Regionalism

As Werlock described it Regionalism is "A literary subgenre that emphasizes the setting, history, speech, dialect, and customs of a particular geographical locale or area, not only for local color, but also for development of universal themes through the use of the local and particular." Regionalism as the name implies is a literary style that focuses on specific regions as and the society of the area. The style developed out of a necessity for nationalism for people after the Civil War. People saw themselves as either southerners and northerners instead of as a collective Americans. This literary style introduced pride in your region ie. New Yorkers referred to themselves as New Yorkers and Bostonians referred to themselves as Bostonians.

Vernacular was an integral part of regionalism which was extremely evident in Mark Twain's novels. Accents and phrases specific to certain areas was revealed in regionalism works such as Mark Twain's novels set around the Mississippi. Regionalistic novels often revealed much about the society in the novel through the author's use of vernacular and accents.

Most of the time in regionalism settings were not as large as major cities such as New York, but usually smaller and more remote like Hannibal in Twain's Tom Sawyer. The use of setting to confine the story to one place is a common element in regionalism writings. The settings usually don't evolve from the small town or area the novel starts in. Usually this is to provide the plot a smaller area to evolve in because it generally only involves members of the community in most cases.

These are some of the common thematic elements of the works of regional writers. Most stories are also told thorough a narrator who tells the reader the events that transpired in the novel. They involve community-centric plots and settings and don't evolve past these settings with characters from the community playing central roles to the development of the plot. Trough the characters use of language and vernacular readers are able to discover values of the society and other aspects through these simple literary uses.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "regionalism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0581&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 31, 2011).