Description
Book SynopsisSince Dean Howells declared his realism war in the 1880s, literary historians have regarded the rise of realism and naturalism as the signal development in post-Civil War American fiction. Questioning this generalization, Michael Davitt Bell investigates the role that the terms played in the social and literary discourse of the 1880s and 1890s.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: American Realism Pt. 1: The First Generation: William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, Henry James 1: The Sin of Art: William Dean Howells The Problem of Howellsian Realism The Road to Realism A Portrait of the Artist as a "Real" Man The Problem of American Realism 2: Humor, Sentiment, Realism: Mark Twain Mark Twain as Critic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 3: Artist Fables: Henry James's Realist Phase A Different Road/A Different Realism Realism and Reform Naturalism, Impressionism, Revolution Pt. 2: The Problem of Naturalism: Frank Norris, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser 4: The Revolt against Style: Frank Norris The Road to Naturalism Naturalism and Style 5: Irony, Parody, and "Transcendental Realism": Stephen Crane The Language of the Street Words of War 6: Fine Styles of Sympathy; Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie Dreiser and American Naturalism Condescension and Identification Pt. 3: A "Woman's Place" in American Realism: Sarah Orne Jewett 7: Local Color and Realism: Sarah Orne Jewett Jewett's Place in American Realism Maine Person and Boston Professional Realism, Feminism, and the World of Dunnet Landing Notes Index
