A faithful objective representation of reality; lead to →

Outcomes in characters’ lives are often determined by forces beyond a control (heredity, environment, physical drives).

Focuses on character, dialect [accent; way a person speaks in a region], customs, landscape, and things particular to a region. 

Translation of definition

Slice of life fiction; hard-edged look at life on the dark side

Grittier than realism; harsher; no happy endings

Local color fiction with odd characters, local foods, local expressions and dialect; frequently funny

Sometimes called:

Psychological realism

Often the stream-of-consciousness self

Could be any narrative voice

Character studies are more important than action and plot; stories center on characters’ complex choices.

Usually poorly educated or lower class characters with lives driven by heredity, instinct, or passion. Often focuses on people without economic or political power: Midwesterners, Blacks, immigrants, women

Quaint or stereotypical; they adhere to old ways, speak in dialect, and abound with eccentricities; characters represent a region or district rather than an individual

Representative Examples

Mark Twain

Stephen Crane

Bret Harte

Kate Chopin

Jack London

Steven Crane

Bret Harte

Carl Hiaason’s Hoot [now playing in theatres]; anything from Mark Twain

Unimportant and believable; can be boring

Realistic story of despair or degeneration. Nature is indifferent force acting on the lives of human beings. The universe is indifferent, deterministic.

Nothing really happens; about rituals and community life; frequently unbelievable or outrageous situations that are humorous 

Often unhappy; characters often fail to cope with their problems.

Usually ends in death. 

Almost always happy. Sometimes end in rural values better than urban or an outsider learns something from the community. 

Morals, ethics, values

Survival, determinism, violence, taboos; forces of nature.

A dislike of change and nostalgia for the good old days; celebration of community and acceptance in the face of adversity

Normal, everyday places; natural.

Frequently remote and inaccessible places no one has ever heard of; setting often becomes a character in itself; focus on nature and the limitations of nature

Language and Diction

Normal and natural; sometimes ironic, mocking, or comic.

Realism gone darker; despairing.