Modernism vs. Realism

While the Modernism era and the Realism era took place very close together, they demonstrate many different views and styles. Realism basically demonstrates facts and information on a subject (Werlock). It portrays accurate details, thoughts, feelings, and gives a very descriptive view on the situation (Werlock). For example, if the setting of a story or poem took place in the woods, a Realism author would most likely describe everything, from the blue of the sky to the little ants crawling on the leaves of the trees to how the character felt when the cool summer breeze lifted the little hairs on his arms. It would not get so flowery so that it almost reached to point of Romanticism; however, it would accurately depict every little detail as to fully give justice to a scenario (Werlock). Back in the days of Realism, many people were looked down upon, such as African Americans or people of less prestige and power (Werlock). This was evident in Realism literature, as these people were either spoken negatively of or basically just dismissed since they really did not matter to the lives of the authors (Werlock). Some authors, however, did depict the lives of African Americans, and their struggles were shown through this literature. Of course, it was very descriptive and took notice of all of the details, since that is what Realism is about (Werlock).

Modernism is very similar to Realism in the way that it, too, accurately depicts a scenario and does justice to basically every little detail (Anderson). However, as Modernism writing began to become popular, many little aspects of life were changing. African Americans, who had previously been seen as dirty, evil, or not as sufficient as the white man, were now being seen as people of true prestige and talent (Anderson). Although they had not acclaimed quite the level of status of that of the white man, they were no longer looked quite as far down upon. Another change is that women were becoming a little more promiscuous (Anderson). "Flappers" wore much less clothing than that of the typical housewife back then, and therefore the clothing choices for women were becoming a little bit less uptight and a little more revealing (Anderson). All of these changes were shown in Modernism literature. The revolution was obviously a topic of many stories and poems, and the authors were a more accepting of diversity and the change that was occurring. Another change that was happening in the world that was also written about were the new music styles. Jazz was introduced, influenced heavily by the African Americans along with their soul music (Anderson). This obviously had a great impact on the literary world; poems or songs were very emotional and would sometimes reflect on the struggles some of these people went through in order to gain the acceptance and level of status that they were now holding. As mentioned, this literature was very emotional and led to many of the styles of literature that we today read (Anderson). Both Modernism and Realism affected the literary world today; Realism had a great impact and influence on Modernism, and Modernism reflects greatly on the modern literature that we read today (Anderson).

Anderson, George Parker. "modernism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. April 6, 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. Web. April 6, 2011.