How real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war British fiction
Despite its apparent precision in meaning, realism as a once-held literary school of thought provokes controversies regarding its basic definition and the works attributed to it. This is particularly the case with the postmodern use of the term, most specifically in relation to fiction, with realism...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
2013
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/41080/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/41080/1/88.%20How%20Real%20is%20Real%20Attitudes%20towards%20Realism%20in%20Selected.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848849599659245568 |
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| author | Moghadam, Nahid Shahbazi Ali Termizi, Arbaayah |
| author_facet | Moghadam, Nahid Shahbazi Ali Termizi, Arbaayah |
| author_sort | Moghadam, Nahid Shahbazi |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Despite its apparent precision in meaning, realism as a once-held literary school of thought provokes controversies regarding its basic definition and the works attributed to it. This is particularly the case with the postmodern use of the term, most specifically in relation to fiction, with realism generally asserted as the traditional language of the genre. This paper is an attempt to discuss the implication and tenets of realism, its progress and changes, in selected works of post-war British fiction. Accordingly, Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast, and Ian McEwan’s Atonement are dealt with to trace realism within their respective modes of new realism, fantastic-grotesque and postmodern metafiction. Having survived the early twentieth century allure of modernism, realism has gradually evolved into a new identity capable of emerging in and mingling with new modes prevalent in postmodern fiction. Owing to the spirit of the time immediately following the Second World War and the particularities of different authors, the postmodern realism has gone beyond a mere portrayal of the objective world and is in demand of a refreshed understanding of the new outlooks contemporary realism has the potentiality to offer. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T09:52:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-41080 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T09:52:58Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Universiti Putra Malaysia Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-410802015-12-02T03:56:43Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/41080/ How real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war British fiction Moghadam, Nahid Shahbazi Ali Termizi, Arbaayah Despite its apparent precision in meaning, realism as a once-held literary school of thought provokes controversies regarding its basic definition and the works attributed to it. This is particularly the case with the postmodern use of the term, most specifically in relation to fiction, with realism generally asserted as the traditional language of the genre. This paper is an attempt to discuss the implication and tenets of realism, its progress and changes, in selected works of post-war British fiction. Accordingly, Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast, and Ian McEwan’s Atonement are dealt with to trace realism within their respective modes of new realism, fantastic-grotesque and postmodern metafiction. Having survived the early twentieth century allure of modernism, realism has gradually evolved into a new identity capable of emerging in and mingling with new modes prevalent in postmodern fiction. Owing to the spirit of the time immediately following the Second World War and the particularities of different authors, the postmodern realism has gone beyond a mere portrayal of the objective world and is in demand of a refreshed understanding of the new outlooks contemporary realism has the potentiality to offer. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2013-12 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/41080/1/88.%20How%20Real%20is%20Real%20Attitudes%20towards%20Realism%20in%20Selected.pdf Moghadam, Nahid Shahbazi and Ali Termizi, Arbaayah (2013) How real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war British fiction. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 21 (4). pp. 1457-1470. ISSN 0128-7702; ESSN: 2231-8534 http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2021%20(4)%20Dec.%202013/13%20Page%201457-1470%20(JSSH%200458-2011).pdf |
| spellingShingle | Moghadam, Nahid Shahbazi Ali Termizi, Arbaayah How real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war British fiction |
| title | How real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war British fiction |
| title_full | How real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war British fiction |
| title_fullStr | How real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war British fiction |
| title_full_unstemmed | How real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war British fiction |
| title_short | How real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war British fiction |
| title_sort | how real is real: attitudes towards realism in selected post-war british fiction |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/41080/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/41080/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/41080/1/88.%20How%20Real%20is%20Real%20Attitudes%20towards%20Realism%20in%20Selected.pdf |