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Big Idea Overview and ResourcesOverview After the Civil War, a new group of writers known as Regionalists, or local colorists, emerged. Unlike American writers before them who had been educated in the East, many Regionalist writers grew up in the South, Midwest, or West. Their novels, short stories, poems, essays, and plays portrayed ordinary people and emphasized local culture. While Romantic literature often featured exotic settings and unique characters, Regionalist works reflected the dialects, belief systems, and cultures of their particular regions. A character who was outside looking in often would reveal conflicts between old and new. The mood of the writing could vary from nostalgic to somber and was often critical of outdated ideas. Mark Twain, one of the most well-known Regionalists, grew up along the Mississippi River. The river would provide the setting for his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as well as for other works. With the success of Huckleberry Finn, Twain was transformed from humorist and local colorist to great American novelist. His editor and friend, author William Dean Howells, called Twain "the Lincoln of our literature." During this era, settlers flocked to the West in search of gold. California gold-mining country was the setting for Bret Harte's stories. His colorful, immoral characters—many of whom reform—became popular in both the United States and Britain. Harte took an ironic tone in his writing that distinguished him from other writers of the day. Willa Cather moved to the open prairies of Nebraska from Virginia. Much of her writing reflects her memories of life on the prairie. O Pioneers! depicts the demanding realities of pioneer life, and My Ántonia focuses on its simplicity and freedom. Web Resources About Willa Cather The William Dean Howells Society Mark Twain and His Times Overview American Realism was a literary movement that emerged during the second half of the 1800s. Unlike the more imaginative and reflective Romanticism, Realism delved into the psychological motivations and behaviors of ordinary people leading ordinary lives. Realism was already an influential movement in Europe when it caught on in the United States. American authors devoured the works of novelists Gustave Flaubert, Leo Tolstoy, George Eliot, and Charles Dickens, and replicated many of their techniques in their own works of Realism. The Civil War had ravaged Americans' land and their lives, and many struggled in the aftermath. Mathew Brady's photographs of dead Civil War soldiers and Jacob Riis's portraits of children living in New York slums brought the harsh realities of life to a larger audience. Romanticism was no longer relevant to Americans. Faced with rebuilding their lives, they turned to Realism. One of the first American women to write honestly about the strictures women faced during the nineteenth century was Kate Chopin. Chopin challenged society to challenge the patriarchal rules that limited women to the traditional roles of wife and mother. Because some of her books emphasized the culture and customs of Louisiana Creoles and Cajuns, Chopin was considered by some to be both a Realist and a Regionalist. Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the first African American poets whose work achieved a mass appeal. Dunbar's poetry combined European literary tradition with African American folk culture. Many of his poems, written in the African American dialect of the rural South, portrayed post-war African Americans as they struggled with their newfound freedom in a society dominated by white men. Another Realist writer, Edith Wharton, was a member of New York's elite society. Her stories and novels revealed characters who valued class, wealth, and social status over the individual. Although she was a member of upper-crust society, Wharton satirized the hypocrisy of the American aristocracy. Her best-known novels are The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth. Web Resources Realism in American Literature, 1860–1890 Mathew Brady: Civil War Photographs Paul Laurence Dunbar Digital Collection Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867 Nineteenth Century American Women Writers The Edith Wharton Society Overview One of the most controversial topics throughout history has been the argument over "nature versus nurture." What influences our lives more: our biology, which we cannot control, or the outside world in which we live? Writers at the end of the 1800s who believed that nature, or biology, ruled over nurture were called Naturalists. These writers were strongly influenced by Charles Darwin and his theories of evolution and natural selection. Naturalist writers were similar to Realists in that they wrote about ordinary people. However, characters in Naturalist literature were usually poor or members of the working class. Naturalist poet Edwin Arlington Robinson believed it was not a personal choice for him to become a poet, but that he was predestined for that path. The characters in his poems were often misunderstood or social outcasts, much like Robinson himself. His most famous poems were set in a fictional town based on his childhood hometown. Author Jack London believed in Social Darwinism, which attempted to apply Darwin's biological theories to human behavior. London's childhood experiences made him sympathetic to the working class and an opponent of capitalism. London's well-known books The Call of the Wild and The Sea-Wolf were based on his travels to the Alaskan wilderness and reflected his belief that man is powerless over nature. The horror of the Civil War, seen through the eyes of character Henry Fleming, was resurrected in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage. Although Crane was born six years after the Civil War ended, his ability to recreate the war's sights and sounds made him one of the greatest American novelists of his time. Web Resources The Jack London Online Collection Modern American Poetry: Edwin Arlington Robinson Naturalism in American Literature The Origin of Species:Chapter 3: The Struggle for Existence, by Charles Darwin Log InThe resource you requested requires you to enter a username and password below: | ||
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