Theories and Projects
While I was down at Harmony Drive this weekend nounsandverbs loaned me the book 13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?
. Overall it was pretty interesting, but I'm going to wait to do any detailed post on what I think about the theories behind it until I've read some of their other books as well.
The other thing I'm going to do once I've read more of their work is start my own research project on how the generation an author is from affects their choice of time periods they write about. My current theory is that when an author writes contemporary fiction (which I define as anything set less than 20 years before it was written) they will usually choose to make the protagonist a member of their own generation, and that when they write historical fiction (that is, stuff set more than 20 years before it was written) it will be more likely to focus on either their own generation as children/young adults or on their generation's parallels from earlier cycles.
For example: by this theory an author of historical fiction who is a member of the 13th Generation (born in the 1960's or 70's) would be more likely to write characters who are fellow members of Nomad generations (like the Lost Generation), than they would be to write about Prophet generations like the Boomers or Hero generations like the Millennial and G.I. generations.
A list of Strauss & Howe's named generations
My theory may end up being revised, or even abandoned, as I read more of Strauss and Howe's work. I'm looking forward to working on it, though. It's the first big picture, "how does the world fit together?" project that has come to me since my giant family tree of European nobility died a fiery death in a computer crash.
I know, I know. I need to suck it up, go back to school, and get my sociology degree already.
Edit: I should probably also look at movies, TV shows, and plays, but I can't figure out how to determine who the primary creator is. The writer(s)? The producer? The director?
. Overall it was pretty interesting, but I'm going to wait to do any detailed post on what I think about the theories behind it until I've read some of their other books as well.
The other thing I'm going to do once I've read more of their work is start my own research project on how the generation an author is from affects their choice of time periods they write about. My current theory is that when an author writes contemporary fiction (which I define as anything set less than 20 years before it was written) they will usually choose to make the protagonist a member of their own generation, and that when they write historical fiction (that is, stuff set more than 20 years before it was written) it will be more likely to focus on either their own generation as children/young adults or on their generation's parallels from earlier cycles.
For example: by this theory an author of historical fiction who is a member of the 13th Generation (born in the 1960's or 70's) would be more likely to write characters who are fellow members of Nomad generations (like the Lost Generation), than they would be to write about Prophet generations like the Boomers or Hero generations like the Millennial and G.I. generations.
A list of Strauss & Howe's named generations
My theory may end up being revised, or even abandoned, as I read more of Strauss and Howe's work. I'm looking forward to working on it, though. It's the first big picture, "how does the world fit together?" project that has come to me since my giant family tree of European nobility died a fiery death in a computer crash.
I know, I know. I need to suck it up, go back to school, and get my sociology degree already.
Edit: I should probably also look at movies, TV shows, and plays, but I can't figure out how to determine who the primary creator is. The writer(s)? The producer? The director?