The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "regionalism" as follows:
a characteristic feature (as of speech) of a geographic area
Notice the specific emphasis on speech. Regionalism is related to dialect, and that is one way that Harte helps readers become immersed in the local color/flavor that is Roaring Camp. When Harte has a character speak, he uses what would be local vocabulary as well as not adhering to proper grammar and spelling rules. For example, look at the first line of dialogue spoken by Kentuck:
Go in there, and see what you kin do. You've had experience in them things.
Notice the spelling error of can/kin and then the odd phrasing of "them things." Neither of those constructions would work in a formal English paper; however, in a line of dialogue, the usage of those mistakes helps to create the image of a rough mining town filled with uneducated, rough men. Readers see this throughout the story, and the men's comments about the newborn baby are especially fun to look at:
ain’t bigger nor a derringer.
This quote has the grammar mistake of "ain't," but the quote also contains a very specific "old west" firearm. Readers familiar with the western genre and/or firearms will immediately understand the size comparison. Had Harte just used the word "pistol," the same message isn't conveyed as well in terms of size or local color. It makes sense that these men would be able to name specific pistols.
Regionalism and local color refers to a whole range of qualities of a story, but essentially both regionalism and local color are anything that the author uses to convey the feel and character of a particular area. If an author is using regionalism and local color they are trying to get the reader to imagine the exact area they are describing in a realistic way. This could include details about the physical setting and geography of a place, and it often focuses on the way the people in that place act, dress, speak, and think. It can encompass things like the folklore, habits, manners and conditions of the people found there.
In "The Luck of Roaring Camp" you could choose almost any passage and demonstrate local color. The opening lines, for example, already establish the type of place that Roaring Camp is. The story begins by saying "there was commotion in Roaring Camp. It could not have been a fight, for in 1850 that was not novel enough to have called together the entire settlement" (Harte). Right away, the story establishes that it takes place in 1850, in a "settlement" that is so rough that no one pays attention to any of the fights that happen. In the opening paragraph, the reader also learns that people there live in "rude cabins," and that the only woman who lives in the entire camp is someone called Cherokee Sal (Harte). "The Luck of Roaring Camp" takes place in a gold mining settlement, and by the end of the first paragraph the reader already has a pretty good idea of what life is like there.
The names of all the characters also reflect the local color. The characters all have the nicknames of their rough camp selves. They are called things like Stumpy, Kentuck, French Pete, and Kanaka Joe.
Any time that someone speaks in the story, the dialect particular to the region is evident. Kentuck, meeting the baby for the first time proclaims him "the d-d little cuss" and exlaims that "he rastled with my finger" (Harte).
The habits and customs of the town are also made very clear when the settlement begins to change around the baby. Each change that the author mentions makes it clear what the habits and customs of the town were before. Stumpy begins to buy better furniture for the baby, and then the local store starts stocking carpets and mirrors (a thing which they evidently did not have before). The men start washing and stop yelling. Stumpy's cabin, which before was bare and dirty "was kept scrupulously clean and whitewashed. Then it was boarded, clothed, and papered" (Harte).
Just about every detail in the story is aimed at building a picture for the reader of a very specific place at a very specific time in history and contributes to its local color and regionalism.
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