Verismo (meaning realism in Italian) was a literary movement established between 1875 and 1895 by Giovanni Verga and Luigi Capuana, in collaboration with other writers.
Verismo came at a time when there was absolute faith in science and in the infallible tools of scientific research. For the veristi writers, literature had to portray social and human reality in the most “real” way possible, by strictly representing its classes, including the most humble ones, in every condition, even if unpleasant. The authors would act like scientists, analysing the tangible aspects of life.
