Literary Fiction

Last night I participated in #askagent, an impromptu Twitter chat hosted by agent Colleen Lindsay. The purpose of the chat is for people who work in the industry to answer some questions writers might have (excluding questions about queries and trends). A question came up about literary fiction that I thought was interesting and needed addressing.

Curious: many agents who blog tend to like mystery, paranormal, YA – why? Agents who focus exclusively on literary fiction less internet-savvy?

It isn’t necessarily that agents who focus exclusively on literary fiction (and there aren’t many agents who focus exclusively on one genre or another) are luddites. It’s that literary fiction is hard to blog about.

Agent Kathleen Ortiz and I have had some discussions about literary fiction, what comprises it, how to distinguish it, etc. She prefers commercial novels whereas I like my fiction to be a bit more on the literary side, but I found myself at a slight loss to articulate exactly what it is.

Literary fiction is a bit like pornography: I know it when I see it. (Did I just compare lit fic to porn? Yes, yes I did.) The only problem is, my porn and your porn might be two different things. (And I will stop with the simile before it ventures into TMI territory.) What I consider literary may not be someone else’s idea of literary. Literary fiction’s fundamental definition is that it doesn’t really have one. I’m of the belief it’s not actually a genre, the way I don’t feel commercial is a genre either. “Commercial” and “literary” are adjectives, not categories.

MANIAC MAGEE by Jerry Spinnelli

Bold words, I know, but the thing is, you could probably categorize literary fiction in a number of other genres as well. Contemporary fiction. Historical fiction. Science-fiction/Fantasy. Romance. Mystery. Children’s fiction. A lot of children’s fiction is literary, especially in middle grade. I read a tonne for school, but read a lot for my own enjoyment when I was young. GOODNIGHT MISTER TOM by Michelle Magorian is an example off the top of my head. I loved this book. MANIAC MAGEE by Jerry Spinelli is another example. (Many of the Newberry winners are a good example of literary middle grade.)

Let me say this: literary fiction is not entirely about prose. Stylistic prose is a characteristic, but not the be-all, catch-all in defining the “genre”. If anything, I think something that stands out to me in the voices of a lot of the literary fiction I read is a sort of self-consciousness, a meta-awareness. It’s this awareness that’s difficult to pin down, but I think MANIAC MAGEE has it in spades.

Whatever POV the novel is told in (first person, third person close, third person omniscient, etc.), something about it calls attention to the fact that you are reading a novel. In 18th and 19th fiction, this is very obvious; there is a distinct narrator (separate, but sometimes conflated with the author) who often draws attention to itself by addressing the audience. “Dear Reader” is a common device found in a lot of 19th century literature. Epistolary novels (novels comprised entirely of letters) were common as well; the correspondence was presented as “evidence” for a story.

An example of free indirect discourse!

We are rather more subtle about it these days, and for that we must thank Jane Austen.

Yes, Austen.

In English literature, Austen was the pioneer of free indirect discourse, one of my favourite literary devices. The narrator becomes less distinct and discrete in Austen’s work, but still imparts a sense of narrative distance. Narrative distance is important in satire (regardless of whether or not it’s in the first person); it’s hard to poke fun at people’s ridiculousness if you’re deeply entrenched inside their heads and emotions.

This sense of narrative distance often comes across as “arch”. An arch voice is also difficult to pin down, but there can be a sense of playfulness or even irony about it. Susanna Clarke excels at the arch voice (she is a fantasy writer: JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL won the Hugo). Narrative distance can swing the gamut from barely noticeable (in say, the works of John Green) to IN YOUR FACE (like the works of my beloved James Joyce). Hence why I say your porn may not be my porn.

In the end, it comes down to a matter of taste. I’m a firm believer that people consume fiction for stories. Story is the most important factor for me in deciding to purchase a book. Some people enjoy being consumed in the story, others enjoy being aware of narrative distance. Many enjoy both. I like many conventions that others cannot abide: non-linear storytelling, third person omniscient POV, epistolary novels, etc. But I also like my literary novels to have real commercial heart; that is, an amazing story well-told.

I will say, just like anything else, literary fiction can get lost in its conventions. At best, it makes you examine the book you’re reading not only as a story, but a conscious construction skillfully wrought. A music example: Lady Gaga. Say what you will about her, but you can’t really dismiss her as “another pop star”. She is too self-conscious, too self-aware, and too steeped in other musical traditions and performance art to be merely a vehicle for the next catchy dance-pop single. In this way, she reminds me most of David Bowie, who was chameleon-like in his rock career.

At worst, literary can become pretentious and unreadable. Like Joyce. (But I love him for it. He is, however, a resounding exception.) Personally, I’m not a fan of post-modernism. I have commercial sensibilities; I would like to enjoy the story AS WELL AS the novel’s construction. Literary devices are just another tool in the writer’s arsenal to tell a story; use at your discretion and sparingly, if you please.

So here are my ridiculously long thoughts again. What do you think? Any of you literary fiction readers/writers?