Book Chapter
Details
Citation
Hames S (2013) Realism and Romance. In: McCracken-Flesher C (ed.) Approaches to Teaching the Works of Robert Louis Stevenson. MLA Approaches to Teaching World Literature, 124. New York: Modern Language Association, pp. 61-68. http://www.mla.org/store/PID449
Abstract
First paragraph: Stevenson was the outstanding romancer os his age but also a crucial participant in the 1880s debate that first consolidated a theory of novelistic realism in English-language criticism. This essay documents his role in that 'art of fiction' debate with a particular interest in denaturalizing realism for undergraduates, both formally and historically. Revisiting Stevenson's dialogue with Henry James and appreciating the strength of his arguments against realism (he calls it 'the devil' in Letters 4: 141) can enrich and complicate monolithic notions of the novel's essential trueness to life. This episode also illuminates the reductive literary history that makes Stevenson's defense of romance sound so 'late' and his antirealism sound so 'early'.
| Status | Published |
|---|---|
| Title of series | MLA Approaches to Teaching World Literature |
| Number in series | 124 |
| Publication date | 31/12/2013 |
| URL | http://hdl.handle.net/1893/21170 |
| Publisher | Modern Language Association |
| Publisher URL | http://www.mla.org/store/PID449 |
| Place of publication | New York |
| ISBN | 9781603291217 |
People (1)
Senior Lecturer, English Studies