Literary playing fields in motion
Remapping and rereading
nineteenth-century realism
This chapter suggests avenues for a critical remapping and
rereading of the supposedly well-known core phase of literary realism in the mid- to
late nineteenth century, from the 1840s to the early 1900s, with timelines depending
on language area. Building on “Routes into Realism,” this core essay and the
associated case studies move beyond traditional linear conceptions of literary
history, reconceptualizing realism as a multi-stranded and multi-phased dynamic
embracing Europe’s language areas in a complex and polyphonous landscape of joint
concerns and shared modes of representation, but also diverse voices and productive
tensions that create a multidimensional set of playing fields
(Spielräume) in motion. Considering a full range of literatures,
the chapter explores the diversity of realism within and across languages;
interactions between realism and romanticism, naturalism and modernism that question
traditional periodization; and the dialogue between different national and
transnational strands of realism. Specific themes include the intrinsic links
between realism, modernization and nation-building; gender and the family;
transcultural dialogue and the development of realist style; the postcolonial
rereading of realist literature; and reading beyond the established canon and across
genres, media and discourses, including science.
Keywords: realism, romanticism, naturalism, modernism, modernization, nation-building, gender, science, Postcolonial Studies, genre, memory
Article outline
- 1.Introduction: Rethinking nineteenth-century realism
- 2.Realism, the nation and modernization
- 3.Realism, gender and the family
- 4.Transcultural dialogue and realist style
- 5.The postcolonial rereading of nineteenth-century realism
- 5.1Realist fiction and the colonial “transformation of the world”
- 5.2Realism and anti-colonialism
- 6.Reading realism beyond the canon and across genres, media and
discourses
- 6.1Across media and genres
- 6.2Realism, discourse history and the sciences
- 7.Conclusion and outlook: Realism, naturalism and modernism
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Notes
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Works cited