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Jayatee Bhattacharya, Lovely Professional University Unit 27: Realism, Naturalism, Imagism and Surrealism

Unit 27: Realism, Naturalism, Notes

Imagism and Surrealism

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
27.1 Realism
27.2 Naturalism
27.3 Imagism
27.4 Surrealism
27.5 Summary
27.6 Keywords
27.7 Review Questions
27.8 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
Describe realism and naturalism.
Define imagism.
Explain surrealism.

Introduction

Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects “in
accordance with secular, empirical rules”, as they are considered to exist in third person objective
reality, without embellishment or interpretation. As such, the approach inherently implies a
belief that such reality is ontologically independent of man’s conceptual schemes, linguistic
practices and beliefs, and thus can be known (or knowable) to the artist, who can in turn represent
this ‘reality’ faithfully. As Ian Watt states, modern realism “begins from the position that truth
can be discovered by the individual through the senses” and as such “it has its origins in Descartes
and Locke, and received its first full formulation by Thomas Reid in the middle of the eighteenth
century.”

27.1 Realism

Realism often refers more specifically to the artistic movement, which began in France in the
1850s. Realism in France appears after the 1848 Revolution. These realists positioned themselves
against romanticism, a genre dominating French literature and artwork in the late 18th and
early 19th centuries. Seeking to be undistorted by personal bias, Realism believed in the
ideology of objective reality and revolted against the exaggerated emotionalism of the Romantic
Movement. Truth and accuracy became the goals of many Realists. Many paintings depicted
people at work, underscoring the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution and
Commercial Revolutions. The popularity of such ‘realistic’ works grew with the introduction
of photography — a new visual source that created a desire for people to produce
representations which look “objectively real.”

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