ARTH 200 | Assignments | Glossary

Realism

John Fiske, Power Plays Power Works, p. 155: Realism, as a mode of representation, is particularly characteristic of Western cultures and, therefore, in the modern world, of capitalism.... Realism and scientific rationalism go hand in hand, and both grew in parallel to become the dominant ways of knowing of post-Renaissance Europe. The secular humanism which is common to both taught that man (sic) could, through reason, control his own destiny by using that reason to understand, represent and control the reality within which that destiny would evolve. Similarly, the new capitalism taught that man could control his own economic destiny. The historical conjuncture of humanism, scientific rationalism, representationalism and capitalism launched European societies on their voyage to dominate the world.

ARTH 200 | Assignments | Glossary