AN ATTEMPT AT DEFINING THE CONCEPT OF LITERARY REALISM IN THE CRITICAL ARTICLES WRITTEN BY AUTHORS OF FRENCH REALISM
French Revolution (1789–1792) French Revolution French First Republic (1792–1804) French First Republic First French Empire under Napoleon I (1804–1814/1815) First French EmpireNapoleon I Bourbon Restoration under Louis XVIII and Charles X (1814/1815–1830) Bourbon RestorationLouis XVIIICharles X July Monarchy under Louis Philippe d'Orléans (1830–1848) July Monarchy Louis Philippe d'Orléans Second Republic (1848–1852) Second Republic Second Empire under Napoleon III (1852–1870 ) Second EmpireNapoleon III Long Depression ( ) Long Depression Belle Époque ( ) Belle Époque
FRENCH ROMANTICS: Alphonse de Lamartine (1790 – 1869) Alfred Vigny (1797 – 1863) Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885) Georges Sand (1804 – 1876) 1852 – appears The lady with the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas, Jr. HONORÉ DE BALZAC (1799 – 1850) STENDHAL (1793 – 1843)
imitating reality REALISM = fidelity to life/ experience/ observations of the presented Succes of creating the illusion of the reality is equial to the fail we can’t simultaneously enjoy the illusion an the realisation that it is illusion REALISM = disappointing encounter with the language
Authors like Balzac, Maupassant and Zola wrote numerous critical articles about their literary epoch and their poetics dissection of the process of writing literature in service of the society defining the “modern” novel