By Morris Dickstein (NHC Fellow, 1989–90) In a famous passage in The Red and the Black, the French writer Stendhal described the novel as a mirror being carried along a roadway. In the twentieth century this was derided as a naïve notion of realism. Instead, modern writers experimented with creative forms of invention and dislocation. Deconstructive … Continued
Edited by Brenda Murphy (NHC Fellow, 1981–82) William Dean Howells has long been recognized as the chief spokesman for post-1880s American Realism. Most of his writing appeared in popular magazines, however, and has been lost to us. This collection brings together for the first time his most significant essays about American drama written between 1875 … Continued
By Lilian R. Furst (NHC Fellow, 1988–89) "All is true," realist writers would say of their work, to which critics now respond: All is art and artifice. Offering a new approach to reading nineteenth-century realist fiction, Lilian R. Furst seeks to reconcile these contradictory claims. In doing so, she clarifies the deceptions, appropriations, intentions, and … Continued
By Brenda Murphy (NHC Fellow, 1981–82) The importance of Native American realism is traced through a study of the evolution of dramatic theory from the early 1890s through World War I and the uniquely American innovations in realistic drama between world wars.
By Edward H. Friedman (NHC Fellow, 1998–99)
By Winfried Fluck (NHC Fellow, 1987–88)
Edited by Lilian R. Furst (NHC Fellow, 1988–89) Realism is one of the most common terms in the critical vocabulary, yet has been described as a 'monster with many heads desperately in need of disentangling'. Professor Furst's collection is ideally placed to help the student understand its complexities and the range of responses it has … Continued
This talk will explore the geopolitical and political messages expressed in the most recent entry in the "Call of Duty" video game series, which is titled "Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War," as a means to investigate the concept of "imperialist realism."
Edward Hopper is regarded as the quintessential American realist painter of the twentieth century. His images — nighthawks in a clean, well-lighted cafe; a deserted street on a Sunday morning; a man, a woman alone in spare room, even when they are together — are deeply embedded in the American imagination. How do Hopper’s paintings … Continued
In this video, author Roddy Doyle describes the experience of seeing Fellini’s Amarcord for the first time as a boy in Dublin. Growing up in Ireland, at that time a strict Catholic country, it was revelatory for him to see the religion ridiculed in the subversive comedy-drama. The combination of the beautiful and the grotesque … Continued