Literary Fantasy

Fantasy in itself is a subgenre of 'Speculative Fiction' which covers anything that is not conceivably possible in our day and age. This is what groups us together with our sister genre of Science Fiction. When you look at the two they are very similar. The 'Might and Magic' games show us that technology can be perceived as magic when the person using it does not understand its full potential and use.

So, while you have given no specific question in your post, I feel it proper to insist that every work is literature and this just happens to fall (from what understand) as speculative fiction.

"English does not borrow from other languages. It follows them into dark alleyways, beats them with a stick, and searches their pockets for loose grammar."

Most important rules of writing...

-A writer must not shift your point of view
-Check to see

I don't like the idea that "good" fantasy (or any genre) gets to graduate to "literature" because it carries the assumption that genre fiction is "bad" and literary fiction is "good."

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"A bibliophile of little means is likely to suffer often. Books don't slip from his hands but fly past him through the air, high as birds, high as prices." --Pablo Neruda

Unfortunately, genre fiction being considered "bad" or "lower" than literary fiction on a pretend scale happens sort of naturally with some readers and writers. It's important just to write or read as you please, regardless of whether or not it's considered literature.

NaNoWriMo 2007 entry: http://uneasilyslumberingstory.blog.com/

I don't think the question of whether literature is better than genre fiction or not really applies to this thread. "Literary fantasy", as I see it, is merely a description of a branch of fantasy - fantasy that pays a more profound attention to character than other branches of fantasy; fantasy that resembles literary fiction and indulges in rambling, introspection, and an array of metaphors; fantasy that uses fantastical elements more as a way to plumb character than to explore those elements in and of themselves. An example would be Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando. The MC never ages, and changes from male to female midway through the story, but rather than explore the fantastical elements - the reasons for the sex change and Orlando's eternal youth - Woolf uses those elements to explore Orlando's character, as well as take a look at English history.

'03 A princess weaves her long-reaching vengeance against the brother who exiled her. Lost.

'05 A farmboy sets out to find his fortune and is crushed by gods he meant to outwit. Lost.

'06 A madwoman tries to kill her younger self. But a fairy and a

I very much appreciate everyone's concern here and comments. Thank you.

For me, I think Fantasy is a fabulous area!!!!

And, as much literature too.

A good story is a good story.

My interest in posting this thread is because, well for starters, NaNoWriMo invites us to allign our works in categories, which is kind of fun and helpful and kind of a challenge for some of us.

Also, there seems to be some confusion about how one might "categorize" a story -for the sake of submitting it to an agent, if for nothing else.

One impressively experienced writer on NaNaWriMo told me, in November, that, if possible, it was a good idea to define one's story by a genre or within a subgenre of one because that is helpful to those trying to market or catalog or sell the work.

I have read agent blogs that strongly agree AND I have read other agent blogs that feel that mixed genre is a growing trend.

Being, myself, new to the consideration of how my own -or others'- stories fit within a genre, this is really a discussion I that think will continue to prove helpful to my own understanding.

I have been torn in what genre I feel most comfortable declaring my own work in and have spoken to other authors who are equally torn, so I thought I would put out a couple of threads to see where the discussion can take us and open up the question to others.

But in trying to get a better grasp on genre classification, I certainly do not feel one is better than another. I am just trying to understand the subject better.

Again, all comments are appreciated. Thank you!
-RT

My story is more character than plot driven, there's no doubt about that. Considering I changed the setting and overall plot three times before settling on one, but keeping the same central characters and their "inner struggles," lol. Of course I could be prejudiced in that I think my story is the dumbest thing ever written, but I would hardly call it literary. Really I'm writing it for fun. I want it to be fun to write, and my objective is that the reader will have fun reading it as well. When I think of literary I think of high and lofty ideas and experimental writing styles, which I definitely lack. But I also believe in interesting well developed characters with deep inner struggles, so that plays a major part. So I dunno. Maybe it's more literary than I give it credit for :P But I somehow still doubt it.

science fiction can deal with possible events that just haven't happened yet but could tomorrow or could have happened and no one knows about or that can already happened yet in an alternate history.

Literary Fantasy...perhaps it exists. The terms of Literary Fiction are pretty sketchy indeed, so you could classify a Fastasy work as Literary if it has intensive, dynamic character development -and- carries with it a commentary on any aspect of society. Much like an essay, most of the Literary fiction I've come across has an argument put forth, regardless of wheter it is blatant in the work itself.

NaNo 2008, what will you bring?
More WKRC? The Triumphant return of Siegfred's Giant? The Misadventures of Hans and Greta? Or the newly discovered From one Architect to Another?

Well, this is hard to explain. Literature is a depiction of real life in an art form. It's a statement about us. It's a way that people express this complex world as they see it in an artistic way. it doesn't mean that it is better than genre writing they each serve their own perpous. I was shocked that day in language arts when my teacher told me some, well actually most, of the books I read wouldn't be considered literature. I was appalled, until then I was under the assumption that any work of writing was litterature, but no. Genre writing, the kind that you obsess about world building, the kind that you get writers block because you can't find a name, that is for entertainment. You know it deep down that it's for entertainment value. Like any artform. Music, painting, ... writing, there is the kind that is for entertainment (visual arts such as animation, posters etc; music, the kind we put on our iPods and listen over and over again, and writing, the books that develop gigantic fandoms, cough cough harry potter, and so on.) Literature is like any other art form in which the artist merely wants to make a statement. You will find this in any form of art you aspire to. If you want to be considered by studiers of literature, than write literature. Find something you can think through and write down. NaNo is probably not a very literary place because of the huge fantasy sci-fi culture here and also the ammount of thinking that takes to actually write a book that can be studied for centuries. So just say this when you feel inadiquate when your work isn't "literature", say, "I wrote a novel in 30 days, how long did it take you?" Wait till they answer then leave. LOL

"I talk best with my finger tips"

Literary Fantasy...I like the sound of that, personally.

My English teachers try to train students into thinking that literary writing is "better". But it depends on perspective. If it's popularity you want, genre is better. If you want to people who think genre is beneath them, then write literary. It's your priority. The only thing I have against genre is BAD genre. Or just bad writing in general. There's bad literary fiction. Oh, is there bad literary fiction.

But because I've been partially "trained" (in fact, I never wrote literary until junior year of college) literary elements sneak in to my fantasy. And I've been struggling to figure out what exactly I write. It's not magical realism because that is more of social commentary/comments on humanity in the undercurrent of the story with fantastical, unexplained events as part of the storyline. Not quite what I do. But cross-genre stuff works. I've seen romantic fantasies (and fantastical romances) the latter classified as romance, the former as fantasy. But people want to lump it into just one because, hey, that's how things are categorized in bookstores and in the publishing world. But making subgenres gives a more accurate depiction of what a writer writes.

I don't see how literary fiction and fantasy can mix really well due to one thing -- metaphors. Fantasy readers, until limits of what can take place in the story are clearly defined, might take everything literally.

And I think fantasy writers write more popular fiction which people read for fun. I personally despise literary snobbery, the attitude that literary writers are the only ones writing serious works and everything else is trite, that understanding of the story must somehow be earned. That's the main reason I chose to major in history, not English.

That doesn't mean you can't have fine language in fantasy or well-developed characters or inner struggles or whatever. Fantasy is so broad, perhaps more than any other genre. And it can be liberally mixed with everything else. I've read fantasy murder mysteries, fantasy romances, fantasy comedy, fantasy adventure, historical fantasy, and so on and so on.

"Be nice to the imaginary people. Don't kill too many." -- e-mail from my youngest sister, June 23, 2008