American Quarterly · 1970 · 13 citations · 0 references
HumanitiesLiteratureAmerican LiteratureLiterary StudiesModernist LiteratureEarly American LiteratureNineteenth-century American LiteratureConventions Of RealismRealist AestheticsRealist DescriptionRealist Literature
Realism, a contested literary term, has long been criticized as lacking artistic depth, with many viewing its works as dull and uninteresting, leading to widespread public indifference toward authors such as Henry James, Wm. Dean Howells, and even Mark Twain. Kolb aims to redefine realism and restore late nineteenth‑century American realist writers to their rightful status as literary artists.
What is realism? This tiresome question has plagued many of us at one time or another, and the answers have often been unclear and contradictory. Such literary terms have been in disrepute recently not only because of objections to labeling writers, but also because of doubts about their validity. Mr. Kolb sets out here to define realism again, but also, and more importantly, to restore American realistic writers of the late nineteenth century to their just status as literary artists. There has always been some feeling that realism was not an artistic movement; that the works of realistic writers were dull, fact-stuffed accounts of uninteresting people in boring situations; that the realists lacked any largeness of view. Even today, the general public does not willingly read much of Henry James, and none of Wm. Dean Howells, though it will occasionally offer conventional praise to Mark Twain.