American Narrative Realism

The Novel, Film, Television, and Theater

David R. Shumway

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2025
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009660136
• Subtopic: North American Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Realism has been disparaged for over a hundred years as an outmoded form, and, more recently, as a pernicious illusion, typical of nineteenth-century novels and Hollywood movies alike. After a long period of disrepute, realism has had in recent years something of a revival among critics and theorists. Yet this revival still represents a minority, and much of the old critique of realism remains taken for granted. This book treats realism as a persistent aspect of narrative in American culture, especially after World War II. It does not seek to elevate realism above other forms of fictional narrative – that is, to restore it to some real or imagined past supremacy. Rather, the goal is to reclaim realism as a narrative practice that has remained vital despite a long history of critical disapproval, by showing how it functions in significant recent works across media.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Series information
• Title page
• Imprints page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Redefining Realism
• Chapter 2 Howard Hawks and the Illusion of Classic Era Realism
• Chapter 3 Print Fiction: The Persistence of Realism in Updike’s Rabbit Novels
• Chapter 4 Theatrical Realism and August Wilson’s Century Cycle
• Chapter 5 Realism and Long-Form TV: The Wire
• Conclusion: Realism, Its Others, and Climate Fiction
• Notes
• Works Cited
• Index