Transcript Document
American Regionalism,
Realism, Naturalism, and
Satire
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This presentation will mention (in no particular
order)…Huckleberry Finn, Gettysburg Address,
Whitman, Crane, Narrative of…Frederick Douglass
What is Realism?
A faithful representation of reality in
literature
also known as “verisimilitude.”
Emphasis on development of believable
characters.
Written in natural vernacular or dialect.
Prominent from 1860-1890.
Based on these four characteristics, how
does Huck Finn demonstrate elements of
realism?
Why did Realism Develop?
The Civil War
The urbanization and industrialization of America
New York had grown from a city of 500,000 in 1850 to
a metropolis of nearly 3,500,000 inhabitants by 1900
Between 1850 and 1880 capital invested in
manufacturing industries more than quadrupled
Factory employment nearly doubled
As a reaction to Romanticism
Increasing rates of Democracy and literacy
The emerging middle class
Upheaval and social change in the latter half of the
19th century
Why do these factors make people want to focus on
reality and believable characters?
What does our current society focus on in literature?
The Importance of the Civil War
Violent Clash
-
Armies
Ideas
What does it mean to be an American?
(You will be looking at Civil War photography for an
upcoming project)
How the Civil War
Transformed
American Literature –
Start around 3:00
Walt Whitman and Realism
His search for his brother
Poet of democracy – poet who used common people as
subjects for his poetry
Whitman – Civil
War+Lincoln
Themes in Realism
Humans control their destinies
characters act on their environment rather than simply
reacting to it.
Slice-of-life technique
often ends without traditional formal closure, leaving
much untold to suggest man’s limited ability to make sense
of his life.
Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain described the major theme of
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as
“A sound heart and a deformed
conscience come into collision, and
conscience suffers defeat.”
•“A sound heart” = a good, honest heart.
•“A deformed conscience” = a conscience
influenced by the laws of society and a
sense of duty toward those laws.
What is Regionalism?
Often called “local color.”
Focuses on characters, dialect,
customs, topography, and other
features specific to a certain region
(eg. the South)
Often portrays a distinct region as having a
homogeneous population
Homo=same; gen=race, kind, type
Coincided with Realism and sharing
many of the same traits.
Prominent from 1865-1895.
Vernacular and Dialect
Vernacular
Informal, everyday speech of a particular
country or region
A variety of a language spoken by a group of
people, sometimes cultural
Dialect
A variation of a language spoken by a
particular group; may differ in vocabulary,
pronunciation, common expressions, spelling,
speed, or grammar
HF Controversy - Language
The term accent is often confused with
dialect, but an accent refers only to the way
words are pronounced
HF Controvery –
Language (Again)
Why did Regionalism Develop?
Dual influence of Romanticism and
Realism
The Civil War and the building of a
national identity
An outgrowth of realism with more
focus on a particular setting and its
influence over characters
What is Naturalism?
Offshoot of realism
Applied scientific principles of objectivity
and detachment to the study of human
beings.
Influenced by Darwinism (natural selection)
and psychology (Freud)
Men were governed by heredity and
environment.
Often depict man in conflict with nature,
society, or himself.
Naturalist writers sought to describe the
effect of natural and social forces (instinct,
environment) on the individual
Prominent from 1880-1920(ish)
Why did Naturalism Develop?
The swell of immigrants in the latter half
of the 19th century, which led to a larger
lower class and increased poverty in the
cities
The prominence of psychology and the
theories of Sigmund Freud
Pessimism in the wake of the Civil War
and Reconstruction
Publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of
the Species
Science: Charles Darwin
Published The Origin of
Species,
Hypothesized that man is the
product of evolution,
Man is special not because
God created him in His
image,
but because man had
successfully adapted to
changing environmental
conditions
and had passed on his
survival-making
characteristics to his
progeny.
Themes in Naturalism
Man is fundamentally an animal, without
free will;
Governed by determinism
External and internal forces, environment or
heredity control behavior;
Characters have compensating humanistic
values which affirm life;
Struggle for life becomes heroic and affirms
human dignity
Pessimistic view of human capabilities—
life is a trap
Points to Remember…
Realism, Regionalism, and Naturalism are intertwined
and connected.
Their influence has dominated most literature created
since 1920, though the movement itself is dated to
roughly that point.
They are truly American modes of writing.
Developing Themes:
What
does Twain teach us about each idea?
Racism & Slavery
Intellectual and Moral Education
The Hypocrisy of “Civilized” Society
Racism & Slavery
Although written 20 years after the
Emancipation Proclamation,
America – especially the South –
was still struggling with racism and
the aftereffects of slavery.
Insidious racism arose near the end
of Reconstruction that oppressed
blacks for illogical and hypocritical
reasons.
Twain exposes the hypocrisy of
slavery and demonstrates how
racism distorts the oppressors as
much as the oppressed.
The result is a world of moral
confusion.
Intellectual and Moral
Education
Huck is an uneducated boy.
He distrusts the morals and
precepts of the society that
treats him as an outcast and
fails to protect him from abuse.
Huck questions his teachings,
especially regarding race and
slavery.
In many instances, Huck
chooses to “go to hell” rather
than go along with the rules of
society.
The Hypocrisy of “Civilized” Society
“Civilized” to Huck means . . .
Regular baths, uncomfortable clothes
Mandatory school attendance
Degraded rules that defy logic
Huck’s drunkard, abusive father gets to keep custody of Huck because he
is his natural father
The injustice of slavery that keeps Jim from his family
Seemingly good people are prejudiced slave-owners
Terrible acts go unpunished, while lesser crimes lead to severe
punishment
Motifs
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or
literary devices that can help to develop and
inform the text’s major themes.
Childhood
Lies and Cons
Huckleberry Finn is full of malicious lies and scams;
the lies are bad and hurt a number of innocent
people.
Superstitions and Folk Beliefs
Huck’s youth is an important factor in his moral
education; only a child is open-minded enough to
undergo the kind of development that Huck does.
Jim believes in a wide range of superstitions and
folktales; although Huck is reluctant to believe at
first, many of the beliefs indeed have some basis in
reality.
Parodies of Popular Romance Novels
The story is full of people who base their lives on
romantic literary models and stereotypes of various
kinds
Tom Sawyer, for example, bases his life and actions on
adventure novels
What is Satire?
“A work or manner that blends a censorious
attitude with humor and wit for improving
human institutions or humanity.”
-Harmon and Holman
Today, forms of satire can be literary (books, essays, stories, i.e. the
printed word), but also cartoons, songs, and the performing arts.
Uses ridicule of wit to attack human faults,
vices, shortcomings and follies with the intent
to bring about improvement
Usually meant to be humorous, but is also an
attack on something of which the
author/speaker strongly disapproves
What is satire?
There is a fine line between satirical and offensive!
Social Commentary
Parody
INCONGRUITY
irony
Exaggeration
Social Change
Can you find any of this in
this clip?
Parody
Jean Commercial
To deliberately use wit
to imitate style of a
work or individual
Similar:
Take-off, spoof, lampoon,
burlesque
Incongruity
To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to their
surroundings
It’s so easy…
Satire uses irony: the recognition of a reality
different than appearance.
Verbal Irony: the actual
intent of words is the
opposite of overt
meaning
Situational Irony:
Because of the context of
an event is the opposite
of what would be
expected.
Dramatic Irony
Dissing Your Dog
Notice any sarcasm?
Reversal
To present opposite of
the normal order or
role (e.g. order of
events, or hierarchy)
We all know what exaggeration is, taking things to an
extreme degree, thereby revealing foolishness or
weaknesses of the subject. Exaggeration of a person’s
traits is termed caricature
What makes satire satire?
Social commentary. That is, the writer ridicules or pokes
fun at certain aspects of society he or she finds repugnant
in hopes of changing it.
Targets? The Usual Suspects.
Vanity, hypocrisy, religion, bigotry,
human vices, sentimentality, greed,
celebrity worship, materialism, hubris,
dumbing down of education,
snobbery, foolishness, cruelty,
insensitivity, laziness
Classroom - SNL
Read the following excerpts from Huck Finn and try to identify what social
problem Twain is criticizing. What P.I.I.E. techniques does he use to make his
point?
Huck: “Pretty soon a spider went crawling up my shoulder, and I flipped it off and
it lit in the candle, and before I could budge it was all shriveled up. I didn’t need
anybody to tell me that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck,
so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me. I got up and turned around
in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time; and then I tied up a
little lock of my hair with a thread to keep witches away . . . (4)
Pap: “Well, I’ll learn her [Widow Douglas] how to meddle. And looky here—you
drop that school, you hear? I’ll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over
his own father and let on to be better’n what he is. You lemme catch you fooling
around that school again, you hear? Your mother couldn’t read, and she couldn’t
Write, nuther, before she died. None of the family couldn’t before they died. And
Here you’re a swelling yourself up like this. I aint the man to stand it – you hear?
(19)
Group Scavenge
In groups of 3-4, comb through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and excerpt
passages demonstrating satire. Identify what is being satirized, how it is being
satirized (which of the P.I.I.E. elements), and what Twain may be hoping to
change.
Excerpt
Topic being
Satirized
P.I.I.E.
Hope for Change
Example: “The
widow she cried
over me and
called me a poor
lost lamb…she put
me in them new
clothes again and I
couldn’t do nothin’
but sweat and
sweat and feel all
cramped up” (1).
Reformer
mindset
Parody:(Widow
D)
Incongruity:(stree
twise Huck as
lost lamb)
Help others
based on their
needs not
one’s own ego.