The American Sagas Genre
What Is Genre and Why Do We Need It?
As an author, I have a very great understanding of what genre is -- but does everyone? If you google what a genre is, you will get the Oxford definition:
"a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter."
This is a very well-put definition, but for literature, I define it a little further:
"it's the literary category of which a piece of literature most closely meets the requirements set by the community of already-existing literature that is commonly known to define the genre."
That may seem a little wordy and confusing for some, so let me use this example to clarify and define sub-genre (a sub-genre is a body of literary works that share characteristics with the overarching genre and with other works that have additional characteristics in common): the Romance genre of literature requires the following: the main focus must be on one or more romantic relationships and there must be a happy ending for at least the main romantic relationship of focus; examples of sub-genres in the Romance genre include the following:
- Romantasy (a blend of Romance and Fantasy genres),
- Historical Romance (novels having both Romance and Historical Fiction genre characteristics),
- Erotica (Romance Fiction that focuses on the detailed, sexual encounters between characters, and without these sexual experiences, the whole story is non-existent or completely falls apart; this sub-genre, like others, requires and expects specific jargon), and
- (Modern) Dark Romance (Romantic Fiction that focuses highly on the darker parts of relationships, like obsession, the horrors involved with deep love, fear of others especially in relationships, and generally, just the most horrible, twisted, down-trodding, adult parts of relationships -- at least, from my understanding of it, the issues in the relationships are more serious, adult, and horrible than in the traditional Romance genre).
Before the 1970s, genre wasn't such a big deal -- even knowing the line between fiction and non-fiction (the original genres, in addition to a third: poetry) was fuzzy. In fact, most of our literature from the past is defined by the accepted characteristics of literature from the time period in which it was written. For example, we remember early-19th-century American literature mostly by the overly descriptive pages of nature, the wilderness-man hero who is rejected by civilization but who proves to be the most valuable resource for surviving, and the typical, pure, civilized lady who needs a strong, resourceful man as a partner -- and we call it Romantic (in a different sense from what we know Romance as today); but, this body of literature, in this 19th-century-American-Romance genre, was the published literature of the time because it was what readers wanted and expected. Following, we all have heard of Moby-Dick, Herman Melville's great American Classic masterpiece, which is the best example of how not meeting reading-community expectations can turn readers against an author for life -- because Melville wrote in the 19th-century-American-Romance genre up until Moby-Dick, readers expected the same from him, but what they got in Moby-Dick was 19th-century-American-Dark-Romance instead, and it ruined his writing career (even though he wrote ALL of his true masterpieces after this!). If genre would have been emphasized in Melville's time, perhaps his life wouldn't have taken the turn that it did because of Moby-Dick and its VERY negative reception during his lifetime!
We went so long without too much focus on the differing characteristics of literature (and defined genres) because it was inherent that if it was being published, it had merit as what readers wanted and expected. Since publishing has become so widespread, inclusive, and common (since after 1950), we now need separations of genre because we need to know where the merit lies. Merit has become individually subjective: some like to read only Historical Romance, some like to read only Fantasy novels, yet others will ready Stephen King's works no matter what he writes. Too, even if a book isn't well written and hasn't been edited properly, it may still have its niche in its given genre or sub-genre if it meets those expected characteristics for the genre well. If a book doesn't fit into any one genre, however, does it have merit at all, even if well written? To the reading and writing communities, perhaps not -- and we all think this way, whether you realize it or not. We know what we like, and we like our comfort zones; this extends to our tastes in literature: if we've found we really like the Harry Potter series, we may get stuck reading children's literature (and perhaps Young Adult literature) for the rest of our lives! I've known MANY readers like this! -- I encourage you to never get stuck in just one genre as a reader, because there is SOOOO much out there that is fantastic, and it's all in different genres!
Cross-Genre Literature
In recent decades, we have seen a rise in further divisions of genre. Why? Because we adapt and change, and the changing times and atmospheres we live in determine more what we want than we realize. Melville is still a great example here, too: all his work after 1850 was rejected because of Moby-Dick's reception, and for the remainder of his life his writing was ignored no matter how good it was; however, after World War I, Americans felt differently about his later works (after this war and the atmosphere that resulted from this war) and the "Melville Revival" found ground in how his most famous literature spoke to Americans; it's the "Melville Revival" we have to thank for believing that Moby-Dick is the Great American Classic today.
We've slowly been moving toward wanting books that are increasingly different. We got tired of focusing on any type of hero, for example -- we are interested in the psychology of the villain. Why is the villain so terrible? That's intriguing to us now, where decades ago, the villain was just the "bad" guy and we wanted to see the "good" hero save the day no matter what happened to the "bad' guy; the "bad" guy deserved whatever he got for killing all those innocent people. Now, after the Vietnam War and the widespread growth and availability of mental-health care, we want to help the villain so that he can rejoin society, share his stories with us, and become someone we want to have dinner with again (not that many of us actually sit down with the TV off for dinner anymore...). And, where do his stories fall when it comes to genre, because we want only the audience who will enjoy his stories to read them? Well, they may fall in non-fiction -- like memoir -- or they may fall in fiction -- because he changes some things in his real stories -- or, maybe he creates a new genre that combines fiction and non-fiction, short story and novel, war story and memoir, as Tim O'Brien did. Why stick to one genre when real life doesn't? Why change the story to meet a single genre's characteristics? Isn't that unfaithful to the story that should be told?
Cross-genre literature (it's own genre now which simply requires that a work meet the characteristics of more than one genre, as Romantasy does) has been rising just as long as the numbers of genres has been exponentially growing. Why has Cross-Genre literature grown into its own genre? ...because genuine, unique works of today don't fit into traditional genres. ... because readers often grow tired of reading the same stuff over and over. ...because, eventually, we want something new and fresh without leaving our comfort zones too much. But, there is a very unique problem with this "genre": it doesn't tell us where the merit lies. What genres are being combined in any Cross-Genre work? Perhaps that is defined on any published Cross-Genre book's back cover or dust jacket, but perhaps it is not. The characteristic(s) of this genre buck the goad of what genre requires.
But, again, why has this very vague "genre" grown? ... because there are too many genres to choose from. Take a look at this not-all-inclusive Wikipedia list of literary genres and sub-genres. One source in a Google search says there are 144 genres and sub-genres... but I doubt that one is an all-inclusive list, either. So, is it time we start telling readers what to expect from our books in a different way (other than by claiming it is belonging to a specific genre)? This is definitely something to think about changing, in my educated opinion. But, for now, I suppose I will define my own genre... that does seem to be the expectation if my work doesn't fit into any of these many, many genres and sub-genres that exist today, as plentiful as they are.
The American Sagas Genre
My Merely Mortal Series is very complex and covers multiple millennia. The first book of the series is very unique: it blends Psychological Thriller with mystery, supernatural, metaphysical, romance, coming-of-age, survival... it is written like a puzzle, with a pieces guide and a color guide in addition to its table of contents... and it is even more unique in that it embodies my writing journey as an author from childhood to early adulthood. The second book of the series follows the main characteristics of the modern Romance genre but blends with it occult, supernatural, survival, horror, psychological, erotica (without the jargon used in the Erotica genre), historical, coming-of-age, metaphysical, fantasy, modern dark romance, and philosophy; it is very unique in that I created the Tebawa people, culture, and language, that I felt the need to include a "Quick-flip Dictionary" for translating the Tebawa words sparsed into the text immediately before Part III, and in how I'm tying it back to the first-published novel of the series (there are missing pieces from the puzzle of the first-published book found at the end of each novel in the series). The third novel is mostly Supernatural Horror, but again, it blends that with romance, erotica (without the jargon of the Erotica genre), modern dark romance, fantasy, metaphysical, thriller, mystery, political, historical, coming-of-age, philosophy, religion, mythology, et cetera; it is highly unique in its immersive-ness through the sparsing of Tebawa language with English (there are multiple Tebawa language guides in this one), in its collaboration with a reader/writer who submitted about 1/5 of the final manuscript as a short story (in response to the Demiar or Tedemiar? quiz; this short-story was edited considerably before working it into the manuscript), and again, in how it ties back to the first novel of the series (through the missing pieces included at the end). The first short story of this series is a short story -- short stories are their own genre and I don't care here to place it into a sub-genre other than (fictional) Sagas.
So, really, where does my Merely Mortal Series series fall in terms of genre? We could call it Cross-Genre, but that does NOT accurately represent it at all; it is much more unique than typical Cross-Genre works, and it blends a whole lot more than two genres (each of the three books so far all follow a different genre's characteristics most closely!). This series has a very specific audience who will like it:
- you must like complex, in-depth narratives told from multiple points of view and perspectives;
- you must be able to handle extreme intensity that may traumatize you, taboo and occult characters and events, and have some true grit;
- you must be willing to be pulled into the story by your lapels through the sparsed language (which becomes more and more prevalent in the text as it moves forward); and
- you must be intelligent enough to handle the unfamiliar Tebawa vocabulary and the higher English vocabulary throughout.
I mentioned above that I place the first short story of this series into the Sagas genre/sub-genre. Let me define this genre here; Sagas...
- incorporate supernatural elements [1];
- are very long narratives [1];
- span multiple generations of characters [1];
- have very expansive scopes, sometimes covering whole civilizations or cultures [1];
- use various literary devices, necessarily including varying names for characters [1], including archetype [2];
- blend historical fact and mythology [1, 2], "creating a rich tapestry of reality and fantasy" [1];
- often incorporate extensive monologues to reveal character motivations and complex themes [1];
- central themes include exploration of fate versus free will; moral dilemmas that test "loyalty, courage, and integrity"; the interplay of mere humans with gods and supernatural beings; cultural identity and origins; revenge, blood feuds, and cycles of violence; and hospitality, social bonds, and friendships [1, 2]; also, exploring "love, adventure, and conflict" [2];
- employ non-linear storylines, using flashbacks, prophecies, parallel stories, and interwoven plots [1];
- episodic storytelling -- "loosely connected adventures or incidents contributing to overall story arc" [1];
- sometimes include frame narratives where a character tells the story of the past from present-day, "adding layers of perspective and interpretation" [1];
- focuses on different characters and their interconnected stories [1];
- "make extensive use of foreshadowing and dramatic irony" [1]; and
- combine numerous genres within one large work [2]
- incorporates supernatural, metaphysical, and/or occult elements;
- uses very long narratives, spanning 3 or more separate works;
- spans multiple generations of characters and peoples;
- has very long, complex storylines and a humongous overarching plot;
- uses various literary devices, necessarily including varying names for characters, archetype, foreshadowing, and dramatic irony;
- blends history, fantasy, psychology, horror, romance, and more -- like real life does;
- uses monologue to reveal character motivations and complex themes;
- uses non-linear stories, with flashbacks, parallel stories, and interwoven plots;
- uses multiple points of view and perspectives to develop detailed characters and plot lines that contribute to a large, overarching plot;
- has parts that can stand on their own but that at least loosely relate to and contribute to the overarching plot of the whole saga;
- has very complex characters, very complex plot lines, and very detailed descriptions of events and characters; and
- has at least one thing throughout the saga that makes the saga VERY UNIQUE and inherently American.
No comments:
Post a Comment