Following the Civil War, American literature entered the Realistic Period. Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, Henry James and Edith Wharton contributed significantly to the shift from romance to realism in prose. The Realistic Period was a reaction to Romanticism. It also included the so-called “local colour” writers: Bret Harte and Kate Chopin.
An objective approach to the description of human behaviour and concrete reality (faithful representation of life); a reaction to the highly subjective approach of Romanticism
Characteristic features of the period
1. The development of realism in American fiction (Mark Twain, Henry James).
2. The beginning of feminist fiction (Kate Chopin).
3. Local colour fiction (Kate Chopin, Bret Harte ).
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