dr_mabeuse
seduce the mind
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2002
- Posts
- 11,528
At the end of the discussion of drksideofthemoon's Suzanne By The Sea we dipped into the subject of genre fiction. It's a topic mentioned in critical discussions (a "master of the detective genre" as opposed to a "master of detective fiction") or on publishers' websites (they are or aren't looking for "genre").
The idea's simple. Wikipedia defines genre fiction as a term for fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to the fans of that genre. In contemporary fiction publishing, genre is an elastic term used to group works sharing similarities of character, theme, and setting—such as mystery, romance, or horror—that have been proven to appeal to particular groups of readers.
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Genre Fiction's nothing new. Mysteries, scifi, horror, romance, wetserns, all of those have been around for years, what's new is the terminology and the market-driven kind of thinking that's behind it.
That being said, I throw the discussion open t any thoughts you might have on the subject, but I'd like to bump up Penny's wistful remarks on the subject of the romance genre and what characerizes it, because it just so happens I recently saw a description defining the genre and maybe I can dig it up again:
The idea's simple. Wikipedia defines genre fiction as a term for fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to the fans of that genre. In contemporary fiction publishing, genre is an elastic term used to group works sharing similarities of character, theme, and setting—such as mystery, romance, or horror—that have been proven to appeal to particular groups of readers.
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Genre Fiction's nothing new. Mysteries, scifi, horror, romance, wetserns, all of those have been around for years, what's new is the terminology and the market-driven kind of thinking that's behind it.
That being said, I throw the discussion open t any thoughts you might have on the subject, but I'd like to bump up Penny's wistful remarks on the subject of the romance genre and what characerizes it, because it just so happens I recently saw a description defining the genre and maybe I can dig it up again:
penelope street said:She's a beautiful, virtuous young woman, probably a virgin. He's a handsome rouge who probably can't even remember being a virgin. He falls for her at once, mostly because she's the prettiest girl in the story. She's reluctant, but he wins her over, mostly with his sheer bravado. It doesn't hurt that he's the handsomest man in the story. Then the angst! They're separated and must overcome all odds to be together again. I think it's this last part, the struggling to get back together, that makes it satisfying.
'Suzanne by the Sea' does follow this pattern. Is that all there is to it, following a formula? Or am I totally lost?