Theories of Realism

FAIN: FA-10996-75

Peter Demetz
Yale University (New Haven, CT 06510-1703)

To contribute to a history of literary realism by 1) looking at some popular norms current in 19th c. realism discussion and by 2) reviewing the ideas and expectations of some of the most important writers involved in the conflicts of their time, with some attention to the "minor" literatures. To write essays on what 3 important realists said about their theoretical norms and their actual practice (Walter Scott, the Portugese Eca de Queiroz, and the Austrian Adalbert Stifter), concentrate on a close reading of selected essays in which a major author confronts a challenging writer or philosophical tradition, and analyze the literary and social implications of the generational conflicts of the 184-0's and 1850's from which important ideas on realism emerged.