Related Words

Realism: A loosely applied term used to describe a painting that looks 'real' or has a strong or unpleasant subject.

Magic Realism: In 1925, Franz Roh first applied the term 'magic realism' (magischer Realismus in German) to a group of neue Saqchlichkeit painters in Munich (Cuddon 531). These painters blended realistic, . . . View Full Definition

Psychological Realism: The sense that characters in fictional narratives have realistic 'interiority' or complex emotional and intellectual depth, including perhaps subconscious urges and fears they are not aware . . . View Full Definition

Social Realism: In literature, a branch of realism, especially significant in Russian writing, that focuses on the lives of middle and lower class characters (see realism). At its worst, the movement become . . . View Full Definition

Surrealism: A movement in painting popular in the 1930s, concerned with the world of dreams. It was vaguely funded on the ideas of the psychoanalyst Freud.

New Realism: Is an alternative name for new objectivity.

Science Fiction: Literature in which speculative technology, time travel, alien races, intelligent robots, gene-engineering, space travel, experimental medicine, psionic abilities, dimensional portals, or al . . . View Full Definition

Postmodernism: A general (and often hotly debated) label referring to the philosophical, artistic, and literary changes and tendencies after the 1940s and 1950s up to the present day. We can speak of postm . . . View Full Definition

Deconstruction: An interpretive movement in literary theory that reached its apex in the 1970s. Deconstruction rejects absolute interpretations, stressing ambiguities and contradictions in literature. Decon . . . View Full Definition

Fantasy Literature: Any literature that is removed from reality--especially poems, books, or short narratives set in nonexistent worlds, such as an elvish kingdom, on the moon, in Pellucidar (the hollow center . . . View Full Definition