Danielmedley.com

Literary Vs Genre

I’ve often wondered what exactly separates so called genre fiction from so called literary fiction. Sure, you can read a novel and know that is decidedly one or the other, but just what is it exactly that separates the two? To use a cliché, I suppose it comes down to, I know it when I see it, but I can’t explain it.

Granted, the question that this essay asks is: Why are so many novelists in the modern age drawn to write about the ancient world, especially Rome but also, to a lesser extent, Greece?, but the following piqued my attention:

“Robert Harris may be one of Britain’s most popular novelists, but he remains a victim of literary snobbery, or so he thinks. Interviewed recently in the Observer, he complained that the kind of novels shortlisted for the Booker prize were as much works of genre as any other. Harris is considered to be a genre writer: a writer of the airport thriller and historical saga. As such he is never in contention for the main prizes, and his latest novel, Imperium, was predictably not among the 19 titles on this year’s Man Booker longlist.”

Of course, Harris’s publishers may not have entered it for the prize. But if they did, the novel had two things against it. First, the proof copy came with the boast that it had a publicity budget of £400,000, information guaranteed to offend high-minded judges. Second, it is indeed genre fiction ...

I tend to agree with Robert Harris to some degree, and I’ve often wondered why there exists this elitism, or “snobbery” if you will. I wonder if this phenomenon is—at least partly and perhaps inadvertently—perpetuated by the publishing industry. I’ve read accounts of Editors going to bat, kicking and screaming, to get a particular book published knowing that it will not make money and that it will be an economical bust, but because they feel the work is of such merit, they feel that it needs to be put out there. Doesn’t this attitude, in part, doom a book from the start? After such a book is in print and it’s “out there” do the publishers give it weak promotion, saving the big money for the Clancys and Grishams?

Personally, I read a broad spectrum of genres and styles. I’m as likely to pick up a Faulkner as I am a King. I can be as engrossed in one as much as the other as long as I’m reading a good story.

But, I suppose that most consumers are not like that. Or, perhaps they are, and book publishers are beginning to behave much the same Hollywood. I believe that Hollywood is vastly underestimating the average film viewer. But, that’s a whole other discussion.

I know that in my own work it would be difficult to pin down a specific genre. Sure, on the surface, much of what I write could be pigeon-holed, but I think that deeper down, it’s more broad than that. Perhaps that’s wishful thinking on my part.

Hi Daniel,

I think literary fiction is where prose dominates narrative, with a scholarly use of a language as opposed to genre fiction where a fast-paced narrative plot would dominate prose.

I believe, both sections command their own magic.

I don’t know about the word ‘literary snobbery.’
With me, as you can see from my blog, I am so passionately drawn to literary prose and write it easily. 

It is a calling and I don’t know that it may be a crime to love the taste and beauty of language because I would read literary fiction over genre simply because I am drunk with love over prose, and not because of anything to do with snobbery.

Sometimes, I think it’s a curse because it’s much harder to sell your manuscript that is literary to a publisher/agent especially if you’re a newbie - it’s much easier to present a manuscript of commercial fiction for their perusal.

But it is a calling and I find today, one that I anyway, amateur writer or not, cannot run away from. I guess a reader’s choice also stays a subjective one.

Thank you for this very interesting subject and here’s hoping you’re well.

Susan,

Thanks for your input. I agree with much of what you say, but I wonder if the two (literary and genre) need to be exclusive as far as commercialism goes. I’ve read so called literary works that are very plot driven; think One Hundred Years of Solitude, or many of Jim Harrison’s works.

I wonder if the two need be exclusive. Perhaps I’m hoping for too much.

Again, thanks for your input.

To me genre yells out what it is when you see it. Literature makes you work for the answer. Literature doesn’t have to be easy or fun to read. It seems above all that. I would rather entertian than impress so it is genre all the way for my writing.

Sara

I think genre is so subjective that there is no hard and fast definition that will satisfy everyone.

One person’s horror is another person’s dark fantasy or thriller or suspense.

And what is literary fiction compared to mainstream fiction? Depends who you ask.

Some people consider The Silence of the Lambs to be horror (it won the Stoker Award for Best Horror Novel in ‘88), whereas others consider it… well, take your pick.

I think some writers may have their own ideas of what they are writing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean their readers feel the same way. (For example, a lot writers tend to use the term fantasy in the broader sense of fiction that is fantastical, whereas most readers hear the word and think of elves and dragons.)

Ian

All good points, Ian. The challenge for writers is to attempt to match their concept of a given genre with that of an editor’s. Now, that’s a crystal ball I’d pay good money for.