Realism as an artistic and literary movement emerged in the mid-19th century. It emphasizes things as it is rather than exaggerating them. In the world of literature and art, the transition of things from the romanticism of scenes and characters to realism and its effects on the real-life world has brought a big change. Realism captures the essence of human nature and experiences. The artist and authors also shift them from this exaggeration of heroes and villains to the real-life problems an individual every day.
Moreover, the talk of motivation and its psychology in relation to the characters is also there.Earlier, there was discussion about heroic figures only. The art movement has seen a lot of change in it, as there has been a lot of detailing about everyday scenes like poverty, diseases deaths, etc.
Also Read: The psychology behind promises
Psychological Factors Behind Realism
1) Desire For Authenticity:
Realists aimed to present everyday life and avoid the usage of idealized figures. They focused more on showing the harsh and bitter truth of life rather than the romanticization that was quite popular earlier. Moreover, it is important to note that realism is a philosophy about how we live our lives. As it was believed that people should know about the truths of life even if it makes them uncomfortable.
Many people believed that Art has the power to bring revolutionary change and it is used by the realists to make a social change. It is also able to highlight many issues like injustice, and the gender equality people face in our society. Furthermore, it aims to bring out the lives of underprivileged people through social and political reforms. Realism leaves a large impact on the art world and its influences can be seen in today’s world.
2) Influence Of Positivism:
Many realists were prompted by the upward push of scientific ideas and positivism. This rise is evident within the nineteenth century and believed that there is an outside truth. This reality is independent of our perception. Realism specializes in each objective commentary and empirical evidence on the way to apprehend our environment.
To recognize the arena that works on works on nature’s principles, the idea of clinical idea got here into the image. As we have seen an advancement in technology helps scientists to make accurate, reliable data that consists of hypothesis, testing, experimenting, and drawing a conclusion from it. Positivism is an idea that got here out of scientific concept. Positivism believes that reality must be based on the matters we are able to see, and observe as opposed to listening to our instincts.
Also Read: What is Planning Fallacy?
Moreover, scientific thought and positivism have an impact on realists. As they believed that to understand reality, objectivity can help. Beliefs and values are not reliable sources to acknowledge reality. Hence, this rise of empirical evidence and objective observation created a direct result in the growth of scientific thought and positivism in the 19th century.
3) Interest In Inner Psychology:
Realism as we said earlier attempts to capture the real essence of life that further helps to understand the world.Moreover, realist authors also focused more on the inner reality of their characters which includes their emotions, fear, intelligence, and motivation. This tradition is still used in today’s world to make people understand real-life characters and readers can relate to it. The motive realists’ cognizance of the internal truth is that they need to explore their motivation, emotions, and emotions. Additionally, in addition, they want to peer into the complex nature of human conduct, and the way their past reviews affect their inner realities.
Other crucial parts of existence, encompassing a person’s relationships, friendships, and forgiveness also make realists discover these topics in life. The use of metaphors and logos is also being used to understand internal facts. Finally, the depiction of psychological and emotional states seizes truth and adds extra relatability for the readers.
Also Read: A Nuance Look At Social Media and Self-Perception
4) Rejections Of Imagination:
Realists rejected imaginative plots, and fanciful settings and desired extra plausibility, relatability, and mundane topics. The French author Honoré de Balzac, who depicted realism in a much detailed way, could understand this. He wanted to create comprehensive and realistic portraits of the French people’s life. Moreover, he also talked about the characters, how complex and flawed, they are and what were their motivations in great depth.
He also shows the struggles of lower-class people living in the countryside. Another author Mark Twain known as the father of realism, examines the common people’s life in the American West and wrote about the harshness they faced.
Realism Impacts on Viewers
Creating Relatable Content:
Realism impacts viewers as it attempts to create relatability. To show this relatedness, they target topics that create a sense of familiarity. These topics could be family relationships, struggles you face, career choices you make, and many more. These themes will make readers things enjoyable to them. All these things people face create an impact on their mental health as well, therefore adding this theme will make people aware of it. The use of language also helps to break the barrier between the reader and the characters and create familiarity between them. Moreover, using the language that people understand also makes people feel whatever the character is feeling more accurately. Not only it will make people empathetic toward the characters but also it will also emotional connection between the viewers and the text.
Provokes Reflection On Social And Political Issues:
Another way to create an impact is by provoking reflection on social or political issues. By writing something that talks about social or political things, readers can have a better understanding of the characters and know what is going around them together. This will add more meaning to the whole context and help to convey the message the writer wants to convey. Moreover, it allows readers to put forth their views on the situation. Lastly, realism rejects the fantasy and imagination people carry in their minds, and accepts the internal emotions, feelings, and motivations of the individual.
References+
Leave feedback about this