Literature
On a discussion forum I joined nearly a year ago, is a place to discuss topics that pertain to writing. Another member told me how much she enjoyed some of the discussion that have been started by myself and others to improve ones writing and different techniques to try. While thinking that I might start coming up with weekly threads for that topics I started thinking about a college writing class that I took and how it helped me to grow as a writer and a critic, but not necessarily by any fault or cause of the professor. It was a workshop class which means I got feedback from everyone in the class on my pitiful attempts at original work and give feedback to others in various stages of writing development (author's, not stories).
The professor and I didn't see eye to eye. Perhaps because of our backgrounds in writing, or perhaps because she was just a literary snob. I know it was not due to political influences as a good friend is so liberal she calls me her conservative friend and I'm really more of a moderate, but this friend also thought the professor was a bit narrow-minded in her view points.
So those of you still reading are wondering what this has to do with Literature (note the big L, as opposed to the little l). I'm thinking that our disagreement started the first day of class when she asked us to define the difference of between Literature and Genre. While most of the class was giving flowing, flowery definitions about meaning, significance, reach; cynical, smart-alec me, in all seriousness, said, "Twenty years."
Why twenty years? I'd say that's the bare minimum. If a piece of writing can stand the test of time, and be as relevant to the readers twenty years from the day that it was written, if in that time it has affected not just the readers, but also the culture, then it can be Literature.
Someone may write a wonderful story that is a best seller and makes a small dent in the way the world revolves around it for a short time, and for that short time, it may break out of it's own little genre to become Literature. But Literature is not about the short-term. Literature is about the long-term. Someone may write a neat little science fiction story that gets published in one of the science fiction annuals. For a time, it is overlooked, as so often science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism are in the Literary world (unless your name is Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, or Ursula LeGuin; but even they did not get there immediately). Sometime after it's original publication, it gets picked up by another publisher, and gets pushed a bit more and people start discussion not just plot but characters and themes, and the discussion grows.
Twenty, thirty, forty years later that once so called "Genre" is being taught in classrooms all over the place, while that little piece of "Literature" is forgotten.
Twenty years is the difference between Literature and Genre.
The professor and I didn't see eye to eye. Perhaps because of our backgrounds in writing, or perhaps because she was just a literary snob. I know it was not due to political influences as a good friend is so liberal she calls me her conservative friend and I'm really more of a moderate, but this friend also thought the professor was a bit narrow-minded in her view points.
So those of you still reading are wondering what this has to do with Literature (note the big L, as opposed to the little l). I'm thinking that our disagreement started the first day of class when she asked us to define the difference of between Literature and Genre. While most of the class was giving flowing, flowery definitions about meaning, significance, reach; cynical, smart-alec me, in all seriousness, said, "Twenty years."
Why twenty years? I'd say that's the bare minimum. If a piece of writing can stand the test of time, and be as relevant to the readers twenty years from the day that it was written, if in that time it has affected not just the readers, but also the culture, then it can be Literature.
Someone may write a wonderful story that is a best seller and makes a small dent in the way the world revolves around it for a short time, and for that short time, it may break out of it's own little genre to become Literature. But Literature is not about the short-term. Literature is about the long-term. Someone may write a neat little science fiction story that gets published in one of the science fiction annuals. For a time, it is overlooked, as so often science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism are in the Literary world (unless your name is Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, or Ursula LeGuin; but even they did not get there immediately). Sometime after it's original publication, it gets picked up by another publisher, and gets pushed a bit more and people start discussion not just plot but characters and themes, and the discussion grows.
Twenty, thirty, forty years later that once so called "Genre" is being taught in classrooms all over the place, while that little piece of "Literature" is forgotten.
Twenty years is the difference between Literature and Genre.