LITERATURE AND REALITY

The relation between fiction and reality i.e. the illusion of reality has played a central role
in the understanding and defining of literature throughout its entire history. That is why, this
relation usually referred to as MIMESIS has been openly acknowledged as a key issue.
Yet paradoxically, theorists and writers cannot seem to agree upon a unanimously accepted
perception of it. Different literary trends and schools of literary criticism hae gien it aried
and contradictory interpretations. To trace them all back throughout the history of literature
and, respectiely, of literary criticism is not, howeer, the main goal of this practical course.
!onse"uently, the further discussion will be limited to the presentation of the key issues
related to mimesis that enhance our understanding of the mechanisms of representation in
fiction.
The origins of this concern with the relation between literature and reality can be
traced back to #lato and $ristotle. The former is, actually, the first to hae introduced the
concept of mimesis or, in his terms, imitation% copy of reality. &n fact, he distinguished
between direct imitation of speech or dialogue and indirect imitation of reality or
summari'ing narration. Their combination was not, according to #lato, always to be benefited
from, as the resulting copies of reality, mere substitutes for the things themseles may,
unfortunately, be false or illusory substitutes that stir up antisocial emotions (iolence or
weakness) and they may represent bad persons and actions, encouraging imitation of eil.
(*. +. T. ,itchell, -../0 -12-/)
&t was then the task of the latter to rehabilitate the concept and to reeal it in a different
light by relating it not to the dichotomic pair true% false, but with truth and possibility%
likeness. Thus, as contemporary interpretations of the $ristotelian text hae clearly pointed
out, mimesis appears thus not as a mere, perfect imitation % copy of reality but a
representational model of it. (3ee ,ieke 4al, -.560 -760 -71)
$s 8. 9eech also emphasi'es, readers should keep in mind not to compare two
incomparable things0 language and extralinguistic realities. (-..60 -/6) the understanding of
a piece of writing fictional or non2fictional can only be explained in terms of our existing
model(s) of reality. To put it otherwise, our making sense of a piece of writing, in general, is
influenced, on the one hand, by the structure of fact, explanation, supposition, which draws
on our already existing knowledge and, on the other hand, by the plausibility of the report,
i.e. the possibility of making plausible connections between one act and another. (9eech,
-..60 -/1) &n the end, the written text can offer but a representational model which may
turn out to be more or less faithful to the represented reality.
3emantic leel 3emantic leel
*riter 3yntactic leel 3yntactic leel :eader
encodes decodes
8raphological leel 8raphological leel
Text
;
,odel of reality ,odel of reality
,essage ,essage
<ig. 1.;. in 8. 9eech, -..60 -6=. The diagram of the communication process (in written
language) indicating also the possible leels for the study of style (where stylistic ariation
might occur)
$s 9eech repeatedly emphasi'es, communication (>) always has to do with some
general UNIVERSE OF REFERENCE or MODEL OF REALITY which we as human
beings carry insides our heads, and which consists of all the things we know, beliee, ?udge or
understand to be the case in the world in which we lie. @ow we hae ac"uired this model of
reality need not concern us, nor need the complexities of its structure. &t will be sufficient to
regard it as the starting point and finishing point of communication in an informational sense.
That is, when we inform someone by means of language, we retriee a message from our
model of reality and, by means of encoding and decoding of language, transfer it to the
addressee, who then fits it into his own model of reality. (>) the same thing happens in
fictional discourse, except that it is a postulated or imagined model of reality in short, a
fiction that is transferred to the addressee. (-..60 -6/)
&neitably, throughout the history of literature, the arious perspecties on the rules
goerning the representations of reality in fiction hae caused writers and theorists to
distinguish between types of fiction. The oldest three types seem to be the MIMETIC, the
PARAMIMETIC and the ANTIMIMETIC types which hae co2existed at all leels in the
history of literature.
2 MIMETIC LITERATURE0 it is based on the idea that the literary work is highly
dependent upon the outer reality to be represented as faithfully as possible.
2 PARAMIMETIC LITERATURE0 the external reality is ignored, een surpassed by
the work that creates its own referentA otherwise, the fictional unierse is created as
an allegorical or metaphorical model of some empirical relationships.
2 ANTIMIMETIC LITERATURE0 it puts forth a definite break with the empirical
reality which is replaced by language as the substance to be moulded by the literary
work, thus creating a new, different model of reality. ($. Bgor'elski, -.510 ;C62;C=)
REALISM: A LITERARY TREND AND / OR
A MODE OF DISCOURSE
$t this point, an important remark should be made0 certain cautiousness is needed in the use
of the term REALISM since Dit is crammed with definitions and connotations. (#hilip
3tewart, -.=.0 ;)
&n the narrow sense, REALISM is strictly applied to the artistic moement spreading
throughout Europe especially during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Fnlike the
:omantics, the :ealists placed the emphasis on telling the truth about ordinary life, about
heroes and heroines determined by their social enironment.
Yet, in the broader sense, as twentieth2century criticism has shown, REALISM should
be perceied rather as techni"ue that can be referred to not only in the case of the literary
productions of the aboe mentioned literary trend, but also of other historical periods, here
including of the eighteenth2century Enlightenment. &n this sense, one could identify, in the
history of literature, different types of realism but neer absolute realism, because language
by its ery nature is a ehicle for abstraction and differentiation. (9eech, -..60 -/-) The
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degree of realism of a piece of fiction is definitely influenced by the purpose of the writer
and the effect on the reader. (-..60 -/6)
Gne of the "uestions that a writer probably always asks himself in embarking upon the
writing process is0 *hat kinds of detail, and how much detail, should be added to fill out the
Hmodel of realityIJ (-..60 -//) There are artistic criteria of releance that the writer must
consider in this respect.
-. SYMBOLISM. There is the impulse to specify such details, in the mock2reality, as can be
interpreted as standing for something beyond themseles, something uniersally important in
the human condition. &n this sense, the message itself, in literature, becomes a code, a
symbolic structure. &n the generic framework of a dramati'ation of general human conflicts,
each character, place, incident could be elaborated in such a way as to be representatie, to
some extent, of a type or category of human experience. (9eech, -..60 -//2/=)
6. VERISIMILITUDE. 4ut is it important to balance the impulse towards uniersality
against the impulse towards indiiduality. The latter may also influence the artistic choice of
detail lending the text verisimilitude or the illusion of reality, i.e. the sense of being in the
presence of actual indiidual things eents, people, and places. (9eech, -..60 -/=)
&n defining erisimilitude, howeer, a more refined perspectie may also be adopted,
as suggested by literary theorists like T'etan Todoro (-.71). $ccording to him, the
erisimilitude of a piece of writing must encompass two coordinated focusing both on content
and on form.
Thus, on the one hand, stress is laid on the relationship of fiction to the contemporary
reality to be represented, i.e. to the extralinguistic material. The ability of the literary work to
raise and to try to answer ethical "uestions (as related to key issues in the social and political
life, gender relations, etc.) is, in this way, assessed. <or the eighteenth2century fiction that the
practical course will further deal with, these ethical "uestions refer to how the social order is
related to the internal moral state of its members (,cKeon, -.5.0 6C), as the mission of the
noel is to coney a moral message in order to accomplish an educational task.
Gn the other hand, interest must be taken in the relationship to the rules that goern the
literary discourse itself, i.e. the acknowledged aesthetic codes. Despite its directness and
simplicity, realism, as a mode of writing, is not a simple or artless modeA on the contrary, it
inoles careful choices on the part of the writers that might enable them to create the illusion
of a true and faithful representation of reality.
$ltogether, SYMBOLISM and VERISIMILITUDE need not be mutually exclusie.
The contribution of the specific detail may be both symbolic and realistic. (9eech, -..60 -/=2
/7)
;. CREDIBILITY. $s another aspect of realism, closely related to erisimilitude, credibility
may be defined as the likelihood, hence belieability, of the fiction as a Hpotential realityI,
gien that we apply our expectations and influences about the real world to fictional
happenings. (9eech, -..60 -/7) &n other words, a fiction tends to be credible to the extant
that it oerlaps with, or is a plausible extension of, our HrealI model of reality.
1. CONSISTENCY. There are, of course, exceptions from the rule such 3< works or noel
based on fantastic realism like +. 3wiftIs Gullivers Travels. They rather strike the readers by
the consistency of the detail which implicitly affects its credibility as well0 an unfamiliar
/
reality which obeys its own set of laws is more credible than one which does not. (9eech,
-..60 -/5)
The combination of erisimilitude and credibility is a main feature of the basically
HrealisticI kind of fiction, which thus establishes a contract of good faith with the reader, a
conention of authenticity. 4ut there are also cases when erisimilitude and credibility work
in opposite directions (e.g. 3wiftIs Gullivers Travels). Then the fabulous takes place against
the background of the belieable and this coexistence of commonsense and erisimilitude
suggests the satirical interpretation of the noel. (9eech, -..60 -/52-/.)
$ll in all, whateer its artistic function, specification of detail is a matter of degree and
it is not restricted to material facts, but could extend to Hnon2materialI things such as feelings,
thoughts and motifs as well.
PRACTICAL APPLICATI!"#
!onsider the following excerpts and discuss them in terms of the type of literature they are
representatie for. $dd to your comments remarks regarding the type% function of detail in the
framework of a certain type of realism that they illustrate0
a) H4achJI said 9ord Edward in a whisper.
#ongileoniIs blowing and the scrapping of the anonymous fiddlers had shaken the air
in the great hall, had set the glass of the windows looking on it it ibratingA and this in turn
had shaken the air in 9ord EdwardIs apartment on the further side. The shaking air rattled
9ord EdwardIs membrane tympani the interlocked malleus, incus and stirred up bones were in
motion so as to agitate the membrane of the oal window and raise an infinitesimal storm in
the fluid of the labyrinth. The hairy endings of the auditory nere shuddered like weeds in a
rough seaA a ast number of obscure miracles were performed in the brain, and 9ord Edward
ecstatically whispered H4achLI @e smiled with pleasure, his eyes lit up.
($ldous @uxley, Point ounter Point)
b) &s it possible for an ordinary person to climb oer the area railings of no.7 Eccles 3t, either
from the path or the steps, lower himself down from the lowest part of the railings till his feet
are within 6 feet or ; of the ground and drop unhurtJ & saw it done myself but by a man of
rather athletic build. & re"uire this information in detail in order to determine the wording of a
paragraph.
(+ames +oyce, !lysses)
c) & left my poor wife big with child, and accepted an adantageous offer made me, to be
captain of the "dventure, a stout merchantman, of ;/C tons> *e set sail from #ortsmouth
upon the 6
nd
day of $ugust -7-CA on the -1
th
we met with !aptain #ocock, of 4ristol, at
Teneriffe, who was going to the 4ay of !ampechy, to cut logwood. M>N
The !ountry round appeared like a continued 8arden, and the inclosed <ields, which
were generally <orty <oot s"uare, resembled so many 4eds of <lowers. These <ields were
intermingled with *oods of half a 3tang, and the tallest Trees, as & could ?udge, appeared to
be seen <oot high. & iewed the Town on my left @and, which looked like the painted 3cene
of a !ity in a Theatre. M...N The Emperor was already descended from the Tower, and
adancing on @orse2back towards me, which had like to hae cost him dearA for the 4east,
=
though ery well trained, yet wholly unused to such a 3ight, which appeared as if a ,ountain
moed before him, he reared up on his hinder <eet0 4ut that #rince, who is an excellent
@orse2man, kept his 3eat, till his $ttendants ran in, and held the 4ridle, while his ,a?esty had
time to dismount. *hen he alighted, he sureyed me round with great $dmiration, but kept
without the length of my !hain. @e ordered his !ooks and 4utlers, who were already
prepared, to gie me Oictuals and Drink, which they pushed forward in a sort of Oehicles
upon *heels till & could reach them. & took these Oehicles, and soon emptied them allA twenty
of them were filled with ,eat, and ten with 9i"uorA each of the former afforded me two or
three good ,outhfuls, and & emptied the 9i"uor of ten Oessels, which was contained in
earthen Oials, into one Oehicle, drinking it off at a DraughtA and so & did with the rest.
(+onathan 3wift, Gullivers Travels)
d) Pow to any one else & will undertake to proe, that all the oaths and imprecations which we
hae been puffing off upon the world for these two hundred and fifty years last past as
originals22except 3t. #aulQs thumb22 8odQs flesh and 8odQs fish, which were oaths
monarchical, and, considering who made them, not much amissA and as kings oaths, Qtis not
much matter whether they were fish or fleshA22else & say, there is not an oath, or at least a
curse amongst them, which has not been copied oer and oer again out of Ernulphus a
thousand times0 but, like all other copies, how infinitely short of the force and spirit of the
originalL22it is thought to be no bad oath22and by itself passes ery well22Q82d damn you.Q223et
it beside ErnulphusQs22Q8od almighty the <ather damn you228od the 3on damn you228od the
@oly 8host damn youQ22you see Qtis nothing.22There is an orientality in his, we cannot rise up
to0 besides, he is more copious in his inention22possessQd more of the excellencies of a
swearer22had such a thorough knowledge of the human frame, its membranes, neres,
ligaments, knittings of the ?oints, and articulations,22that when Ernulphus cursed22no part
escaped him.22QTis true there is something of a hardness in his manner22and, as in ,ichael
$ngelo, a want of grace22but then there is such a greatness of gustoL
(9aurence 3terne, Tristram #handy)


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