Georg Lukács, Es geht um den Realismus [Realism in the Balance]

Kate Armond (University of Essex)

Ed. by Jennifer Marston William, Purdue University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4: German-language Literature and Culture.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1938

Places

Germany (Publication/ performance)
Russia (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Essay / Lecture (literary)

Resources

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“Es geht um den Realismus” [“Realism in the Balance”] is an essay written by the Marxist theorist Georg Lukács in 1938, and it reveals his preoccupation with a particular kind of literature that had passed out of fashion during the period of modernist culture that dominated the early 1900s. Taking its first steps in France in the 1840s, Realism challenged accepted definitions of art and its subject matter. As part of a world characterised by revolution and far-reaching social change, Realist painters replaced the idealistic or sentimental images of traditional art with real-life events. The peripheral and the unappealing was granted the same significance as the people or events that had formed part of grand historical narratives. Although Realism manifested across the visual arts…

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2953 words

Citation: Armond, Kate. "Es geht um den Realismus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 June 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41043, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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