s basic evil

6. The War in Literature Very little literary output
Most major American writers did not see the war first hand (at home, abroad, or died).
Traditional literary forms not sufficient to express horrors of war.
“Realistic novel” not dev. yet

7. The Rise of Realism
Realist writers: aimed at very specific truths in the common everyday experiences
After the war, writers drew subjects from slums, factories, rising industrialism, etc.
Realism began in Europe.
Attempt to rep. environment and manners of everyday life accurately
Attempt to explain why people behave the way they do
Dependant on new social sciences (psych, sociology) and on biology

8. American Regionalism Lit. that emphasizes specific geogr. setting
Realistic portrayal of speech patterns and mannerisms
Often unrealistic and/or sentimental (ie, Mark Twain)

9. Realism and Naturalism
Naturalists tended to look at life as grim losing battle.
Characters w/ limited choices and were totally subject to natural laws of universe
Focus on social questions/concerns with hope of reform—even more important than the action

10. Psychological Fiction
Psychological novel (Henry James) focuses on character motivation.
Exploration of complex social and psychological situations
Also Stephen Crane, but he focused more on behavior in the midst of stress (ie, Red Badge of Courage)

11. Ironists
Juxtaposing human pretensions (arrogance) with the indifference of the universe

12. Authors for Us:
Frederick Douglass
Kate Chopin
Mark Twain
Jack London