Realism is one of the most elusive of artistic terms. 'Unrealistic', for example, is not necessarily the same as 'non-realist'. You can have a work of art which is non-realist in the sense of being non-representational, yet which paints a convincing picture of the world. Conversely, Jeffrey Archer's novels are representational but unconvincing. Jane Austen's novels are realist, but you could claim that the spooky Gothic fiction she disliked so much reflects more of the anxiety and agitation of an Age of Revolution than Mansfield Park does. Life can be a good deal more surreal than André Breton. Walter Benjamin considered that Baudelaire's poetry reflected the urban masses of Paris, even though those masses are nowhere actually present in his work.

LRB 23 October 2003 | PDF Download