Final answer:
Charles Brockden Brown's 'Wieland' is a Gothic novel, distinct from realism, which includes supernatural elements and explores darker aspects of humanity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Wieland, by Charles Brockden Brown, is an example of a Gothic novel. The genre is characterized by its focus on the supernatural, horror, and the dark aspects of human nature, as well as its settings in old, eerie, and decaying structures like castles or monasteries. Brown's work is considered to be part of the early American Gothic tradition which sought to explore the complexities of the human psyche, as well as domestic and societal issues, through a darker and more imaginative lens.
Realism in literature, however, is distinctly different from the Gothic genre. Notable realist authors, such as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and Stephen Crane, depicted everyday life and social conditions with a focus on accuracy and detail, often highlighting the darker or more mundane aspects of existence to call for reform or to simply reflect reality as accurately as possible. This contrast to the romanticized or supernatural elements typically found in Gothic novels.