Are you missing the point of my question, David?
Wash ,'War Stories'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Are you missing the point of my question, David?
I thought Jesse already addressed your question with the "Capital L" literature. Which I think is correct.
I just disagreed with her characterization of Capital L Literature.
So I really wasn't addressing your question at all - though it was a perfectly valid question.
Did I miss something else?
I don't think occasionally including women and/or POC on their "Capital L" literature lists counterbalances the domination of Straight White Dude angst.
Although, for what it's worth, I remember Barnes & Noble as having both "fiction" and "literature" sections, in addition to all of the ones in that sentence you quoted (and more).
I don't think occasionally including women and/or POC on their "Capital L" literature lists counterbalances the domination of Straight White Dude angst.
Right. Including Toni Morrison is textbook exceptionalism, not a redefining of capital-L "Literature."
It's mostly Straight White Dude Angst, but the line for me usually falls between Books They Will Give Nobels and Bookers To, and Books They Won't.
Right. Including Toni Morrison is textbook exceptionalism, not a redefining of capital-L "Literature."
I was surprised to see more POC than expected when I looked at the list of all Nobel Prizes in Literature. I thought Toni Morrison was, like, the only one ever, which is why David called her out, but there are several.
It's mostly Straight White Dude Angst, but the line for me usually falls between Books They Will Give Nobels and Bookers To
Except the Booker is more apt to be non white guys than the Nobels (probably because it is for the book not the author's body of work). Hence a historical fiction turning Thomas Cromwell into an amazingly page-turning bromance is a Booker winner. Twice.
I think the Capital-L literature is more about un-fun character studies as opposed to fiction which is about engaging plots. It's like oatmeal books vs. cheeseburger books.
I missed that Doris Lessing died yesterday: [link]
I don't disagree with the author's points about Twilight, but I think she completely misses the mark when it comes to Katniss Everdeen. And as much as I love Little Women (and I still do), her ideas about Jo March really don't seem to consider that Jo is a trailblazer only within a very limited framework.
Grumble grumble.