Psychological novel

Psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a literary genre that emphasizes interior characterization, as well as the motives, circumstances, and internal action which is derivative from and creates external action; not content to state what happens, it rather reveals and studies the motivation behind the action. Character and characterization are prominent, often delving deeper into characters' mentalities than other genres. Psychological novels are known as stories of the "inner person." Some stories employ stream of consciousness, interior monologues, and flashbacks to illustrate characters' mentalities. While these textual techniques are prevalent in literary modernism, there is no deliberate effort to fragment the prose or compel the reader to interpret the text.