<P> Literary realism is part of the realist art movement beginning with mid nineteenth - century French literature (Stendhal), and Russian literature (Alexander Pushkin) and extending to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century . Literary realism, in contrast to idealism, attempts to represent familiar things as they are . Realist authors chose to depict everyday and banal activities and experiences, instead of using a romanticized or similarly stylized presentation . </P> <P> Broadly defined as "the representation of reality", realism in the arts is the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, as well as implausible, exotic and supernatural elements . </P>

What is the purpose of realism in literature