science fiction and fantasy: defining genres and subgenres
Writing by Jana on Friday, 27 of June , 2008 at 8:37 am
This is a favourite point of discussion for many science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts.
What is fantasy? What is science fiction?
Is this novel steampunk? Or a combination of dark-bengasian-deiselpunk?
Who the fuck really cares?
That’s the stand Jonathan McCalmont takes in his interesting post on how to define a genre…and why not to bother
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“The desire to define things is a product of one of the more interesting quirks of human neural architecture; the desire for abstraction. This desire expresses itself as a tendency to see the world not in terms of individuals but rather clumps of objects that share characteristics, and which can therefore be expected to behave in similar ways.”
On one hand, the defining of the multitude of subgenres for fantasy and science fiction makes sense: I love to read dark fantasy. I love to read dark fantasy with a more “literary” bent. Therefore, I actively seek out work that’s been defined by critics and readers as such.
But the problem starts, when the lines become blurred, and when the work fits into more than one or two neat categories. That’s when the disagreements start. And they can get heated. But the negative here is that it really can have a limiting effect on a book to define it so narrowly.
So-called “literary fiction” doesn’t really carry any subgenres within it despite the fact that books falling within that particular bent obviously work on different trends much in the same way that genre or commercial fiction does. I mean, how much literary fiction has been published in the last few years pertaining in some way to the immigrant experience in North America? Dozens. At least. And that’s just what I’ve personally managed to read. Browse through a bookstore and you’ll see what I mean. Immigrant fiction is hot. So are stories that focus on a son or daughter relating their parent’s story and unraveling some mystery about them in order to come to a deeper understanding by the end of the novel about their own lives.
These could be construed as subgenres. But literary fiction does not carry any official genre card, unlike fantasy and science fiction which certainly do — and often to a ridiculous extent. Look at the wiki article on fantasy subgenres and science fiction subgenres. It’s absurd almost to the point of farce, and I feel one of the many reasons that the two genres have such a hard time gaining mainstream success or literary accolades. It goes beyond merely helping the potential reader find what they’re looking for and makes books published in the genre seem almost instantly formulaic.
Those of us who are passionate about fantasy and science fiction and who realize what a load of crap the snobbery is are fighting an uphill battle for literary acknowledgement. Especially considering that novels like The Road and The Handmaiden’s Tale, despite their science fiction leanings, would never be labeled thus except by those of us who already read the genre and can point and say — hey pretentious jackass! that is science fiction you’re giving the Nobel to!
And don’t even get me started on “magical realism,” which is essentially fantasy of another name.
But at the end of the day, who does really care and why should we be bothered? Isn’t it really a moot point? An argument no one will ever win? I like to think so.
Think of the possibilities, for both readers and writers of any type, if such strict classification was at least taken less seriously if not outright shunned.
Category: Fantasy, science fiction
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Made Saturday, 28 of June , 2008 at 12:51 am
[...] Science Fiction and Fantasy: Defining Genres and Subgenres [...]
Comment by Fábio
Made Saturday, 28 of June , 2008 at 8:37 am
You know, I felt tempted to say that all this classification stuff is mainly fault of the publishing houses, media vehicles and all that, but I think that´s the easy (and not very accurate) answer.
Humankind is semiotic by essence, which means (in a very small nutshell): we need to label things. Starting by our need to name things and to name ourselves. So it comes as no surprise at all that, when book publishing began, someone had the brilliant idea of classifying them by genres.
Tzvetan Todorov (and Umberto Eco, I think - I´m writing by memory) offered the classification by modes instead of genres, which, I think, would ease things greatly. After all, if we have genres (or subgenres) like New Weird, New Space Opera, Science Fantasy, and Steampunk, to name the foremost, it´s because of their hybridness, so the concept of genre as we know it may be treading water by some time now. Maybe it´s time to rethink the whole shebang - but I don´t think we´ll ever get rid of the concept. Not because the media wants it, but because, when the day is done, we like to know what we are about to read (even though we may disagree with the labeling after reading the story).
Comment by Brutellio
Made Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 3:42 pm
Hello. I enjoyed reading your website.
Have a wonderful day and keep up the good work.
Brutellio.
Comment by Jana
Made Saturday, 12 of July , 2008 at 7:19 pm
Thanks for stopping by Brutellio.
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