Writing Help 129 | - ☆ Freelance Writer
Apr 05, 2013 | #1
Terms You Need for Writing about the Novel
All of us have a basic idea of what realism indicates with regard to fictional works, and we are quick to point out when something is unrealistic or completely unbelievable. This is most often a condemnation of the work in question, and it is difficult to immerse ourselves in the work after this. None of this would be possible without definite ideas about realism, verisimilitude, and suspension of disbelief, and although you might not even know what these terms mean for literary studies (yet), you definitely have opinions about them which you likely expressed recently in English class or after a movie.
To begin as vaguely and broadly as possible, we can turn to realism, a term that is used in both a general and more technical way. The more specialized use of this term in literature applies to an informal but powerful trend of the 19th century to write about the present day in modern language focusing specifically on current moral and social problems. Realism encouraged a move away from inflated characters and implausible plots, as well as from the excesses of sensibility and feeling the Romantics preferred.
In a way, this was a step along the path of the broader, and, for the purposes of this discussion at least, more important definition of realism that is not limited to a given time and place, but which has existed in some form through the history of human storytelling. People have always been concerned with how real something is, whether it is composed of truth or lies, fact or fiction. In his Republic, Plato condemned the poets for spreading lies, and this attitude has survived through to the present day, though in a significantly altered form. Each succeeding generation of storytellers and writers tends to look down upon the writing of those who came before as naive, simplistic, and not very applicable to modern reality. As a result, the idea of realism is constantly evolving, as what one generation was willing to accept as real is seen increasingly as unrealistic by the next.
In film, the special effects of the mid 20th century seemed very real for contemporary audiences, and were significantly better than those of the previous decades, and were especially effective compared to the limited effects of the theater. Now, those effects are at times laughable, and our standards for realism in that realm have risen dramatically. This is a least part of the reason why I, as well as several friends my age I have spoken to, find the theater difficult to attend and enjoy. We all enjoy reading various genres, including poetry and drama, and we see movies regularly, but the consensus we all reached independently is that plays feel somewhat silly. The level of realism is so far below that of film, the dominant form throughout our lives, that theatre always seems unreal, and therefore difficult to immerse ourselves in. There are exceptions to this, of course, such as many of Ibsen's works that involve such sparse sets and intimate, personal exchanges that actually gain something from their live presentation, but anytime a play tries to imitate reality in way that goes beyond character, it tends to destroy the illusion audiences have come to expect. This is perhaps one of the reasons why drama has made a significant shift into a more formalistic presentation, where the goal is not simply to present an interesting slice of life, but rather to engage the audience without worrying about the creation of an illusory world distinct from the actual physical production we see before us.
Because the dictates of realism have played such an important part in the creation of literature and other forms of art throughout history, critics have adopted some key terms for discussing it. With regard to the novel (although our vocabulary for film is basically the same since it was largely adapted from literary criticism), verisimilitude is a very long and complex-looking word with a deceptively simple meaning. To remember what this means, and perhaps even how to pronounce it, just think of the words very and similar, whose roots are also found in the term. If something has a high degree of verisimilitude, it is very similar to the way things are in real life.
Of course, as with most shortcuts and mnemonics, this oversimplifies the matter, but is does capture the basic meaning of the term. Verisimilitude is the measure of how much a given fictional event or series of fictional events mirrors what we would expect to happen in reality. Novels based closely on historical information and events tend to be the most verisimilar, and readers evaluate them largely on how well they resemble what is known to have actually happened. Even entirely fictional novels, however, are expected to possess a certain level of verisimilitude, which varies depending on the genre. Contemporary drama, for example, will look quite verisimilar, whereas romance novels will be expected to stray from what we would expect to happen. Even science fiction and fantasy are expected to possess a degree of verisimilitude, for while their worlds may be imaginative creations, the novel must still operate within the rules of the world as they are. Also, we expect characters to react according to certain common psychological assumptions, most notably that a character in a novel will behave in a way that is explicable in the same terms we would use to explain the behavior and personality of an actual person. People are willing to entertain alternate possibilities, but unrealistic character development and portrayal is unforgivable.
The degree of verisimilitude in a given novel is a crucial factor in determining how well able a reader is to suspend her disbelief. Suspension of disbelief is a term used to describe a reader's (or audience's) willingness to ignore certain elements surrounding the constructedness of a narrative, and to treat it as if it were actually happening. This suspension is vital to the enjoyment of many adventure novels, and in the world of film the classic 1980s action flicks like Rambo would be unwatchable without it. Picture for a moment what would actually happen if a lone man, without cover, approached an army of trained soldiers who were all carrying automatic weapons. He might kill a few of them, but he would be mowed down quickly; this, however, would make for a terrible film, so Rambo is able to defeat them, as implausible as this is.
Generic conventions again determine how much suspension is necessary for enjoyment, and it should be noted that each individual also brings a suspension threshold to his or her evaluation of any narrative, which is modified by expectations based on genre and mood. I was quite willing to read The Lord of The Rings novel trilogy, despite the time investment it took and the strictly impossible setting. However, a friend of mine scoffs at fantasy in general, and would never waste his time reading such impossible fiction. In any work of fiction, even the most realistic, we are aware from the start that we are not experiencing reality. As a result, we must be willing to believe in something that is strictly not real at all, meaning that even the most conservative of us who enjoy reading must play a little make-believe with ourselves in order to do it at all.
Realism, Verisimilitude, Suspension of Disbelief
All of us have a basic idea of what realism indicates with regard to fictional works, and we are quick to point out when something is unrealistic or completely unbelievable. This is most often a condemnation of the work in question, and it is difficult to immerse ourselves in the work after this. None of this would be possible without definite ideas about realism, verisimilitude, and suspension of disbelief, and although you might not even know what these terms mean for literary studies (yet), you definitely have opinions about them which you likely expressed recently in English class or after a movie.
To begin as vaguely and broadly as possible, we can turn to realism, a term that is used in both a general and more technical way. The more specialized use of this term in literature applies to an informal but powerful trend of the 19th century to write about the present day in modern language focusing specifically on current moral and social problems. Realism encouraged a move away from inflated characters and implausible plots, as well as from the excesses of sensibility and feeling the Romantics preferred.In a way, this was a step along the path of the broader, and, for the purposes of this discussion at least, more important definition of realism that is not limited to a given time and place, but which has existed in some form through the history of human storytelling. People have always been concerned with how real something is, whether it is composed of truth or lies, fact or fiction. In his Republic, Plato condemned the poets for spreading lies, and this attitude has survived through to the present day, though in a significantly altered form. Each succeeding generation of storytellers and writers tends to look down upon the writing of those who came before as naive, simplistic, and not very applicable to modern reality. As a result, the idea of realism is constantly evolving, as what one generation was willing to accept as real is seen increasingly as unrealistic by the next.
In film, the special effects of the mid 20th century seemed very real for contemporary audiences, and were significantly better than those of the previous decades, and were especially effective compared to the limited effects of the theater. Now, those effects are at times laughable, and our standards for realism in that realm have risen dramatically. This is a least part of the reason why I, as well as several friends my age I have spoken to, find the theater difficult to attend and enjoy. We all enjoy reading various genres, including poetry and drama, and we see movies regularly, but the consensus we all reached independently is that plays feel somewhat silly. The level of realism is so far below that of film, the dominant form throughout our lives, that theatre always seems unreal, and therefore difficult to immerse ourselves in. There are exceptions to this, of course, such as many of Ibsen's works that involve such sparse sets and intimate, personal exchanges that actually gain something from their live presentation, but anytime a play tries to imitate reality in way that goes beyond character, it tends to destroy the illusion audiences have come to expect. This is perhaps one of the reasons why drama has made a significant shift into a more formalistic presentation, where the goal is not simply to present an interesting slice of life, but rather to engage the audience without worrying about the creation of an illusory world distinct from the actual physical production we see before us.
Because the dictates of realism have played such an important part in the creation of literature and other forms of art throughout history, critics have adopted some key terms for discussing it. With regard to the novel (although our vocabulary for film is basically the same since it was largely adapted from literary criticism), verisimilitude is a very long and complex-looking word with a deceptively simple meaning. To remember what this means, and perhaps even how to pronounce it, just think of the words very and similar, whose roots are also found in the term. If something has a high degree of verisimilitude, it is very similar to the way things are in real life.
Of course, as with most shortcuts and mnemonics, this oversimplifies the matter, but is does capture the basic meaning of the term. Verisimilitude is the measure of how much a given fictional event or series of fictional events mirrors what we would expect to happen in reality. Novels based closely on historical information and events tend to be the most verisimilar, and readers evaluate them largely on how well they resemble what is known to have actually happened. Even entirely fictional novels, however, are expected to possess a certain level of verisimilitude, which varies depending on the genre. Contemporary drama, for example, will look quite verisimilar, whereas romance novels will be expected to stray from what we would expect to happen. Even science fiction and fantasy are expected to possess a degree of verisimilitude, for while their worlds may be imaginative creations, the novel must still operate within the rules of the world as they are. Also, we expect characters to react according to certain common psychological assumptions, most notably that a character in a novel will behave in a way that is explicable in the same terms we would use to explain the behavior and personality of an actual person. People are willing to entertain alternate possibilities, but unrealistic character development and portrayal is unforgivable.
The degree of verisimilitude in a given novel is a crucial factor in determining how well able a reader is to suspend her disbelief. Suspension of disbelief is a term used to describe a reader's (or audience's) willingness to ignore certain elements surrounding the constructedness of a narrative, and to treat it as if it were actually happening. This suspension is vital to the enjoyment of many adventure novels, and in the world of film the classic 1980s action flicks like Rambo would be unwatchable without it. Picture for a moment what would actually happen if a lone man, without cover, approached an army of trained soldiers who were all carrying automatic weapons. He might kill a few of them, but he would be mowed down quickly; this, however, would make for a terrible film, so Rambo is able to defeat them, as implausible as this is.
Generic conventions again determine how much suspension is necessary for enjoyment, and it should be noted that each individual also brings a suspension threshold to his or her evaluation of any narrative, which is modified by expectations based on genre and mood. I was quite willing to read The Lord of The Rings novel trilogy, despite the time investment it took and the strictly impossible setting. However, a friend of mine scoffs at fantasy in general, and would never waste his time reading such impossible fiction. In any work of fiction, even the most realistic, we are aware from the start that we are not experiencing reality. As a result, we must be willing to believe in something that is strictly not real at all, meaning that even the most conservative of us who enjoy reading must play a little make-believe with ourselves in order to do it at all.