在20年代初、中期，小说创作上出现了一种被称为“乡土小说”的作品。“乡土小说”指的是20年代初、中期，一批寓居北京、上海的作家，以自己熟悉的故乡风土人情为题材，旨在揭示宗法制乡镇生活的愚昧、落后，并借以抒发自己乡愁的小说。这批作家有冯文炳（废名）、王鲁彦、台静农、彭家煌、许杰等。
乡土小说的兴起，是新文学小说对“五四”小说过于西方化的一次反拨。“五四”小说以鲜明的人文主义思想追求和对西方近现代文学及语言的借鉴与中国传统小说划清了界限、实现了小说的革命，然而“五四”小说创作因此也存在很多弊端。其一是概念化，小说成了作家演绎思想、表达观念的形式，这个弊端主要表现在问题小说中；其二是欧化，这主要集中在浪漫小说中。浪漫小说不仅在抒情方式上直接借用了19世纪西方浪漫文学（尤其是卢梭的作品）的抒情方式，而且在抒情主人公的塑造上也过多受到卢梭及歌德的《少年维特的烦恼》的影响，因而这一派小说在叙事上不象小说，而在语言上则又非本土化。针对这种缺陷，新文学作家曾呼吁文学的“地方色彩”，提倡文学应有“从土里滋长出来的个性”，号召作家“须得跳到地面上来，把土气息、泥滋味透过了他的脉搏，表现在文字上”。所以，乡土小说在20年代初、中期的崛起，实际是新文学在革命之后着手建设的象征，反映了新文学现实主义的追求。
最早创作乡土小说并证明其艺术魅力的，是鲁迅。但是，无论是鲁迅还是那些后来被称为乡土作家的青年作家，在20年代初、中期都不曾明确使用过“乡土文学”或“乡土小说”的概念，更未以此相标榜。最早将这批作家回忆故乡、抒写乡愁的小说称为“乡土文学”的，是鲁迅1928年在《中国新文学大系小说二集导言》中。后来人们便沿用这一概念指称这一时期的这批作家的创作。
乡土小说作家很多都是直接受鲁迅的影响并有意识地模仿鲁迅而开始创作的，大都师承了鲁迅小说的批判国民性特点，较少造作，克服了概念化，以一种质朴和真实的面貌为当时小说创作界吹进一股清风。
乡土小说的主要特征，首先是作家以批判的眼光审视故乡风习，对愚昧、落后进行尖锐的讽刺与批判。其次，乡土小说作家往往怀着哀其不幸、怒其不争的复杂情绪描绘生活与苦难中而又麻木、愚昧的故乡人，同情与批判，讽刺与哀怜相互交织，形成乡土小说喜剧与悲剧相交融的美学风格。第三，在批判和描绘故乡愚昧习俗、麻木人性、凄凉人生时，乡土小说作家仍然抑住不住对故乡的眷恋，而这眷恋又往往与某种失落感相交织，因而小说大都具有抑郁的抒情调子。
In the early 20s, medium, appeared on a novel called "Country Novel" works. "Local Literature" refers to the early 20s, medium, number of resident in Beijing, Shanghai, writer, home of their own customs and familiar theme, the rule of law to reveal the number of rural life, ignorance, backwardness, and to express their nostalgic Fiction. These writers Feng Wenbing (Fei Ming), Wang Lu-yan, Tai Jingnong, Peng Jiahuang, Xu Jiedeng.
Local rise of the novel, is a new literary fiction of "54" too Westernized a novel anti-allocated. "54" Humanism novel pursuit of a clear-cut and modern western literature and language reference and drawn a line of traditional Chinese fiction, the novel realization of the revolutionary, but "54" novels and therefore there are many disadvantages. One is conceptual, the novel became a writer deductive thinking, in the form of the expression of ideas, just that the problem mainly in the novel; second, Europeanization, mainly concentrated in the romantic novel. Romantic novel way not only in lyrical direct borrowing of the 19th century romantic literature of the West (especially the works of Rousseau) lyrical way, but also in shaping the lyrical hero is also too much by Rousseau and Goethe's "Sorrows of Young Werther" and impact, which this school is not in narrative fiction as fiction, while in another non-native language. In view of this defect, a new literary writers have called literature "local color" to promote literature should "grow out from the earth's personality," called writers "must apply to the ground up, the soil atmosphere, taste through the mud his pulse, reflected in the wording. " Thus, the early local novel in 20, mid-rise, actually started after the new literature in the construction of the revolutionary symbol, reflecting the pursuit of new literary realism.
Creation of Local Literature and the earliest proof of their artistic charm, is Lu Xun. However, both Lu Xun or local writers who became known as the young writer, in the early 20s, medium, have not explicitly used "local literature" or "Country Novel" concept, but not advertised in this phase. Home of the earliest memories of this group of writers, describe nostalgic novel called "local literature" is Lu Xun in 1928, "Novel two sets of Chinese New Literature Series Introduction". Later, the concept that people will follow these writers in this period the alleged creation.
Local fiction writers many of which are directly affected by the influence of Lu Xun and consciously begin to imitate the writing of Lu Xun, Lu Xun largely modeled after the critical features of national character, less artificial, to overcome the conceptual, with a simple and true face of the then Fiction community began an breeze.
The main features of local fiction, first writer to critically examine the practice home of the wind, on the ignorance and backwardness for sharp satire and criticism. Second, local fiction writers often With Sorrow Misfortune, Blame Him depict the complex emotional life and suffering but numb, ignorant people from his homeland, sympathy and criticism, irony and pity are intertwined to form a local novel, blending comedy and tragedy The aesthetic style. Third, criticism and ignorance custom painted home, numbness of human nature, sad life, the local writers still Yizhu not live on love of hometown, and this attachment is often intertwined with a sense of loss, which mostly have depression lyrical novel tone.