Realism is an outgrowth of ancient Romanticism that emphasizes more on practical aspects of life than vision and the imaginary. This wing of philosophy concerns itself with the physical and practical aspects of life. On the other hand, Surrealism is a philosophical movement whose emphasis lies with the liberation of the mind. This philosophy concerns itself with triggering the subconscious mind to be critical and imaginative. Realism seeks to find harmony between various seemingly contradictory aspects of life. Realism differs with Surrealism in the sense that Surrealism views life from an angle of fantasy that does not exist in the real world. Concisely, realism challenges fantasy while Surrealism advocates for idealism.

Realism is an artistic representation of the world as it is while Surrealism tends to present the world, as it ought to be. Moreover, realism emphasizes logic and facts by rejecting the visionary or impractical (Alonso, 2018). The latter is more prominent among the proponents of surrealism. Often, scholars use realism interchangeably with nominalism while surrealism denotes idealism. Further, realism suggests that the external perception of society exists independent of observations. Realism also provides that universals are real and different from the ingredient particles that constitute them. On the contrary, surrealism is idealistic; it emphasizes imaginative fantasies without proper reference to logic or facts.

While Realism is conformist, Surrealism disrupts the normal perception of events and art by creating new perceptions. Surrealism used the innocent eye in the art to project itself into an ambitious future. Moreover, it used hypnotism and drugs to venture into its fantasy world. Conversely, realism, which came out of a revolt against romanticism in France, emphasizes more on direct observation that on emotions (Park, 2016). The most significant differences between surrealism and realism promulgate themselves through art; realism emphasizes on the present while surrealism is futuristic. In essence, therefore, surrealism encourages innovation while realism stagnates with the status quo of art.

Surrealism bases its ideas on a certain ideology while realism looks into the logic imagination. Both use different routes to present a unique universe. Though they are ideologically different, they have had a significant contribution to art (Alonso, 2018). Surrealism does a constant search for contradictions and juxtapositions to come up with new complex ideas that improve health. Besides, Surrealism seeks freedom; this freedom is however rather delicate. It fails to realize social, economic, or political change. It emphasizes more on psychological and artistic aesthetics. Its concern for social change is, therefore, minimal. To that extent, realism has had a better effect on society than surrealism.

In conclusion, whereas both realism and surrealism are philosophical antidotes, they advocate for artistic changes. However, only realism has a strong bearing for political, social, and economic changes within society. Surrealism, when applied in art is viewed as ambitious but only to the extent of aesthetic and psychological sense. While realism concerns itself with matters to do with the observable life tenets, surrealism goes beyond and combines unreal. As such, surrealism evokes imagination by looking for contradictions and juxtapositions in the art to create new concepts. Moreover, surrealism disrupts the normal perception of art and life while realism strives to maintain the status quo. The most prominent difference, however, is the emphasis on the practical by realism while surrealism concerns itself with the visionary and unreal. Therefore, however different surrealism and realism are, they are similar in many respects.

References

Alonso, H. D. (2018). ‘Sur’Realism: After Surrealism Comes Hyperrealism. Architectural Design, 88(2), 128-133.

Park, S. (2016). Realism Versus Surrealism. Foundations of Science, 21(4), 603-614.

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