Synopsis "The Politics of Realism"
Exploring the controversial history of an aesthetic - realism - this book examines therole that realism plays in the negotiation of social, political, and material realities fromthe mid-19th century to the present day.Examining a broad range of literary texts from French, English, Italian, German, andRussian writers, this book provides new insights into how realism engages with themesincluding capital, social decorum, the law and its politicisation, modern science as adetermining factor concerning truth, and the politics of identity.Considering works from Gustave Flaubert, Charles Baudelaire, Émile Zola, HenryJames, Charles Dickens, and George Orwell, Docherty proposes a new philosophicalconception of the politics of realism in an age where politics feels increasingly erraticand fantastical.
