Pam Morris

I like this New Critical Idiom series because it helps readers such as myself understand the history and current usage of common concepts, in this case realism, from the perspective of 21st century literary studies. Pam Morris's study of realism is particularly compelling because of the way she structures this volume: she begins with the Modernist and Poststructuralist/Postmodernist critiques of literary realism, then provides an overview of the development of realist literature in 19th century France and England, which is in turn followed by a useful discussion of literary realism as a formal art. It's a well-organized book that is both readable and sophisticated, and I was very satisfied with it.

My one complaint is a fairly obvious one considering my particular interests, and I'm certain that the author's response would emphasize the need to restrict the book's length to between 150 and 200 pages: there is little to no mention of literary realism's prehistory, a prehistory where the Spanish influence is, in my mind, crucial. I would have liked to get her view on how books like La Celestina, Amadís de Gaula, Lazarillo de Tormes, and Don Quijote de la Mancha influenced the later development of Western European realist literature. I think the linguistic innovations of Fernando de Rojas' play/novel in dialogue (it's a hard book to sort genre-wise), the rise and fall of the chivalric romance and its heroes (from Amadís and company through to Don Quijote and Sancho Panza), and the introduction of the autobiographical, first person narrative mode in the picaresque genre, together established a set of important formal paradigms for realist literature that paved the way for the French and English authors she discusses. I also think the wide popularity in translation of these books speaks to their influence on a continental level. If I were to suggest another chapter to this book, that would be it: a Spanish prehistory of the 19th century literary realism that, in her volume, is discussed as "an innovative tradition."… (mehr)