Introduction
-
Svend Erik Larsen
Abstract
Pathways through realism, the second of the two volumes within the Landscapes of realism project, is the most recent addition to the series A comparative history of literatures in European languages. The Introduction to Volume I, Mapping realism, also serves as a general introduction to the project as a whole; written by the volume’s three editors, Dirk Göttsche, Rosa Mucignat and Robert Weninger, but discussed and approved by all six editors of the two volumes, it delineates the project’s theoretical and conceptual premises, presents some background on its structure, and outlines its approach to literary studies as part of a collaborative project in comparative literary history – while also detailing the limits imposed on the project and its scope by the nature of its subject. The present volume is built on that same foundation. For a description of the overall parameters and modi operandi of the project as well as for additional bibliographical references, we hence refer the reader also to the bibliography included in the project’s general Introduction in Volume I. However, we find it important nonetheless to share here with readers new to the project some of its background and guiding principles. We begin with a condensed recapitulation of the argument presented in that general introduction, followed by an overview of the aims, structure and contents of Pathways through realism.
Abstract
Pathways through realism, the second of the two volumes within the Landscapes of realism project, is the most recent addition to the series A comparative history of literatures in European languages. The Introduction to Volume I, Mapping realism, also serves as a general introduction to the project as a whole; written by the volume’s three editors, Dirk Göttsche, Rosa Mucignat and Robert Weninger, but discussed and approved by all six editors of the two volumes, it delineates the project’s theoretical and conceptual premises, presents some background on its structure, and outlines its approach to literary studies as part of a collaborative project in comparative literary history – while also detailing the limits imposed on the project and its scope by the nature of its subject. The present volume is built on that same foundation. For a description of the overall parameters and modi operandi of the project as well as for additional bibliographical references, we hence refer the reader also to the bibliography included in the project’s general Introduction in Volume I. However, we find it important nonetheless to share here with readers new to the project some of its background and guiding principles. We begin with a condensed recapitulation of the argument presented in that general introduction, followed by an overview of the aims, structure and contents of Pathways through realism.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of illustrations xi
- Editors’ preface and acknowledgments xiii
- Note on translations, cross-references and documentation xv
- Introduction 1
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Chapter 1. Psychological pathways
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Core essay
- “Memories inwrought with affection” 29
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Case studies
- The interplay between emotion and memory 135
- Situations of sympathy 151
- The poetics of disgust in realist fiction 169
- Attunement 185
- Spanish and Latin American memory novels 201
- History and untold memories 217
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Chapter 2. Referential pathways
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Core essay
- Material matters 233
-
Case studies
- Curating realism in a world of objects 271
- Caricature and realism 287
- Realism and allegory 303
- “Distance avails not” 317
- Toward affective realism 337
- Posthumanism and realism 351
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Chapter 3. Formal pathways
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Core essay
- Dynamics of realist forms 367
-
Case studies
- Forms of realism in children’s literature 473
- Early theatrical realism on page and stage 489
- Poetry, Pessoa and realism 503
- The making of the historical narrative in the Swahili utenzi 519
- Photography and dissent in John Lewis’s graphic novel March 535
- The visions of John Ball 549
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Chapter 4. Geographical pathways
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Core essay
- Dialogic encounters 565
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Case studies
- Varieties of theatrical realism after Ibsen 667
- Is there a notion of ‘realism’ in traditional China? 685
- Worlding of realism 703
- The real magic in Miguel Ángel Asturias’s magical realism 721
- Narrate or describe 737
- Realism in the colony 751
- Notes on contributors 763
- Index 767
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of illustrations xi
- Editors’ preface and acknowledgments xiii
- Note on translations, cross-references and documentation xv
- Introduction 1
-
Chapter 1. Psychological pathways
-
Core essay
- “Memories inwrought with affection” 29
-
Case studies
- The interplay between emotion and memory 135
- Situations of sympathy 151
- The poetics of disgust in realist fiction 169
- Attunement 185
- Spanish and Latin American memory novels 201
- History and untold memories 217
-
Chapter 2. Referential pathways
-
Core essay
- Material matters 233
-
Case studies
- Curating realism in a world of objects 271
- Caricature and realism 287
- Realism and allegory 303
- “Distance avails not” 317
- Toward affective realism 337
- Posthumanism and realism 351
-
Chapter 3. Formal pathways
-
Core essay
- Dynamics of realist forms 367
-
Case studies
- Forms of realism in children’s literature 473
- Early theatrical realism on page and stage 489
- Poetry, Pessoa and realism 503
- The making of the historical narrative in the Swahili utenzi 519
- Photography and dissent in John Lewis’s graphic novel March 535
- The visions of John Ball 549
-
Chapter 4. Geographical pathways
-
Core essay
- Dialogic encounters 565
-
Case studies
- Varieties of theatrical realism after Ibsen 667
- Is there a notion of ‘realism’ in traditional China? 685
- Worlding of realism 703
- The real magic in Miguel Ángel Asturias’s magical realism 721
- Narrate or describe 737
- Realism in the colony 751
- Notes on contributors 763
- Index 767
