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What Is Literary Fiction: not what You Think It Is

July 11, 2019

Literature

literary fiction, literature, reading, reality, symbolism, writing

What is literary fiction? Well, I could offer you a definition – and I will, in a while. But let’s get this out of the way. Literary fiction is probably not what you think it is.

Literary fiction is not a “genre”. Indeed, it is the very opposite of “genre” fiction (we will discuss this, too).

Moreover, literary fiction is not “high-quality” fiction. It can be, of course, but there is mediocre literary fiction, as there is stunningly brilliant genre fiction.

What is literary fiction
What is literary fiction? It’s not about what you say but how you say it

And so, if someone asks you what is literary fiction, how should you reply? Allow me to throw the A-bomb and then we’ll take a closer look: Literary fiction is an aesthetic framework for approaching the human condition.

If you feel confused, worry not. I’ll unpack it for you right away.

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Separate the Art from the Artist

June 10, 2019

Literature

art, artist, bigotry, idiocy, literature, review, social media

No, this isn’t a post about the chaos of meaning and authorial intention. Or, then again, maybe it’s at least related to it. Today I want to talk about those peculiar readers who seem utterly unable to separate the art from the artist.

But what does it mean, to separate the art from the artist? In a sense, it’s about understanding that meaning is created by the author as well as the audience.

However, in our context, not to separate the art from the artist refers to those who cannot objectively assess a work of art as a result of their preconceptions about the artist.

separate the art from the artist
Where do you draw the line between art and artist?
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What Is Negative Capability

May 13, 2019

Literature, Philosophy

experiencing, Keats, literature, negative capability, philosophy, poetry, truth

In today’s post I will talk about Negative Capability. In particular, I’ll try to answer the question, What is negative capability? There’s a reason I’ve used bold font. There’s also a reason I said that I’ll try to answer the question.

Honestly, few things in a literary context have troubled me more than negative capability. Can I give you a definition? Sure. That’s very easy. Let’s take the one offered by John Keats himself, who coined the term.

[S]everal things dovetailed in my mind, & at once it struck me, what quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature & which Shakespeare possessed so enormously – I mean Negative Capability, that is when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason – Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caught from the Penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of remaining content with half knowledge.

The Letters of John Keats, ed. H E Rollins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958.
what is negative capability
Negative capability is about the search for aesthetic, rather than philosophical meaning.

Giving a simple definition is relatively easy. Understanding the repercussions, is an entirely different story. Let’s try to unpack this.

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