Local Color
Local color, or regionalisma focus on dialect and speech of characters from a specific region or group, is a type of literature that focuses mainly on characters, their dialect, their region, and their way of life.
Local color became a popular form of writing between the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century because this type of writing gave authenticity to the conversations between characters.
Local color grew out of American RealismAuthors tried to use the characters' natural vernacular, or dialect, because the characters in the story were more important than the plot of the story. ; it attempted to portray the dialect of the region as accurately as possible. However, local color lacks the seriousness of true realism.
Twain said it best when he wrote, "Whatever you have lived, you can write-and by hard work and a genuine apprenticeship, you can learn to write well; but what you have not lived you cannot write, you can only pretend to write it."
Do you like to watch late night talk shows?
Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman, Chelsea Handler as well as Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and Eudora Welty all have something in common.
They pay attention to the common details in society and find humor in it.
These people, past and present, are good storytellers because of their keen observations and willingness to share those characters with their audience. They are using local color.
Read the next two examples of how Twain incorporates local color into his writing.
Example #1
When he was a young reporter in Virginia City, Nevada, Twain encountered a stranger at a billiardpool table parlor who proposed a game for half a dollar - even offered to play left-handed after watching Twain warm up. "I determined," Twain wrote later, "to teach him a lesson." But the stranger won the first shot, cleared the table, took Twain's money, "and all I got was the opportunity to chalk my cue."
"If you can play like that with your left hand," Twain said, "I'd like to see you play with your right."
"I can't," the stranger answered. "I'm left-handed."
"Humor must not professedly teach, and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever."
- Mark Twain
- Mark Twain. c. 1884. Courtesy of The Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft Library pbs.org
One time, after burglars had broken into his house and stolen the silverware, Clemens scribbled out and illustrated the following notice and tacked it to the front door:
Example #2
NOTICE To the Next Burglar
There is nothing but plated ware in this house now and henceforth. You will find it in that brass thing in the dining-room over in the corner by the basket of kittens.
If you want the basket put the kittens in the brass thing. Do not make a noise - it disturbs the family...
Please close the door when you go away!
Very truly yours,
S. L. Clemens
Literary Terms
Some common literary elements that Twain and other writers use when incorporating local color are- farcea type of satire that exaggerates situations to be silly or funny ,
- parodya humorous imitation of something ,
- satirea way of using humor to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, or bad , and
- ironythe use of words that mean the opposite of what you really think especially in order to be funny .
Dialect
Do you remember the note from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the beginning of the lesson? In this note, Twain tells his readers that he has carefully and deliberately written in several different dialectsa form of a language that is spoken in a particular area and that uses some of its own words, grammar, and pronunciations .
"IN this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect; the extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary 'Pike County' dialect; and four modified varieties of this last. The shadings have not been done in a haphazard fashion, or by guesswork; but painstakingly, and with the trustworthy Guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several forms of speech.
I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readers would suppose that all these characters were trying to talk alike and not succeeding."
So, why do you think dialect and local color are important in literature?
Both of these literary elements add a rich description to the specific region being addressedin the story that readers otherwise would miss.
Look at the dialect below from Chapter Two in Huck Finn,
"Here's Huck Finn, he hain't got no family; what you going to do 'bout him?"
Is this different from standard English? Yes, look at the grammar and spelling. How would you rewrite the sentence to standard English?
Answer: Here is Huck Finn. He does not have any family. What are you going to do about him?
- Do you talk differently when you are with your friends versus with your parents?
- Do you speak differently in the classroom versus out of school with your friends?
- Do you pronounce certain words differently from other students in your school?
Regional Dialect
People speak differently depending on where they live. That is called regional dialect the distinct form of a language spoken in a certain geographical area , which has its own grammatical rules and vocabulary (or slang).
Take the dialect quiz to see where it determines your regional location is. This is just for fun, so if you don't have time to answer the questions, you will not be penalized.