Reflection upon Principles and Theoretical Foundations of Realism in Literature

Realism is one of the terms in Literature and Literary Criticism which entails multiple meanings. It can be applied both to a certain Nineteenth-Century literary movement and to a style in storytelling which endeavors to، as far as possible، depict life as it really is. This article tries to investigate the features of Realism after briefly going through different interpretations of the term and various approaches to analyzing Realistic works. So firstly، Realism has been explored as a historical concept as opposed to Romanticism and then its features have been presented. Following that، the social essence of the author’s weltanschauung reflected in Realistic works، and the radical ideological approach of Social Realism have been expounded. Based upon scholar’s opinions، verisimilitude in Realism has been evaluated in two sections: verisimilitude in relation to society and verisimilitude related to literary texts. And finally the views of the opponents and critics of Realism have been briefly held out.