Literature

Whereas Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson and other antebellum writers in some ways detached themselves from the world around them, nearly all of the major postbellum writers immersed themselves in it. As journalists, Rebecca Harding Davis, William Dean Howells, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser, and others traveled widely and came in close contact with real people, including some who were suffering the negative effects of industrialization and urbanization. Mark Twain's career as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River gave him similar contact with the world. Equally immersed in the culture were these writers' works, which they published in magazines such as the Atlantic Monthly and in subscription books sold door to door.

These writers' worldly experiences and perspectives shaped the postbellum period's three major literary movements: realism, regionalism, and naturalism. Reacting against the extravangances of literary romance, which recounted the glorious adventures of larger-than-life characters, the realists tried to portray life accurately rather than idealistically. A character in Howells's novel The Rise of Silas Lapham states the realists' credo when he points out that "the novelists would be best to us if they painted life as it is." Thus, Howells, Twain, and Henry James depicted the aspirations, conflicts, and triumphs of convincing characters, such as a coarse orphan, a simple businessman, or a young woman in search of her identity. The writers of regional fiction, sometimes called "local color," also strove for authenticity. Capitalizing on the popularity of magazines, Bret Harte, Kate Chopin, and many other writers used details of landscape, dialect, and character to transport readers to distant, exotic American locales, such as the West, New Orleans, and the rural South. Finally, French naturalism, which depicts realistic characters struggling with social and other forces, caught on in America perhaps because the journalistic experiences of Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, and Theodore Dreiser put them in touch with the struggles of lower-class figures.

Study Questions

1. One of the most important literary developments to take place in this century is the transition from romanticism to realism. Citing several examples, describe the major characteristics of each movement and explain why this change took place. 
2. Citing works published both before and after the Civil War, trace the emphasis on the self in this century. 

Authors

• Ambrose Bierce
• Charles Chesnutt 
• Kate Chopin 
• Stephen Crane 
• Rebecca Harding Davis 
• Emily Dickinson 
• Theodore Dreiser 
• Hamlin Garland
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Joel Chandler Harris
• Bret Harte 
• William Dean Howells 
• Henry James 
• Frank Norris 
• Thomas Nelson Page 
• Mark Twain 
• O Henry

Characters

• Isabel Archer 
• Huckleberry Finn 
• Tom Sawyer 

Places

• Boston, Massachusetts 
• New York, New York 
• Mississippi River 
• New Orleans, Louisiana 

Movements

• naturalism 
• realism 
• regionalism 

Genres

• bildungsroman 
• critical essay 
• realistic novel 
• lyric poem 
• regional short story