Submitted by nitaip on Sat, 04/05/2008 - 12:17.
On Monday, I think we were talking about the categorization of "genre fiction" and "literature". I share the general sentiment that separating genre fiction from literature on grounds of quality, professionalism and "worth" is a fallacy, a value judgement that should not permeate scholarship, since intellectualism should lead to neutrality. Unfortunately, at least in my experience, it is scholarship itself that insists on a stark separation between the good, valuable, timeless "literature" and pop, cheap, dime-a-dozen, formulaic "genre". I don't exactly buy that argument at all, but I do want to acknowledge that literary exclusion/elitism seems to be the norm.
[Actually, before I go on, I should acknowledge that exceptions to the rule do exist. "The Hobbit", for example, is becoming required reading in some schools, and even our Lit class focuses on narrative from a very nontraditional, open-minded perspective. Having said that...] read more »
