Realism was an important period in American history because it drastically changed the lenses Americans used in viewing the world, and their immediate situations. Taking off from where Romanticism has left them, in that world where everything was beautiful, dream-like and nearly perfect, even edenic, Realism brought back the people to reality. It transported them from that very pleasant, purely aesthetic world which Romanticism reinforced and celebrated.
Realism has also seemed to return to the people the senses which were taken away from them by Romantic thought. While romanticism let individuals to envisage and vicariously live in a world that they deeply want, Realism forced them to look at the real condition and not create fantasies which usually only encourage escapism. Realism impelled them, to look at the things, the conditions which really exist at the moment.
As we know it, life is not a bed of roses. So despite of the persistence of Romanticist thought saying that a life that is a bed of roses is possible, even only at the mental level, Realism also strongly posed itself as an alternative. It opened the senses of people to what are actually happening to them and their surroundings. It was not all about flowers sheltering caterpillars to give birth to butterflies and people loving one another. Realism made the people see the filth, the crime, the injustice and all the noxious scenes and realities which the Romanticists tried hard to cover up.
In that sense, Realism has provided a better consciousness to the people and consequently, enabled them to be more active in engaging with the external world. It discouraged living in dreams and reveries and instead, encouraged facing the reality that is staring them at the face and do things to make them better.
2. Describe the great poetry of Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinsons poetry is very distinct because of its relative brevity that only amazes and amuses readers of her poems.
Without having to do a full-blown poem which extends up to several stanzas, Dickinson was able to express a profound thought in just a matter of several lines. It is also notable that by using a few poetic lines, she was able to convey a message that is crisp and clarion. The message she carries with her poetry is so resounding the readers will be emphatically moved when they read it.
For instance, in her classic poem The soul selects her own society, she was able to call on the readers to stand and defend their own ground and be critical in accepting the general views in life, especially those views which the majority have chose to take (Young 413). With simplicity in her poetic expression, she has given the readers a powerful implicit order.
In another poem entitled Because I could not stop for death, Dickinson used alternative images in depicting the usually dreaded concept that is death. By doing so, she has shed a new light to that concept and made the readers regard it in a different way. This poem has only six shorts stanzas but these are enough for Dickinson to portray death differently and leave an impact to her readers
In summary, the brevity of Dickinsons poetry does not count as a weakness. On the contrary, it is where her strength as poet is founded. With unassuming and careful selection of poetic expressions, her poetry is never lackadaisical as it profuse with meaningful messages in 150 words or less.
3. Does literature of early twentieth century has an influence on todays literature
Definitely, the literature of the early twentieth century has exerted an influence on the literature of todays period.
The literature of the early twentieth century was distinctly modern that is to say, these are the literatures which swerved from the literary traditions which have predominated in the previous years. They did away with lengthy and delicately structured plots and protracted narrations and resorted to simpler designs which usually have simple things to say.
Also, they carried within themselves that characteristic of doubt and uncertainty about the transpirations in their surrounding and the grand claims made by their predecessors. Literary works spoke of individuals internal dilemmas and their tragic fate of trying to overcome these dilemmas.
These characteristic of early-twentieth century literature is one of the acquired, if not completely inherited traits of todays writings.
Todays literature is also marked by that tone of doubt. Jean Francois Lyotard, a noted Postmodernist, even coined the term incredulity. Like the modernist writing of the early twentieth century, todays writings bear an incredulous tone a mood of not easily believing peoples claims about what the future holds which verge on being indifferent to what it will eventually bring. Therefore, while early twentieth-century literature only recognized that they do not know everything, todays literature has seemed to surrender to that fact, and ultimately, refuse to seek knowledge and certainty.
Categories:
0 comments:
Post a Comment