Realism is the technical and philosophical basis of Western society. The world exists outside of our concepts of it. Empirical science, for example, is a process of observation of that world. Through the photographic process documentary photography retained an the indexical link to reality through the capturing of light reflected from an actual object in the world. Therefore photography confers authenticity through its supposed transparency. It suggests a factual reflection of reality. However, this use of realism, whether photographic, filmic, digital, theatrical, painted etc is problematic because it infers the factual but in fact is ideologically nuanced.
Bertolt Brecht challenged our naive use of photography as realist medium when he said: ‘The situation [in art and cinema] has become so complicated because the simple ‘reproduction of reality’ says less than ever about that reality. A photograph of the Krupp works or the AEG reveals almost nothing about these institutions,’
Brecht sought to expose realism (or naturalism in theatre) for what it is, a constructed sense of reality that represents the “prevailing view of those in power”. He attempted to do this through a series of theatrical device in his own work which he called Epic Theatre. The intention being to snap the audience out of their empathy for the characters on stage to experience theatre’s constructs consciously.
“Realistic [to Brecht] means: discovering the causal complexes of society / unmasking the prevailing view of things as the view of those who are in power / writing from the standpoint of the class which offers the broadest solutions for the pressing difficulties in which human society is caught up / emphasizing the element of development / making possible the concrete, and making possible abstraction from it. These are vast precepts and they can be extended. Moreover we shall allow the artist to employ his fantasy, his originality, his humor, his invention, in following them.
Film Montage- In film, montage was used as a used as a method of constructing a sense of realism that contained inherently a sense of political argument. Sergei Eisenstien’s, 1925 film Battleship Potemkin famously pioneered montage in constructing political empathy.
Brecht used a range of theatrical devices or techniques so that the audience were reminded throughout that they were watching theatre; a presentation of life, ie form of realism – not real life itself.
Narration
Narration is used to remind the audience that what they’re watching is a presentation of a story. Sometimes the narrator will tell us what happens in the story before it has happened. This is a good way of making sure that we don’t become emotionally involved in the action to come as we already know the outcome.
Speaking the stage directions: This device was used by Brecht more frequently in rehearsal than performance. It helps distance the actor from the character they’re playing. It also reminds the audience that they’re watching a play and forces them to study the actions of a character in objective detail.
Being based in Marxist principles this method of representing reality was emancipatory, ie very much opposed to capitalism, imperialism, consumerism, war… Josephine Meckseper’s work on the Iraq War follows this tradition but its effectiveness as a form of critique is questioned by Ranciere.
Capitalist Realism, Mark Fisher, 2009 Fisher’s book proposes that forms of visual culture such as advertising and art create a cohesive form of realism that we negotiate as we move through reality: “Capitalist realism as I understand it cannot be confined to art or to the quasi-propagandistic way in which advertising functions. It is more like a pervasive atmosphere, conditioning not only the production of culture but also the regulation of work and education, and acting as a kind of invisible barrier constraining thought and action.” Fisher, M, 2009, Capitalist Realism, p.16
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