I like the idea of fantasy/sf as a mode (though partly I think that's just because I spent way too much time wrestling with modes in ancient Greek), and I certainly think that the continuing pervasive construction of sf/f as a genre contributes to a number of unsavory habits of thought both in readers and fans of fantasy/sf and among people who don't read sf/f and would be horrified to do so. Audrey Niffenegger just received (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/books/11niff.html?_r=1&ref=books) a $5 million advance for her second novel because her work has been stamped "literary fiction" and is published by "literary" publishers--whereas to fans of sf/f such as myself, her work is fantasy/sf that dares not speak its name. But perish the thought that it's not literary! On a similar note, I was considering today why Haruki Murakami has been labeled "literary" when his work features any number of tropes which are rather fantastic. Genre (and high-low culture) divisions aren't as strict in Japan, but this isn't Japan. Is it just because only "literary" publishing houses have the resources to publish authors in translation?
Whoops, digression.
So, yeah, I'm in favor of any convention of reference that takes the fight to those small-minded literary fictionalists who've somehow managed to stake the high ground for themselves on the basis of the idea that "more real" = better. *g* Even though if we stop referring to fantasy/sf as a genre, we'd just be stuck with handfuls of sub-genres within a larger mode, which might lead to even more sub-genre balkanization, which is a trait I find pernicious.
For myself, fantasy has magic, and science fiction doesn't, though the categorization is admittedly arbitrary. -rolls eyes at self-
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momijizukamori
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Date: 2009-03-13 01:56 am (UTC)Whoops, digression.
So, yeah, I'm in favor of any convention of reference that takes the fight to those small-minded literary fictionalists who've somehow managed to stake the high ground for themselves on the basis of the idea that "more real" = better. *g* Even though if we stop referring to fantasy/sf as a genre, we'd just be stuck with handfuls of sub-genres within a larger mode, which might lead to even more sub-genre balkanization, which is a trait I find pernicious.
For myself, fantasy has magic, and science fiction doesn't, though the categorization is admittedly arbitrary. -rolls eyes at self-