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Genre
Explanation and Analysis:
This novel’s plot engine is its unfiltered depictions of personal and cultural trauma caused by social inequalities. Like much of Baldwin’s work, it’s considered a canonical piece of Black literary fiction. In terms of its writing style and content, Another Country is most closely aligned with political psychological realism.
Realist novels try to represent the world as it truly is, and Baldwin is unflinching in his depictions of adult life's vulnerability and violence. Characters encounter prejudice and economic hardship in Another Country to the same alarming degree that Black Americans were subjected to during the time of writing. Psychological realism has the additional aim of attempting to accurately represent characters’ thoughts and motivations. Books in this genre want to explore why people make the choices they make, so there’s a lot of focus on dialogue, both internal to the character the narrator is focusing on and with others around them.
As the narrative shifts focus between colloquial speech and the private thoughts of individuals, Baldwin shows how people's hidden anxieties and insecurities can significantly shape behavior. He’s particularly interested in the emotional costs of racism and homophobia, spending a lot of narrative time examining how characters either withdraw or lash out under the pressures of those forces.
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