This thesis concerns itself with contemporary realism and its relation to the theory that seeks to define it. The theoretical assumptions made by both realist practitioners and theorists alike begin with the notion that “reality” can be “produced” by language. This notion, however, has been questioned and indeed discarded by many theorists of both reality and fiction. In response to this, contemporary realists such as Tim O'Brien, Lorrie Moore, Ian MacMillan and Kathryn Harrison have altered their stance toward reality. Rather than attempting to produce, or to move toward an objective description of reality, these writers seek to cover up, or obscure the reality that they represent. In this thesis I discuss and synthesize a number of theories of realism, pointing out many of their overriding similarities. I discuss such wide ranging theorists of realism as Fredric Jameson, Georg Lukàcs, J. P. Stern, and Cristopher Nash. Also, I mount a discussion concerning the nature of reality, or the Real, outlining theories forwarded by Slavoj Žižek, Jacques Lacan, Jean Baudrillard and Walter Benjamin. The purpose of these discussions is to show how theories of realism and theories of reality are essentially incompatible. It is this incompatibility that this thesis seeks to redress by drawing on both the stylistic innovations made by contemporary realists and philosophical innovations made by the aforementioned theorists.