A
psychological novel, also called
psychological realism, is a work of
prose fiction which places more than the usual amount of emphasis on interior
characterization, and on the
motives, circumstances, and internal action which springs from, and develops, external action. The psychological novel is not content to state what happens but goes on to explain the motivation of this action. In this type of writing
character and characterization are more important than usual, and they often delve deeper into the mind of a character than novels of other genres. The psychological novel can be called a novel of the "inner man," so to say. In some cases, the
stream of consciousness technique, as well as interior monologues, may be employed to better illustrate the inner workings of the human mind at work. Flashbacks may also be featured. While these three textual techniques are also prevalent in
literary modernism, there is no deliberate effort to fragment the prose or compel the reader to interpret the text.