I'm coming back to this question again about what makes writing "literature" as opposed to just fiction or non-fiction. I read today, an article about Ray Bradbury in the on-line Slate magazine. You can read the article yourself by clicking here.
Basically the article mentions that Ray Bradbury is now accepted as a literary icon, has won numerous awards, has books which are regular readings in school, but some of his best work is still his pulp fiction.
Give the article a read and tell me what you think. And while I've gotten some good suggestions as to what makes a particular written work "literature" or not, I'm still looking for more thoughts.
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3 comments:
As a science fiction/fantasy fan, I think what bugs me most about the literature/fiction debate is the ghetto into which most genre (and not just sci-fi) is placed. That's changed some in recent years, but I remember back in the day when sci-fi readers were looked down on and derided. (With today's youth, it's the sci-fi fans who are still reading.) Other genres suffer the same fate. Is Dashiell Hammett literary? How about Mickey Spillane?
Cool article, by the way.
Or, as I mentioned before, Zane Grey. By Mo's standards, Zane Grey is literature as he continues to be published and put on the shelves, generations after the initial printing. I've never read Zane Grey, though I've tried, and find it dull and plodding.
Fair enough, Mo.
Now what about authors like, Bernard Malamud or Stanley Elkin (two of my favorites)? Some of their books may or may not be in print still. Elkin, of course, is still alive and writing, but he tends to get classified as "literature" rather than simply fiction. A fair assessment?
I'm not trying to play games with you, or tell you you're wrong, I'm just not satisfied that I've found a definition or difference. I think that it has as much to do with the writing as it does with the selling and publishing. I've just decided that while most people agree there is a difference, no one seems to be able to comfortably define that difference (other than yourself). And certainly those who try seem to have different definitions.
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