Week 10 Reading Notes A : The Polish Loses It's Shine

Realism Across the World

(625 - 630)

During the 19th century we experienced an expenditure in methods of travel. Trains and Steamships were among the leading message of transportation. But telegraph and other forms of communication or also on the rise. Writers could now gain access to books and works published all around the world. The more accessible the works became the more they influenced other writers. In a situation where an individual once had to travel to a far off land to gain access to their literature, no was made far more easy and inexpensive. (625)

Political revolution and industrial revolution in Britain and France influence the rise of realism in literature. (625) symbolism is also a popular literary device.

Higuchi Ichiyō : “… a Japanese woman writer, published fiction at the end of the nineteenth century that departed from Japanese literary conventions, startling and in chanting her readers with a new style and subject matter that felt fresh and lifelike.” (626)  her main focus in her writing for the poor and those who struggled in a marginalized society. Her economic viewpoint what is incorporated with impressive dialogue that sound more natural than the traditional Japanese that was used for characters in literature previously. Unlike many European writers, her style is entirely her own and she was not influenced by European novels.

“In the 19th century many artists felt he knew urgency to tell the unvarnished truth about the world, to observe social life unsentimentally, into convey it as objectively as possible.“ (626).

“The revolutionary overturning of old regimes and hierarchies, the rise of democracy in the middle class, and the industrial revolution – which created smoky, Grammy cities teaming with and impoverished working class – had already inspired writers to throw off old literary forms and conventions. “ - Translated, they were tired of glorifying and polishing their struggles. They wanted to show a life that was true, honest, and relatable. They no longer wanted sell fantasy, but to hold a mirror up to reality. (626)