delit1-7, Exercise 2: Poetic Realism

Model answer (using Effi Briest; check the details):

Meaning: a later critics' label for German writing of roughly the 1850s to 1880s (and beyond) that observes real life but does so with restraint, framing or softening its harshness, often in the novella form, with attention to atmosphere, landscape and mood.

Illustration: Fontane's Effi Briest shows a Prussian marriage and the ruin that follows a brief affair, yet Fontane keeps a quiet, ironic distance. He does not describe scenes of passion or condemn the heroine, and he uses dialogue, hints and what is left unsaid. The honour code of the society destroys her, and the book makes this felt without shouting.

Alternative: Der Schimmelreiter by Storm, with its coast, dyke-builder and ghostly frame, shows realism in setting and work combined with a poetic, legendary tone.

Caution: the label is an approximation, and several of these writers do not fit it neatly.