Regionalism

Regionalism is quite a bit different than Realism. While it does involve Realism, it also involves quite a bit of Romanticism (Campbell). It involves quite a bit of reminiscing about the "golden age", and that in and of itself has a lot to do with Romanticism (Campbell). At the same time, there are always many small details about the region that prove that it was also influenced by Realism (Campbell). Regionalism became very popular after the Civil War, and it was often written by people that had little to no power, including those in the Midwest, women, African Americans, or immigrants (Campbell). The narrator is often a storyteller that has seen the story and is now here to tell it to the rest of the world, which was often the urban, white males who had all the power (Campbell). While there was not normally a real plot in the modern sense, the narrator told of things that had happened in the region they were writing about, and they told of little things that only come from that area (Campbell). Regionalism showed a lot more the of traditions of an area and its history, so these stories often fit quite well into history (Campbell). This was good for the United States, since it was right after the Civil War, because this helped unify the North and the South again (Campbell). It showed that there were many different things that were important to many different people, and that they can all work together to save these traditions and dialect. Regionalism was very important to many people, and each different region had their own way to portray things. Often there were different heroes, because each group had a different ideal. Women would often pick young girls or unmarried women, while African Americans that had been newly freed might pick another African American that had gone through many hardships, but had succeeded and was now looking to start a new life (Campbell). Regionalism was very important to our nation's history, and its function was very important.

Campbell, Donna M. "Regionalism and Local Color Fiction, 1865-1895." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. 20 Jan 2011. Web. 26 Jan 2011.