Professor Hyphen here, fresh back from the Christmas break and raring to go. As the faculty strains its way back into another term it`s all hands to the pump, noses to the grindstone. We`ve got a tough time in front if we`re to finish the syllabus in time for the exam season. (Groan!)
Now, now you lot at the back, stop bellyaching.
The theme of my next lecture will be genre`s. What exactly are they and what role do they play? They are of course pigeon holes. Something which nobody likes to identify with and yet something we continually use. So we have literary fiction (Possibly top of the erudite tree) followed by fiction, thrillers, crime, suspense, humour, pot boilers and mommy porn. The list is endless and definitions restrictive.
Was Gulliver`s Travels and Animal farm merely children`s stories. Can children`s stories be regarded as literary fiction. The questions continue and our task is to break the nuts and bolts of this down to a common denominator. As far as I know very few writers like to be categorised in this manner. Always believing their appeal is much broader than it really is.
Bad news folks! Your aspiring readers take genre`s very seriously. Almost to the point where some will read nothing more than Sci-fi or mommy porn. Love it or loathe it genre`s are here to stay and once a writer is labelled under a certain category he or she is unlikely to shake it off. So ultimately it`s a marketing tool for the timid. Those afraid of delving into something they might not understand or enjoy.
Now this is just a personal point and it`s not necessary to use it in your notes. I believe a good writer is like a good actor and can willingly take on any given role. The real writing should be in the words and not the subject matter. To stick to one genre is to stifle creativity and deny yourself a wealth material available. Anyhow, you are merely students studying a subject worthy of catapulting yourselves up the job market. Sadly, I do often wonder if you truly love the written word as I do. Perhaps all I`m doing is creating a load of over educated fools with no future other than stumbling through academia for the rest of their natural lives.
Now, now you lot at the back, stop bellyaching.
The theme of my next lecture will be genre`s. What exactly are they and what role do they play? They are of course pigeon holes. Something which nobody likes to identify with and yet something we continually use. So we have literary fiction (Possibly top of the erudite tree) followed by fiction, thrillers, crime, suspense, humour, pot boilers and mommy porn. The list is endless and definitions restrictive.
Was Gulliver`s Travels and Animal farm merely children`s stories. Can children`s stories be regarded as literary fiction. The questions continue and our task is to break the nuts and bolts of this down to a common denominator. As far as I know very few writers like to be categorised in this manner. Always believing their appeal is much broader than it really is.
Bad news folks! Your aspiring readers take genre`s very seriously. Almost to the point where some will read nothing more than Sci-fi or mommy porn. Love it or loathe it genre`s are here to stay and once a writer is labelled under a certain category he or she is unlikely to shake it off. So ultimately it`s a marketing tool for the timid. Those afraid of delving into something they might not understand or enjoy.
Now this is just a personal point and it`s not necessary to use it in your notes. I believe a good writer is like a good actor and can willingly take on any given role. The real writing should be in the words and not the subject matter. To stick to one genre is to stifle creativity and deny yourself a wealth material available. Anyhow, you are merely students studying a subject worthy of catapulting yourselves up the job market. Sadly, I do often wonder if you truly love the written word as I do. Perhaps all I`m doing is creating a load of over educated fools with no future other than stumbling through academia for the rest of their natural lives.