Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Fiction of "Literary Fiction"

BAD PAPER: Bursting the 'Literary Fiction' Bubble. Edmond Caldwell, on Contra James Wood.

Behind the veil of humanist ideology, “literary fiction” is just another genre among genres, written according to a comforting formula and intended for “culinary” consumption. The difference between genre fiction and literary fiction is all in the appearance of distinction, such that if genre fiction = entertainment, then literary fiction = entertainment + status. Works of literary fiction are therefore merely more mystified and meretricious, like those prostitutes who are paid larger sums of money not only to have sex but to pretend they enjoy it.

1 comment:

  1. Hey, if someone wants to pit the merits of Stephanie Meyer versus Dorothy Lessing, heck even Joyce Carol Oates, and James Patterson against the works of Philip Roth, I'm all ears.

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