Okay, so that's the definition I've heard before -- but it's not a definition. I still have no way of telling what's literary fiction, what's fiction, and what's science fiction.
Fan Fiction: Writers, Readers, and Enablers
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I'm not sure I get the distinction between "literary fiction" and just plain "fiction." I've seen some bookstores that have a "literature" section and a "fiction" section, and the distinction seems to be that "literature" is stuff that's commonly assigned in high schools, but I don't really get how "literary fiction" is a genre, or how it's defined.
t x-post with ita
Hil, you make me feel better. Because, really, my complete and utter lack of comprehension of these distinctions make me feel quite illiterate, but I know you're not. So I'm saved.
Giles isn't sexy.
Do I have to say it again?
My favorite Lizard, CHAIRS find Giles sexy!
I'M NOT A CHAIR!
Well, no, because then you'd be able to see what's so terribly obvious.
cereal:
Really, I mean, it's circular. Is Octavia Bulter a literary-fiction writer? Is Alex Shakar?
No, you are a sneak who has a verrrrrry interesting interest on LJ...
And here I thought there was only one LJer who listed "teppy" as an interest...
ita, you're not illiterate.
The definition of "literary fiction" is a complete construct, made up by the publishing industry. I can take any novel you point at as "literary fiction" and make an argument that it belongs in another genre, and vice versa. Just like the hard lines around the ghettoes of "romance", "mystery", and "science fiction/fantasy", the line around "literary fiction" is very very hazy.
Dunnett's stuff was once filed exclusively under Romance. Then Historical Fiction. Now it's Literature. WTF? Same books, different shelf.
How come Auel gets to be in literature but Neal Stephenson is science fiction? I'd say "Cryptonomicon" is closer to scientific plausibility than "The Clan of the Cave Bear". ::shrugs and wanders off to find a beer::
Personally, I define "literary fiction" as books that come out in trade paperback with the very matter covers.
I think literary fiction is just what would be called a novel or general fiction..
Most store which divde between literature and fiction use age as a divide-- new stuff is fiction, old stuff is literature.