Realism and Naturalism in 19th-Century Literature
Realism
Realism was a movement that arose in the second half of the nineteenth century, succeeding Romanticism. It was characterized by:
- Elimination of fantastic elements and sentimental excesses.
- Development of interest in nature, everyday life, and customs.
- Writers critically analyze objective reality, but do not portray it humorously.
This movement emerged in mid-century France, driven by certain artists who wanted to reflect society as it truly was.
Characteristics of Realism:
- Rigorous observation and faithful reproduction of life.
- Depiction of customs and environments: characters and settings in rural or urban popular areas. Authors include Galdós, Balzac, and Dickens.
- Painting of characters: descriptions of the characters’ nature, resulting in the psychological novel, which delves deeply into the characters’ temperaments (e.g., Flaubert).
- The novelist as historian: the novelist tells a story, giving an account of an incident.
- Importance of alerts, focusing on vocabulary, topic, description type, and language elements.
- Sobriety of style: language adapted to the characters.
Naturalism
Naturalism was a literary movement aligned with deterministic biological theories. Naturalistic works mimic scientists by observing facts, documenting them, and experimenting with characters. Naturalism is associated with a permissive view of man and life. It arose in France in the second half of the 19th century.
Characteristics of Naturalism:
- Themes, environments, types: Characters are often sick, beings who obey their genetic tendencies and their baser passions, and their reactions to their environment.
- Observation: Continuing with the desire to defend the popular and national, naturalist writers make a complete copy of a person’s speech.
Realism and Naturalism in Spain
Realism: The Spanish novel experienced a golden age. Spain already had a great realistic tradition in literature, so it was not a new genre.
- European influence: The atmosphere was good for the country. Key influences included Balzac (La Comédie humaine), Flaubert (Madame Bovary), Stendhal, Dickens (Oliver Twist), and Russian authors like Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov) and Tolstoy (War and Peace, Anna Karenina).
- Ideological Guidance: Authors differed in their approach to realism. They imposed certain limits, eliminating unrealistic aspects of reality. Realists became bolder and more critical.
- Spanish Naturalism: There is debate about whether true Naturalism existed in Spain. The arrival of Naturalism produced great controversy. This leads to the conclusion that Naturalism was scarcely explored in Spain, with only certain aspects adopted.
Realistic Poetry
The bourgeois mentality and realism did not favor the development of the lyric genre. Notable authors include Ramón de Campoamor, who wrote poems introducing colonial speech. Gaspar Núñez de Arce wrote “Gritos del combate,” with a style close to political discourse.
Realistic Theater
Romantic characteristics were still present. A key figure is Echegaray (El gran Galeoto). Most representative is the appearance of a new genre, high comedy, which addressed issues with a didactic approach to bourgeois society. Within this genre is the “género chico,” a type of comedy that mixes zarzuela (e.g., La verbena de la Paloma, La Revoltosa).
The most important stages of the realistic novel are four, with these characteristics:
- Verisimilitude: Observation and objectivity. The writer should not resort to fancy but must be limited to making a direct study of reality.
- Technique: Thorough and detailed description.
- Third-person omniscient narrator: This gives the reader access to the most important thoughts and intimate feelings.
- Themes: Adultery, anticlericalism.
- Style: Plain language and a referential narrator, intending to defend certain ideological positions.