Realism and Naturalism in 19th-Century Literature: Authors and Works
Realism and Naturalism (1850-1900): Historical and Cultural Framework in Europe
Realism
Genesis
By mid-century, in France, certain artists were called realistic because they intended to reflect the society of that time, as opposed to romantic fantasies and dreams. Since then, Realism is often presented as the antithesis of Romanticism. This is not quite accurate. In some romantic writers, along with the features of the movement, realistic pictures were admirable (as in novels such as Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, or typical genre paintings).
It would be more accurate to say that the transition from Romanticism to Realism occurs through a double process: a) elimination of certain elements such as the fantastic, sentimental excess, etc., and b) further development of the interest in nature, both regional and customary, and in the everyday.
Features
- Scrutiny and faithful reproduction of life. The writer has internalized the lessons of the experimental method of sociology or psychology. They document their work in the field, taking notes on the environment, people, their dress, etc. This desire for accuracy will be reflected in the description of behavior or environment—rural or urban, refined or popular (Balzac, Dickens, Galdós)—and in the description of characters, the source of the great psychological novel (Flaubert, Dostoyevsky).
- In the narrative, the writer adopts an attitude of a more or less objective chronicler.
- Descriptions of types or environments acquire a significant role in the play.
- The style tends toward sobriety. In dialogues, the language is adapted to the nature of the characters, for example, the reflection of popular speech, among others.
- The novel is the genre best suited to the purposes of the realistic and naturalistic movement.
Naturalism
Naturalism is a current established by the French novelist Émile Zola (1840-1902). To the tenets of Realism, Zola added some elements from typical doctrines of his time:
- Materialism: It denies the spiritual part of man; feelings, ideals, and so on, are considered products of the organism.
- Determinism: Human behavior is marked by biological inheritance and social conditions.
- The experimental method: Like a scientist experimenting with their guinea pigs, the novelist must experiment with their characters, placing them in certain situations to show that their behavior depends on heredity and the environment.
Several literary consequences derive from the previous premises:
- Regarding themes, settings, and characters, there are many “strong” issues: base passions and characters who are morons, alcoholics, and psychopaths; people who obey, without knowing it, their genetic tendencies, but whose reactions differ according to the environment in which they have been educated.
- In technique and style, the methods of observation and documentation of Realism are carried to their logical conclusion. Speech reproduction also becomes more accurate.
Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920)
Benito Pérez Galdós was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, although most of his life was spent in Madrid. His only occupation was literature, to which he dedicated himself tenaciously and tirelessly. He knew almost all of Spain and also traveled abroad. He intervened in political life—he became a deputy—and belonged to the Academy of Language. His last years were very sad: he lost his vision, suffered economic hardship, and endured unfair treatment of his work and his person, attacked by some hard-liners in Spanish society.
Galdós was a shy and retiring man who lived a humble life, without great pretensions. As for ideology, he was a progressive liberal, open-minded and tolerant. He is paired with Dickens, Stendhal, and Balzac in the great 19th-century European novel. After Cervantes, he is the most important Spanish novelist.
The First Novels
The first novels are thesis novels. In them, the author, in order to defend a particular ideology, creates characters and models a reality in terms of what he wants to say. The characters are types that embody an idea and are sharply divided, with a primary Manichaeism, into good and bad. The two most representative novels are Doña Perfecta (1876) and Gloria (1877), in which he attacks intransigence and fanaticism. In the first, conflict arises between the intolerance, arrogance, and hypocrisy of Doña Perfecta and the liberal progressivism of her nephew, Pepe Rey, who will end up being a victim of the former. In Gloria, it is religious intolerance that prevents the union of two people who love each other but are of different religions.
The “Contemporary Spanish Novels”
This is how Galdós himself called his group of novels that include the best titles of his work. Abandoning the thesis novels, Galdós becomes a critical observer, but impartial, of Spanish society. The main characteristics of these novels are the creation of environments reflected with remarkable accuracy, and the characterization of characters, which, while becoming schematic types, are full of truth and life.
Leopoldo Alas “Clarín” (1852-1901)
Born on April 25, 1852, in Zamora, where his family had moved from Oviedo due to the appointment of his father, Genaro García Alas, as governor of the city of León. Leopoldo was the third child of the marriage.
At home, they spoke continually of Asturias, and his mother, with some nostalgia, told stories of the land of their ancestors. This environment greatly influenced the spirit of the child Leopoldo, who always felt more Asturian than from Zamora, although throughout his life he retained a special affection for the land where he was born.
At the age of seven, he enrolled to study at the Jesuit college located in the city of León in the San Marcos building (now a parador). From the start, he was able to adapt to the rules and discipline of the center, so that within a few months he was considered a model student. His teammates knew him by the nickname “the Governor,” in allusion to his father’s occupation. His biographers say that this student stage engendered in Leopoldo a religious sentimentality and a moral principle of great discipline that were the basis of his character. In this first school year, he won a blue ribbon and a literary prize trophy. He kept it all his life, and it was among the most precious items in the family museum.
In La Regenta, considered one of the best novels of the 19th century, Leopoldo Alas introduces some characters of naturalistic character.
Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921)
Emilia Pardo Bazán was one of the most prominent Spanish writers of the 19th century. She wrote over 500 works using a variety of literary genres, although she is best known as a novelist. One of her greatest contributions was spreading the literary movement of Naturalism in Spain, beginning a great debate on the subject. Pardo Bazán was also one of the first feminists of her time. She published several articles of complaint in which the sexism prevalent in Spain is evident, and she suggests changes for women, starting with the possibility of an education similar to that received by men in Spain. She introduced Naturalism, whose principles she used partially, tempered by her religious conscience.