"All great works of art, literary and visual, tend to have some kind of enduring claim to realism. The excellent contributors to this volume investigate with energy and precision the many different epistemological, historical and theoretical issues which can arise from such claims, for the novel, journalism, painting, cinema and still photography. They write from many different points of view, with a wide historical perspective and through well chosen examples û but have been cleverly edited into dialogue with one another. The aims of naturalism, socialist realism and feminism, and the changes brought about by modernism, for example, are illuminatingly analysed. This is the way to make progress on any philosophical issue, and the reader will enjoy taking part in the debate to the end?'-Christopher Butler, Christ Church College, Oxford<BR><BR>A Concise Companion to Realism offers a scholarly yet accessible introduction to realism as it has evolved since the 19th century. Comprising 17 newly-commissioned essays written by a distinguished group of contributors, including Slavoj 2iiek and Fredric Jameson, this wide-ranging volume:<BR><BR>^ Provides the historical, cultural, intellectual, and literary contexts necessary to understand developments in realism<BR><BR>^ Addresses the artistic mediums and technologies such as painting and film that have helped shape the way we perceive reality<BR><BR>Explores literary and pictorial sub-genres such as naturalism and socialist realism.<BR><BR>This new paperback edition features an essay by Terry Eagleton, entitled Fictions of the Real: 'All truth with malice in it'. Each section concludes with a short bibliography and a guide to further reading.