1. Realism & The New Frontier
Late 1800s early 1900s

2. 4 Major Effects on American Writers and Writing
I. Population Diversity----still exploding (42 million)
A. Population increase from was more than entire US population at end of Civil War
B. Immigration
1. Before largely European and Scandinavian
2. After Eastern Europe, Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia
C. Native Americans had been defeated
D. Slaves were free, but did little to participate in democracy

3. II. Science and Technology Improvements
A. Transportation
1. Ocean liners
2. Stage Coaches
3. Transcontinental Railroad
For Example: Mark Twain traveled extensively throughout the US including the West (Nevada), Midwest (Missouri), and East (Connecticut) thus shaping his views on how life was lived throughout the country

4. Technological Advances

5. Age of Science Influence
B. Technological Advances
C. Changes in Natural Sciences
1. Thought became science could be applied to all aspects of life
Literature became intermingled with sociology, psychology, and “scientific philosophies”

6. Frontier Experiences
A. Dwellers were mobile, practical, inventive, democratic, and optimistic
B. “National character”
C. Reality was less than idyllic (cold and cruel land)

7. The Frontier Experience
American West had now filled up with settlements, so land was not as free, or at least cheap, like they had always imagined
Legacy of dwellers had lived on though
Mobile, practical, inventive, democratic, and optimistic were traits of national character
West was not an idyllic place as conditions were harsh and unforgiving
While most Americans never lived on the Frontier, many writers did, so this enriched American literature

8. IV. Industrialization
A. Slums---lots of immigrants in little spaces; tenement housing
B. farming problems---decrease in profits, increases in loans and interest
C. labor unrest---little regulation on industry; no unions; child labor; little safety

9. Gilded Age ~Twain
Rapid industrial expansion created urban slums, falling agric. prices, and labor unrest
Problems demand solutions
“muckrakers” (T. Roosevelt)---journalists who sought only to uncover the muck or dirt of American life.

10. Literary Changes Pre war Romantic writers were still read
BUT
Newer writers were not Romantics
They wanted to portray life as it was really lived
Realism, Regionalism, Naturalism emerge
Writers such as Twain could travel more easily across the country and recount who and what they saw
Incredibly diverse literature!

11. Realism
Portrayed ordinary life as real people lived it and show events in an objective, factual way
is a reaction against romanticism.
originated with French writers - Balzac, Zola
influenced by memories of war, life on the frontier, urban life, and science
-To Be a Realist
1. Be acutely observant
2. Lay out “hidden meanings”
3. deal honestly with characters

12. By 1890
Authors began titling work with some of these metaphors…metaphors that viewed life as a struggle and drew upon the predatory aspect of nature for ways to describe the social environment
“Under the Lion’s Paw”---Midwestern farmers under grip of capitalistic land owners
The Jungle---Upton Sinclair’s look at the Chicago meat packing industry

13. Naturalism Beyond realism Influenced by French novelist Emile Zola
One’s reality is shaped by natural forces
Destiny is decided by heredity and environment, physical drives, and economic circumstances
People have no control over events in their lives (pessimistic)
Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”

14. Rise of Naturalism Writers now show concern with human character
Characters are less “free”, less self-determined
Heredity became a determinant of character
Evolution also provided writers with new metaphors with which to compare literature to social environment

15. TRAITS & SOCIAL CONDITION
A writer must study the inherited traits of a character and the social condition of the time
These 2 things determine the course of any action and the outcome of any life
TRAITS & SOCIAL CONDITION

16. Subject matter of Naturalism
Raw and unpleasant experiences which reduce characters to “degrading” behavior in their struggle to survive
Characters are usually from lower middle or lower classes
Poor, uneducated, and unsophisticated

17. Naturalistic Character
Conditioned and controlled by the environment, heredity, chance, or instinct
They have compensating humanistic values which affirm their individuality and life (values compensate for flaws)
Their struggle becomes heroic and the character maintains human dignity

18. Regionalism “local color movement”
Use of dialect and vivid descriptions of the landscape captured the life of various parts of the US
Twain instrumental in this…poked fun at all regions of the US in an attempt to unify the country
Bret Harte is known as the founder of the local color movement