Edited by Dirk Göttsche, Rosa Mucignat and Robert Weninger
[Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages XXXII] 2021
► pp. 417–487
This chapter suggests avenues for a critical remapping and rereading of the supposedly well-known core phase of literary realism in the mid- to late nineteenth century, from the 1840s to the early 1900s, with timelines depending on language area. Building on “Routes into Realism,” this core essay and the associated case studies move beyond traditional linear conceptions of literary history, reconceptualizing realism as a multi-stranded and multi-phased dynamic embracing Europe’s language areas in a complex and polyphonous landscape of joint concerns and shared modes of representation, but also diverse voices and productive tensions that create a multidimensional set of playing fields (Spielräume) in motion. Considering a full range of literatures, the chapter explores the diversity of realism within and across languages; interactions between realism and romanticism, naturalism and modernism that question traditional periodization; and the dialogue between different national and transnational strands of realism. Specific themes include the intrinsic links between realism, modernization and nation-building; gender and the family; transcultural dialogue and the development of realist style; the postcolonial rereading of realist literature; and reading beyond the established canon and across genres, media and discourses, including science.