Social Realism in
the British Context
1. The phrase ‘social realism’ is
confusing because it is a phrase that is often interchangeably with other
terms.
2. Critical consensus is about the
dominant representational form of the western world.
3. The factors that helped the context
within the realist impulse was a prolonged period and social and structural
change, the move from country to the city by thousands of workers to feed the
industrial infrastructures, the political ideas of socialism and communism for
sweeping answers from the working classes and the secularisation of society.
4. The development of realism in the nineteenth century
is emerged in the mode of opposition or reform seeking.
5. Carrols suggestion is that the term
should only be used with a prefix attached.
6. The development in the arts went up
as film and photography was made to capture life as it is and to create
something with moving images.
7. Photography brought new possibilities
for capturing or involving a sense of life as it is.
8. The quest for media was to present
reality or the truth.
9. The truth has as many faces as there
are eyes that see it.
10. Kracauer believed that film was
uniquely capable of representing the real and should do so with as little
artifice as possible.
11. Gerhardie believed the goal of
naturalism was to resurrect the complete illusion of real life using the things
characteristic of real life.
12. Bazin stated that ‘there is not one,
but several realism’. Therefore, each era has its very own form of realism.
Bazin argued that audiences should be allowed to establish their own realism
with realist film texts and the employed, correct use of shot techniques would
allow audiences to do this.
13. All these approaches commonly seek to
represent the truth through codes and conventions that have become regulary
associated with realism.
14. Branston and Stafford stated that the
realistic nature of most Hollywood films would be realistic in setting,
characterisation and situation. However, other realist texts differentiate as
they employ one or two characteristics by the film maker. One would be to show
full detail, the experience of an actual event. The other characteristic would
be to convey a message or argument about the social world through a known
realist conventions, such as location, characters, and camera techniques.
15. The term social realism is difficult
to define, because the ‘now’ is continually changing and evolving and what
could be defined as social realism, last year would differ from social realism
events of the past.
16. Current realist texts are linked to
those from the past, according to Hill by firstly investigating the truth. Then
organisation skills are required to conventionally produce a quality piece,
which would not have occurred naturally in the ‘now’.
17. Samantha Lay said that the key
feature of realist texts is the way place and character are linked, so that the
aspects of contemporary life are identified as a form of naturalism.
18. Hallam and Marshment explained this
defining the characteristic, as the effects of the environmental factors on the
development of a character. This element would demonstrate and emphasise the
relationship between location and identity.
19. Lowenstein sees social realism texts
as contemporary moments of social crisis and conflict.
20. Raymond Williams ‘for criteria for
defining realist texts are as follows:
Criteria
|
Explanation
|
1.
Secular
|
Free
form of religious and spiritual matters.
|
2.
Firmly in the
contemporary scene
|
In
terms of setting, character and social issues.
|
Social extension
|
To
extend the range of topics and characters.
|
Intent of
the artist
|
Not to
influence their own political agender.
|
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