What is literary fiction?

[ZlodeyVolk]

In brief: what characteristics define literary fiction as literary, as opposed to genre fiction? I've not a clue, but this question has been vexing me for a little while, now. There seem almost as many answers on the Web as there are people who attempt to answer it and, to make matters worse, many answers are no answer at all. So what are your thoughts? I really would like to know.

 

[HareBrain]

Why does it vex you? I think most people conclude in the end that it doesn't really matter unless you're involved in one of those genre-vs-literary debates, and in those cases it's probably best to get straight to the physical violence.

But for what they're worth, my own thoughts:

1, usually emphasis on character, theme, form and/or prose style over plot.

2, doesn't easily fit a genre, or if it does, is very experimental in terms of form.

3, the title is followed by: "a novel".

 

[Brian G Turner]

I think Toby Frost once defined it as: "Not much happens to characters you don't care about."

More seriously, I used to worry about this when trying to define my own work - namely because I wasn't reading enough. It's only really through a wide experience of reading that a writer can really begin to understand what constitutes the different genres of fiction, and how their work relates to it. It's an issue I see commonly come up on chrons - just in case that applies here.

 

[Extollager]

There are at least two topics here: what "literary fiction" might be in general usage, and what it means here at Chrons for this thread.

I'll skip the first, for now.

Here at Chrons, the term "Literary Fiction" was settled on for a catch-all place to discuss literary works other than those readily assignable to fantasy, horror, historical novels, or science fiction. Quite a few Chrons people evidently read nothing but books and stories in those categories, but quite a few Chrons people do read outside them.

Therefore, here at Chrons "Literary Fiction" includes what has often been called "serious literature," whether poetry or prose, but also travel books, memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, collections of letters, what used to be called middle-brow novels (cf. the discussion of mid-list authors), and so on. "Literary Fiction" would be sold (in the United States) in the Literature or Classics sections of bookstores, also in Poetry, and maybe even just Fiction categories. Here too would be the place to discuss books about books (other than genre ones). For example, if I wanted to talk about Colin Wilson's Poetry and Mysticism I'd start a thread here.

I myself can't stand to read nothing but fantasy, horror, or sf, one after the other, although when I was a youngster that's exactly what I did do. Now reading one after the other would tend to spoil the experience, I'm sure. The Chrons moderators have never scolded me for insufficient activity in the three categories most prominent here, for which I'm grateful.

I used the expression "serious literature" a moment ago. That's at best just a useful shorthand expression. It's awfully broad, since it would cover everything from the novels of Dickens to the works of 20th-century experimentalists -- and much more. Under this category we'd put Beowulf (right?) and Brideshead Revisited and Paradise Lost. I almost said the Anne of Green Gables books, but perhaps they would go under the Young Adult heading.

Does that help with the question of definition?

 

[RJM Corbet]

Perhaps the real answer to this is: Time Will Tell. Most working writers, of any era, have had to try to make a living from their work. But while 'The Barchester Chronicles' have probably become the focus of a couple of PhD theses, will the same become of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'? I can easilly conceive of a PhD thesis on PG Wodehouse. Is Wodehouse Literary Fiction?

 

[dask]

This is what Penguin Books are for.

 

[RJM Corbet]

I read 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' in the old orange paperback Penguin edition, breaking up and had to sticky-tape it. Is Ernest Hemmingway Literary? I should hopefully believe so?

 

[Extollager]

Perhaps the real answer to this is: Time Will Tell. Most working writers, of any era, have had to try to make a living from their work. But while 'The Barchester Chronicles' have probably become the focus of a couple of PhD theses, will the same become of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'? I can easilly conceive of a PhD thesis on PG Wodehouse. Is Wodehouse Literary Fiction?

Just so it's clear that "Literary Fiction" encompasses more than "classics," though here is where one would expect classics other than genre ones (The Time Machine, Dracula, The Lord of the Rings, etc.) to be discussed.

There's overlap between "classics" and "genre works," of course. But the matter of how to understand "classic" has been ventilated at Chrons, at length, already.

How long until classic?

What do you think Are the Best Classic Fantasy And Science Fiction Books and Stories of All Time?

What Do You Think Are the most Literate Horror Books and Stories Ever written ?

A thread to discuss "literary westerns"

Orange-spine Penguin English Library books

Literary Forbears of Arthur Machen

Veteran Readers: From SF and Fantasy to History and Biography

Journals, Diaries, etc. as Literature

Greatest author of all times

The Library of America

Rereading Literature That You Read in Secondary School or University

The "Mid-List": "'Routine Books' of Yesteryear"--Piers Paul Read, Alec Waugh, and more

Everyman's Library (Original Series) -- Predecessor of Penguin Classics

Was (Is?) There a Science Fiction "Mid-List"?

Oxford World's Classics, etc.

Classifying Books by Mood Induced, not Plot

 

[RJM Corbet]

Just so it's clear that "Literary Fiction" encompasses more than "classics," though here is where one would expect classics other than genre ones (The Time Machine, Dracula, The Lord of the Rings, etc.) to be discussed.

There's overlap between "classics" and "genre works," of course. But the matter of how to understand "classic" has been ventilated at Chrons, at length, already.

How long until classic?

What do you think Are the Best Classic Fantasy And Science Fiction Books and Stories of All Time?

What Do You Think Are the most Literate Horror Books and Stories Ever written ?

A thread to discuss "literary westerns"

Orange-spine Penguin English Library books

Literary Forbears of Arthur Machen

Veteran Readers: From SF and Fantasy to History and Biography

Journals, Diaries, etc. as Literature

Greatest author of all times

The Library of America

Rereading Literature That You Read in Secondary School or University

The "Mid-List": "'Routine Books' of Yesteryear"--Piers Paul Read, Alec Waugh, and more

Everyman's Library (Original Series) -- Predecessor of Penguin Classics

Was (Is?) There a Science Fiction "Mid-List"?

Oxford World's Classics, etc.

Classifying Books by Mood Induced, not Plot

That's a lot of reading. Well, I'll try and work through it ...

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Anything Irish and up its own arse. Apparently

I’m being tongue in cheek - a little. But Irish literature often has a literary fiction - which is a focus on word usuage and selection.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I'm sure I've posted this before - the perspective from a writer asked to argue against the motion that "Genre fiction is no different from literary fiction". From 2014:

Genre fiction radiates from a literary centre

I'm not sure I agree with her, but I can see where she's arguing from.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

Why does it vex you? I think most people conclude in the end that it doesn't really matter unless you're involved in one of those genre-vs-literary debates, and in those cases it's probably best to get straight to the physical violence.

But for what they're worth, my own thoughts:

1, usually emphasis on character, theme, form and/or prose style over plot.

2, doesn't easily fit a genre, or if it does, is very experimental in terms of form.

3, the title is followed by: "a novel".

A good question. It vexes me, because I am trying to figure out what it is that I am writing. If it's really literary, rather than SFF, then I have been pestering the wrong agents.

I think Toby Frost once defined it as: "Not much happens to characters you don't care about."

More seriously, I used to worry about this when trying to define my own work - namely because I wasn't reading enough. It's only really through a wide experience of reading that a writer can really begin to understand what constitutes the different genres of fiction, and how their work relates to it. It's an issue I see commonly come up on chrons - just in case that applies here.

Not sure to what issue you're alluding—do you mean not reading enough, full stop? Or not reading broadly enough? Because I think I have both covered.

There are at least two topics here: what "literary fiction" might be in general usage, and what it means here at Chrons for this thread.

I'll skip the first, for now.

Here at Chrons, the term "Literary Fiction" was settled on for a catch-all place to discuss literary works other than those readily assignable to fantasy, horror, historical novels, or science fiction. Quite a few Chrons people evidently read nothing but books and stories in those categories, but quite a few Chrons people do read outside them.

Therefore, here at Chrons "Literary Fiction" includes what has often been called "serious literature," whether poetry or prose, but also travel books, memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, collections of letters, what used to be called middle-brow novels (cf. the discussion of mid-list authors), and so on. "Literary Fiction" would be sold (in the United States) in the Literature or Classics sections of bookstores, also in Poetry, and maybe even just Fiction categories. Here too would be the place to discuss books about books (other than genre ones). For example, if I wanted to talk about Colin Wilson's Poetry and Mysticism I'd start a thread here.

I myself can't stand to read nothing but fantasy, horror, or sf, one after the other, although when I was a youngster that's exactly what I did do. Now reading one after the other would tend to spoil the experience, I'm sure. The Chrons moderators have never scolded me for insufficient activity in the three categories most prominent here, for which I'm grateful.

I used the expression "serious literature" a moment ago. That's at best just a useful shorthand expression. It's awfully broad, since it would cover everything from the novels of Dickens to the works of 20th-century experimentalists -- and much more. Under this category we'd put Beowulf (right?) and Brideshead Revisited and Paradise Lost. I almost said the Anne of Green Gables books, but perhaps they would go under the Young Adult heading.

Does that help with the question of definition?

To some extent, yes. To some extent, no. And you've sort of thrown crime fiction under the bus, there.

Anything Irish and up its own arse. Apparently

I’m being tongue in cheek - a little. But Irish literature often has a literary fiction - which is a focus on word usuage and selection.

Irish? No. Up its own arse? Possibly. And your remark about word usage and selection is getting toward the heart of my problem, I think.

I'm sure I've posted this before - the perspective from a writer asked to argue against the motion that "Genre fiction is no different from literary fiction". From 2014:

Genre fiction radiates from a literary centre

I'm not sure I agree with her, but I can see where she's arguing from.

Yes, and this is part of it, too: what's with trying to stuff everything into neatly labelled categories, rigidly defined?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Irish? No. Up its own arse? Possibly. And your remark about word usage and selection is getting toward the heart of my problem, I think.

Incidentally I have a literary fantasy thing out there but see no need to market it as such.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

Aha! Nearer and nearer … I see a lot of agents talk about wanting fiction which straddles the divide between literary and genre. But saying a thing and meaning it are two beasties of different complexions.

 

[Joshua Jones]

I had a professor explain it in a couple different ways. One that stuck with me is that literary fiction tends to focus on a complex theme and uses extensive symbolism throughout, while genre (she used the term commercial, but I think the stories being referred to are the same either way), tends to have simpler themes (or, as she put it, themes that can be needlepointed onto a throw pillow) and has as at least one if its major concerns entertaining the reader. She also had us compare Richard Cornell's The Most Dangerous Game with Tobias Wolf's Hunters in the Snow.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Aha! Nearer and nearer … I see a lot of agents talk about wanting fiction which straddles the divide between literary and genre. But saying a thing and meaning it are two beasties of different complexions.

Not really. Carlos Ruiz Zafon straddles both very neatly. Joanne Harris. Kate Mosse. Isabelle Allende. Kirsty Logan. Neil Gaiman in some of his works. It’s easy to get hung up on a label: just let your work speak and aim for agents who like lit stuff (if they take magical realism, that’s often a strong hint)

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

… aim for agents who like lit stuff (if they take magical realism, that’s often a strong hint)

Cheers for that! This is handy advice. {Not that I write about anything magical, as such, just tangential universes. But the principle holds, I think.)

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

I had a professor explain it in a couple different ways. One that stuck with me is that literary fiction tends to focus on a complex theme and uses extensive symbolism throughout, while genre (she used the term commercial, but I think the stories being referred to are the same either way), tends to have simpler themes (or, as she put it, themes that can be needlepointed onto a throw pillow) and has as at least one if its major concerns entertaining the reader. She also had us compare Richard Cornell's The Most Dangerous Game with Tobias Wolf's Hunters in the Snow.

Meanwhile, I've seen it also defined as fiction which is set in a contemporary, real-world setting (or words to that effect); and even everything that isn't "genre fiction", which definition is about as helpful as a blister on a hike!

 

[Joshua Jones]

Meanwhile, I've seen it also defined as fiction which is set in a contemporary, real-world setting (or words to that effect); and even everything that isn't "genre fiction", which definition is about as helpful as a blister on a hike!

Yeah, police proceedurals and psychological horror are often set in modern times, so that isn't a good standard either. What I like about the distinctions I raised is that they are objective and substantial. But, I am certainly open to other definitions.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

Something I've been toying with, lately, is the idea that popular fiction is somewhat akin to one's morning dash to catch the bus or train to work, inasmuch as the goal is known, it's achievement is well within means, and the process is fairly straightforward, presenting few (if any) distractions; whereas the more literary stuff is something akin to a stroll through a formal garden, with lots of little alcoves and follies to explore. Of course these ideas are not especially flattering to popular fiction but, in my defence, it did come to mind after one reader suggested that I include more gigantic lizards.