How did Ernest Claes's De witte portray the regional tale after World War I?

Following World War I, Ernest Claes’s De witte (1920) contributed to a new flowering of the picturesque regional tale in Flemish literature.

Rather than focusing on the stark realism or revolutionary Expressionism that characterized other post-war literary trends, Claes’s work presented a "roguish" and playful narrative centered on a prankish youngster. By depicting village life and rustic characters, De witte helped bring the regional novel to prominence, gaining recognition even outside of Flanders. This style of regional storytelling remained a significant force in the early 20th century before eventually being supplanted by the psychological novel by 1930.12