In art, realism is a trend that aims to imitate nature.
The concept of realism allows us to identify the way of telling, presenting, considering or perceiving what happens as it happens . As a result of this, it can be said that the realist position has the particularity of avoiding exaggerations: it only narrates specific events.
For example: "Let's look at the situation realistically: the patient is serious, but we are working to save him" is a phrase that refers to a person's state of health . If we consider that this severity is verifiable, expressions such as "He has nothing, he will return home in a few days" (minimizes the severity) or "He is already lost, nothing can be done" (exaggerates reality) are not realistic.
Realism in philosophy and art
It should be noted that realism also identifies a philosophical doctrine that is characterized by highlighting the objective existence of concepts of a universal nature. From the perspective of modern philosophy , realism constitutes knowledge based on the idea that objects that can be perceived through the senses have an existence that is independent of themselves.
In the field of art , the aesthetic structure that seeks to emerge as a faithful imitation of nature is known as realism. We can talk about pictorial realism (which aims to capture reality in paintings) or literary realism (whose texts try to provide testimony about a certain era).
Honoré de Balzac was one of the promoters of literary realism.
The concept in literature
Literary realism had its origin in the first half of the 19th century and its precursors were Honoré de Balzac and Stendhal . It was an aesthetic trend that prevailed in the face of the prevailing romanticism of the time. Opposing not only ideological issues but also structurally, causing a resounding break between the letters of the 19th century.
One of the fundamental characteristics of this current is that, unlike romanticism, it focused its attention on society and not the individual. The authors began to specifically describe what the town was like and objectively painted the social problems that were occurring; This is how what would be called bourgeois novel arose. This new inclination was not only reflected in the scenic descriptions but also in the interaction of the characters, for whom a more colloquial expressiveness was sought. They were made to adopt the form of language appropriate for each of them, taking into account their social stratum, their education and other issues that may indicate how an individual should communicate.
Other aspects to highlight about this movement are the use of:
* The detailed description : with a special interest in the enumerations;
* Long paragraphs : with predominance of subordination;
* The reproduction of popular speech : without any type of decorations or idealizations;
* An objective narrator : where the figure of the writer was imperceptible, as if the events he told did not imply him in any way.
Notable authors of literary realism
Among the most notable authors we can mention Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Benito Perez Galdós, Charles Dickens and Gustave Flaubert. Fedor Dostoyevsky could also be included on the list, although some prefer to place him within existentialism, given his immense interest in topics such as human psychology and philosophical questions related to the meaning of life .
Finally, there is a variant of realism in literature, which is known as magical realism . It is a literary movement that emerged in Latin America in the middle of the 20th century and is characterized by introducing fantastic elements in the middle of a realistic narrative. The Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez is one of the main exponents of this literary movement.
In favor of the monarchy
In addition, the concept is also used to refer to that opinion, comment, thought or doctrine that favors the monarchy .
In this sense we can find expressions such as the following: "In colonial times, the forces of realism faced each other in bloody battles against the independence movements of Latin America."