Henry, frank norris, jack london. Plan: I. Introduction II. Main part

Chapter 1. The second world war in American literature
1.1 One of the most important writers
A very important person concerning American realism is William Dean Howells, editor of the „Atlantic Monthly“ magazine, which contained texts by Mark Twain as well as by other so called „local colorists“ such as e.g. Bret Harte. But Howells didn’t only publish this magazine, he also wrote himself, mostly about topics like love, ambition, idealism and temptation. Another subject which was very important for him was the corruption of emerging business tycoons, with which he deals in „The Rise of Silas Lapham“.
A kind of contrary to the local colorists were the so called „cosmopolitain novelists“ like e.g. Henry James who’s writing was on a very high level. James is, apart from Mark Twain, regarded as the greatest American novelist of the second half of the 19th century. He is mostly concerned with the so called „international theme“, meaning the complex relationships between the „naive“ Americans and „cosmopolitain“ Europeans.
A third cathegory of realists are the naturalists, who often wrote about social problems and who were strongly influenced by Darwinism and determinism. Determinism in this case means the denial of a religious force as leader adn creator of the world and instead the idea of the universe as a machine that could not be controlled.
One of the best and one of the earliest naturalistic novels is „Maggie: A Girl of the Streets“ by Stephen Crane, published in 1893. Maggie, a poor and sensitive girl is neglected by her parents, runs away with a man who deserts her, becomes a prostitute and finally commits suicide.
A naturalistic author who is known better than Crane today is Jack London, famous for „The Son of the Wolf“ (1900) and „The Sea Wolf“ (1904). London was the highest paid U.S. writer of that time, but nevertheless he never forgot that in his past he had been a poor worker and that’s why all his novels kept their down - to - earth style².