Answer the question on the basis of the following passage (the passage is in…

A passage-based ‘what kind of work is this’ question is answered by the label the passage itself explicitly attaches to the work — usually stated directly in an early sentence — rather than by inferring a genre from scattered thematic details alone. When the passage names the genre outright, that stated label is the answer; thematic content (social issues, historical references, and so on) only supports or elaborates that stated classification.

The passage opens with: “‘मैला आंचल’ हिंदी का प्रतिनिधि आंचलिक उपन्यास है…” — directly classifying the novel as हिंदी का प्रतिनिधि आंचलिक उपन्यास (Hindi’s representative regional/aanchalik novel). Every detail that follows — the region-centred protagonist, the Mithilanchal dialect used throughout, the local customs and festivals — develops precisely that stated classification.

• Idealistic (आदर्श) would require the work to hold up an ideal or model; the passage instead states it depicts अंचल की सुन्दरता व कुरूपता दोनों का गहरा चित्रण — the region’s beauty AND ugliness alike — an even-handed portrayal, not an idealised one.

• Historical (ऐतिहासिक) would require anchoring the story to a specific past period or event; the passage ties the work to a region and its contemporary social fabric, not to any historical era.

• Social (सामाजिक) themes such as जातिवाद, अफसरशाही and राजनीति do appear, but only as elements woven inside the passage's own stated classification — they are not, by themselves, the label the passage assigns the work.

Because the passage's own opening sentence explicitly names the work आंचलिक उपन्यास (a regional novel), that is the classification the question asks for.