Regionalism

"Writers who write about real or made-up locales make use of the history or ideas associated with particular regions" (Anderson). We see regionalism a lot in stories, novels, and just writing inn general. Recently, in a book I read for AP UNited States History, it involved a lot of regionalism. It is called Centennial and it is written by James Michener. Centennial is all about this area of Colorado. Kasraie says it best with what classifies regionalism with, "the most common vehicle for local-color writing is the sketch or short story, with, generally speaking, the following characteristics: 1) characters are stereotypical or picturesque, staunch traditionalists, who speak the regional dialect and whose actions and personalities are indicative of the region; 2) the setting—typically rural, often inaccessible, and isolated from encroaching urbanization—plays an essential role in the story and may even be a character itself (stories usually orbit around the village or a similarly circumscribed locale and focus on the traditional practices of the community); 3) plotlines are sparse, especially in local-color stories by women writers; 4) often there is a framing device in which a narrator recounts a yarn or story about another region; 5) the narrator sometimes acts as the audience for the story; and/or 6) there is a narrator who is an educated, nonnative observer whose comments are meant to enlighten the urban audience" (Kasraie). "local color designates a particular kind of writing that flourished from 1865 to 1895, in which the primary focus of interest lies in the particular characteristics of a region and people at a particular time" (Kasraie). Centennial was a book that talks about this small area of Colorado and tells of the people who lived there and learned how to use the land. It is a farming community with maybe two hundred people in it. Then there are stories of the Zendt family who come from Pennsylvania and tells of their life their and their travels to Colorado. Michener was a very effective narrator who knew what he was talking about.



Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Jan 31, 2011.


Kasraie, Mary Rose. "local color." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Jan 31, 2011.

Naturalism

American Naturalism is a movement that began in the late nineteenth century and continued on through the early twentieth century. This movement was head by authors such as Jack London, Frank Norris, Stephan Crane, and Theodore Dreiser. "In contrast to realism, which attempted to capture ordinary American life as it unfolded in cities and rural areas in the middle and late 19th century, naturalism employed harsher outdoor settings and placed characters in trying situations where they often confronted natural forces" (Werlock). So rationalism and realism are in a sense one in the same thing. Some differences would be in an outdoor setting, an author can choose what happens and what is in the novel. In realism, an author has just a city to work with. Naturalist characters were often faced with physical challenges and they would be more determined than the characters of realism and get themselves out of the situation. Naturalism is a genre which drew attention to forces of fate, determination, and environments that will shape an individual. Naturalism was a genre that also questioned moral and situational certainties. "The central concerns of naturalism are the forces that shape and move humanity and our inability to control them" (Werlock).

Naturalism has no real hero. The subject of naturalist stories are the ones who make it through the physical challenges of the harsher outdoor settings and natural forces. The one who comes out from these stories would be considered the hero. "....a central tenet of naturalism: Humanity.... is subject to the same natural laws as all animals. As such, humans are subject to the same limitations, and it is a painful realization that humankind holds no special place in the universe. As humans are governed by the same laws as all of nature, literary naturalism suggests that those who attempt to question, combat, or suppress nature will find only failure" (Werlock). The people who are the focus of naturalist stories come to this realization. They are the ones who question the wilderness and the things around them. They set themselves us for failure.




Werlock, Abby H. P. "naturalism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Jan 27, 2011.

Realism

"Realism is the attempt to depict life as it actually exists, not as the author wants it to be in the present or the future, or imagines it was in the past" (Werlock). This statement is exactly what the genre of Realism is. Realism is a different style than romanticism. Romanticism is kind of making everything seem more beautiful and lovely than it actually is. Realism is when nothing is cut out and it is exactly what happens. It does not try to make the story seem better or more beautiful. The American Dream is a large part of realism. Werlock says that realism and naturalism are very close in their genre. But realism is like a photograph and naturalism is like a painting. The photographer can not choose what things can be in the picture. A painter can choose whatever he wants to include within the painting he is creating. I would believe the American Dream at the end of the civil war to the late nineteenth century would have been farming on your own land, making your own living, making yourself your own man.

Such stories as Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer" are a good example of this common American Dream. Another thing that the novel "Tom Sawyer shows is the hero of many realism stories, which would be the common working man. Tom Sawyer is just an average kid who wants to do nothing but have his own tales and stories, so he makes them and he ends up being a hero for it. Tom does not have any super powers and he is just a normal kid in a normal family. Realists looked at society as a place for potential growth. The world was full of potential and it was up to the people on it to make it as good as it can be. There was land for farming, land for cities, land for mining. The realists were a very optimistic group of people. "The change developed gradually in the 19th century; often, works such as Rebecca Harding Davis's "Life in the Iron-Mills" or local color fiction of Mark Twain, Kate Chopin, and others have elements of both.

By 1900 authors such as Ambrose Bierce, Stephen Crane, William Dean Howells, and Henry James had experimented with new Points of View, setting, and symbolism to provide their own view of the rapidly changing times in which they lived and wrote" (Werlock). This change was brought about by the new science world. At this time in history, they had just discovered electricity and they were making drastic changes to their world; especially in the world of science. These new discoveries led to a more rational way of thinking.

Quinn, Edward. "realism and naturalism in American literature." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Jan 27, 2011.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Jan 25, 2011.