Contemporary critics noted that Kočić's peasant characters deviated from the idyllic representations that were prevalent in 19th-century South Slavic literature, and that his stories instead depicted rural life as strenuous and hard. Kočić was also noted for his extensive use of word play, usually for comedic effect. An example of this can be found in "Sudanija", in which the main character, an illiterate peasant named Ćiko Trubajić, incorrectly refers to the paragraphs in the Austro-Hungarian law code using a sociolect, "paligrafi" ("paligraphs"). In a number of stories, particularly "Jazavac pred sudom", Kočić repeatedly mocks the Austro-Hungarians for their poor grasp of Serbo-Croatian. In his speeches before the "Sabor", he frequently lambasted the authorities for their supposed corrupting influence on the Serbo-Croatian language. The authority figures who frustrate the powerless Serb peasant's calls for justice are faceless, nameless individuals who have trouble understanding the nuances and subtleties of Balkan life. "Kočić's objections seemed directed not at political oppression as such," Hajdarpašić contends, "but rather specifically against the 'foreign' character of the Habsburg administration."