Landscapes of Realism

Reviews / Votes

Every student and scholar of realism will find much to discover and to learn from in Mapping Realism. Throughout the volume, the contributors situate their discussions in relation to the foundational critics of realism: Auerbach, Jameson, Lukacs, Moretti, Watt and others. Many of the essays also discuss the novelists one would expect to find in such a work on realism: Balzac, Dickens, Eliot, Flaubert, Hardy, Scott, Stendhal, and Zola. The volume as a whole strikes a nice balance in relation to this extensive tradition that will make its insights widely accessible. The essays do not presuppose a deep familiarity with the debates and developments within the critical tradition of realism, but readers more well versed in this scholarship will be able to tease out the broader ramifications of the work being done within these pages. Perhaps the greatest achievement of Mapping Realism is the interplay between its core essays, which consolidate the foundational ideas and issues, and case studies that chart new directions in the field. While the index only lists proper names (rather than keywords and concepts), the core essays are divided into sections and sub- sections whose descriptive titles provide legible points of entry for readers. Just as importantly, essays reference and direct readers to relevant points of association both within this volume and its companion. The sheer range of topics and ideas in this work will make it a touchstone for scholarship on realism in European languages and beyond. -- Adam Grener, Victoria University of Wellington, in Recherche litteraire/Literay Research 38 (Fall 2022).