literary realism

Literary realism is a style of fiction that aims to represent ordinary life as it actually is, without idealization or romantic embellishment.

Emerging in the 19th century as a reaction against melodrama and sentimentality, it emphasizes everyday characters, plausible plots, and close observation of social conditions.

Flaubert and Tolstoy are pillars of literary realism.

The approach privileges psychological accuracy and mundane detail over heroic action or fantastical elements.