the doctrine of realistic (literal) portrayal in art or literature
<noun.cognition>
a disposition to interpret statements in their literal sense
<noun.cognition>
Literalism \Lit"er*al*ism\ (l[i^]t"[~e]r*al*[i^]z'm), n. 1. That which accords with the letter; a mode of interpreting literally; adherence to the letter.
2. (Fine Arts) The tendency or disposition to represent objects faithfully, without abstraction, conventionalities, or idealization.
Every Kafka frisson is flattened by declamatory literalism; every dark Kafka joke is trapped in the headlights of the film's stagy overemphasis. Boxing Helena is another potentially startling idea boxed into banality by the mise-en-scene.
Charismatics may share his Biblical literalism, but they emphasize "gifts of the spirit" such as speaking in tongues and healing.