Monday, September 11, 2006
"Literary fiction", "Popular fiction", what's good, what's not...
well if i've put some effort into writing something, i'd like to preserve it...won't you? even if it's just a response to a discussion thread originating on a different platform somewhere else...a thread that discusses literary fiction vs popular fiction; and in some arbitrary sense, the respectability of one over the other! for all the heated debate and the scholarly debaters, here's what i have...
media is a platform for public communication, expression of ideology and sharing of ideas. at the content source, it satisfies the human desire of expressing oneself; at the audience end, it satisfies the human desire to educate oneself, be well-informed, obtain intellectual stimulation and also, to get entertained.
the forms of media are simply determined by the 5 human faculties. for sight, we have the visual arts. the various sub-categories range from fine arts and paintings, popular paintings and murals to less serious types like caricatures, comics etc (should i hazard porno..?)
for hearing, we have music. again, one doesn't need to be a connoisseur to recognize gradations ranging from classical music to the fast numbers played on the dance floor.
i won't deliberate on the other faculties of taste, smell and touch, since most of the "art" forms and other public expression is present in the previous two domains. though one can certainly identify such levels of expression in these faculties too, if one really wants. just to site an instance, imagine the distinctive smell exuding from the ground just after the first few drops of rain - (ohh...i just remembered, there is actually a word for it: petrichor!) you could actually identify this as the analogue of an "art" form, while at the entertainment end are all the commercially manufactured frangrances and perfumes.
the point i'm trying to put across is that every channel of expression has within it the presence of "levels". just to prevent any misinterpretation, this term is not intented to put anyderogatory/appreciative judgement. now this level is essentially dictated by the basic motivation that the content producer has when he/she produces the creation in the first place. it could be a genuine desire to arouse a subjective emotional response in the audience, or it could be to simply titillate the senses and create excitation to achieve popularity among the populace.
having explained the above in a media-independent sense, let me now hit upon the channel that is the subject of this discussion. "literary fiction" then is essentially an art form, while "popular fiction" falls at the other end. let me also acknowledge and affirm that only a very few works of writing fall neatly into one category - literature and creative writing is by definition subjective. most of the works, especially of more recent times include a mixture of elements from multiple "levels" and can only be said to "predominantly" pertain to one level.
finally, "looking down upon" an audience of "popular fiction" is then a non-issue. it is simply a matter of what the reader is looking to achieve by reading the particular piece of writing.
having said that, i would also like to mention one last thing that is known and taught by the learned. it is a sign of education and intellectual elevation when, after continued reading of the popular reading and the mid-levels, the individual starts to slowly transcend the need for entertainment and moves towards the "artistic" side.
any comments/disagreements would be welcome...
# posted by Ankur Sakhuja @ 9/11/2006 03:59:00 PM 
