Indian Streams Reserach Journal

Vol.1,Issue.XI/Dec; 11pp.1-4 Dr. Uttam Baliram Sonkamble ISSN:-2230-7850

Research Papers

Potential values of fiction genre and its future in literature

Dr. Uttam Baliram Sonkamble (MA, MPhil, PhD)

College Address:
Asst. Professor of English
SMRK BK AK Mahila Mahavidyala
Nasik – 422005.

Abstract
Despite the two distinctive features of fiction; the mainstream fiction and the fiction genre or
the popularly known as popular fiction, they have rooted in depth in each of their areas holding a wide and
diverse readership. With or without bare comments on the mainstream fiction, the paper deals the latter
fiction with its various subgenres and overlapping its other subgenres, origin in brief, significance as well as
the world literature. There is a wide range of popular or genre fiction types and subgenres. All the subgenres
though different from one another, hail the dominant factor of popular themes carrying major thrust upon
amassing large and wider readership ranging from children to the old people.

To achieve and retain the readership, the of copies. Following are some of the core
writers of the popular fiction are committed to contemporary publishing fiction genres.
cater what their readers wish. The fiction readers Action-adventure fiction: It has its beginning
want to be entertained without much of strain to from the mid 19th century onwards, with mass
their brain- without philosophy or overdosing of literacy growth worldwide; adventure became a
brainstorming social, ethical and literary theories prevalent popular subgenre. It traditionally but not
but pure entertainment. Those who grasp the exclusively aims at male readers, featuring
readers' point of view become the bestseller physical action and violence, often around a quest
writers. The failures leave; in fact, no room in the or military-style mission set in exotic or forbidden
popular fiction area and lose their existence in the locales such as jungles, deserts or mountains. The
popular fiction or lead to the conventional fiction conflict typically involves commandos,
where readers are at the insignificant while the mercenaries, terrorists, smugglers, pirates, spies
critics and their reviews at the crucial place. To and the like. Stories of the fiction often include
name some of the illustrious writers; JK Rowling, elements of technology, weapons and other
Salman Rushdie, Alexander McCall Smith, Dan hardware, but they may also include unarmed
Brown, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle etc. are the combat. The genre is largely aimed at male
prominent ones in popular fiction. As of subgenres audience projecting characters like example the
are concerned, there are number of subgenres, James Bond series. But many post-feminist works
each distinctly diverse from other carrying feature women in roles more traditionally reserved
different subjects but sharing one common motive for males, such as heroic bodyguards, the femme
of amassing readers by selling voluminous number fatale is still a notably frequent archetype in the

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Potential values of fiction genre and its future in literature
Vol.1,Issue.XI/Dec; 2011

genre. This novel often overlaps with other genres, magic, mystical elements or supernatural creatures
notably with crime novel, science fiction, fantasy such as vampires. It creates an environment which
and western. though very supernatural appears natural and real
Crime fiction: The subgenre began with Edgar while the readers are expected to suspend their
Wallace in the late 19th and early 20th century. The disbelief and accept the impossible as possible and
Four Just Men is an instance of it. He has to his credible. The genre's relatively loose definition
credit some of the fascinating crime fiction which tends to include a large number of works in styles
are very popular among the British readers. The ranging from pseudo-mythological epics like;
fiction deals with criminal enterprises, their Lord of the Rings to more deliberate modern
detection, criminals and their motives and they are works such as Harry Potter or Buffy the Vampire
told from the point of view of the perpetrators. Slayer. These works fall under other genres also
They differ in tone from lighthearted 'caper' stories such as horror, action-adventure or romance. Some
to darker plots involving organised crime or works are generally classified as fantasy fiction
incarcerated convicts. It is distinguished from such as Diane Duane's Young Wizards series it also
mainly the mainstream fiction and even the other includes elements of science fiction and with many
subgenre of the popular fiction such as science. works revolving around psychics and ghosts etc.
But there remains a blurring boundary with the The fiction of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's
others. During this very time, the popular fiction Children is classed as fantasy fiction.
started regarding it as 'pulp fiction'. An example of Horror fiction: It is a work that includes scaring,
this genre is a murder story of Dostoyevsky's unsettling and horrifying an audience. It is an
Crime and Punishment. experience which is assumed as an intrusion of evil
Detective fiction: It is traced originating with the in the everyday life and misconstrued as a
Three Apples, as the earliest known example is one supernatural element in the daily life. But the
of the tales narrated by Scheherazade in the One works of 1960s having gruesome, morbid and
Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). The surreal with thrilling or frightening themes were
fiction is observed as a branch of crime fiction that called horror. The first published American horror
centres upon the investigation of a crime, usually story was Washington Irving's the Legend of
one or more murders by either a professional or an Sleepy Hollow. Modern horror fiction found its
amateur detective. In Chinese detective fiction, the roots in the gothic novels that exploded into
hero is typically a traditional judge or similar popularity in the late 18th and the early 19th
official based on the historical personages. The centuries, typified by Horace Walpole's the Castle
fiction shares similarity with its synonym mystery. of Otranto as a prototype and refined by Ann
This large popular genre has many subgenres Radcliffe's Gothic novel the Mysteries of
reflecting differences in tone, character, and it Udolpho. This genre like others continues to
always consists of criminal and detective settings. amend from the stories with a religious or
The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was popular supernatural basis to the use of medical or
during the wars to many English and some North psychological ideologies. Horror stories and
American readers with Arthur Conan Doyle's mystery stories can both be traced in large measure
Sherlock Holmes. In others Agatha Christie, to Edgar Allan Poe and many others.
Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and Margery Mystery: The term is used to refer a novel or a
Allingham are considered as the four original short story in which a detective either professional
Queens of Crime. Agatha Christie is the most or amateur solves a crime. It emphasises on the
popular writer of the Golden Age of whodunit. The puzzle element and its logical solution. However
sub-plot in the novel Bleak House (1853) by in a more general usage, mystery may be used to
Charles Dickens is a fine example of this genre describe any form of crime fiction even if there is
though Dickens and works are regarded as the no mystery to be solved. Where there is no crime,
conventional fiction in the British Literature. the genre refers to completely different situations
Fantasy fiction: It is defined as a work deriving like that of supernatural overlapping; the other
from imagination dealing with magical objects and genre. This usage was common during the 1930s
supernatural occurrences as the main ingredient of and 1940s, where titles such as Dime Mystery,
theme, plot and setting. It features stories set in Thrilling Mystery and Spicy Mystery were
fanciful, invented worlds, an alternate and added described as supernatural horror or weird menace
fanciful version of our own world or in a legendary stories. This fiction technically involves stories, in
or mythic past. Fantasy stories generally involve which characters try to discover a vital piece of
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Potential values of fiction genre and its future in literature
Vol.1,Issue.XI/Dec; 2011

information which is kept hidden until the climax; featuring heroes who are rugged, individualistic
it is often used as a synonym for detective fiction. horsemen (cowboys). Writers of this fiction
The standard novel stocked in the mystery section include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis
of bookstores is a whodunit. L'Amour from the mid 20th century. Popularity of
Romance fiction: Romance is traced in the this fiction reached peak in 1960s due to the
ancient history of literature. It aims primarily to increased televised westerns but inclined to drop
discover the relationship and romantic love of two from 1970s and reached remarkably low by 2000.
people as the main plot usually with happy ending. Other genres such as romance have subgenres that
Romance has its roots in the gothic novels. It is make use of the Western setting.
believed that the romance fiction is influenced by Thriller fiction: The origin of thriller is attributed
Ann Radcliffe's gothic novel. Influenced by this, to Homer's Odyssey as one of the oldest stories in
Jane Austen parodied in Northanger Abbey, and the Western world and regarded as an early
Charles Dickens and the Brontes also practiced in prototype of the thriller. It consists of heroes of
some of their works. Oldest romance fiction is great valiance fighting against the better equipped
Samuel Richardson's Pamela (Virtue Rewarded). villains and thwarting their plans. Traditionally the
Later Jane Austen expanded the genre to a height in heroes of this fiction are men but these days
Pride and Prejudice which stands as an epitome in women have also become increasingly common as
the genre. The success of this fiction made her to be the heroes exclusively leading the action. It
considered to be one of the masters of this genre. normally leads the readers entirely or partly to the
Romance fiction is currently the largest and the exotic settings like remote places; cities, deserts
best-selling fiction genre in North America. This and high seas. The heroes of the genre can be law
genre, much like fantasy fiction, is broad enough enforcement officers, spies, soldiers, seamen or
in definition that it is easily and commonly seen pilots. However they may also be ordinary citizens
combined with other genres, such as comedy, drawn into danger by accident. The fiction divides
fantasy fiction, literary fiction or action-adventure. in number of sub-genres like spy thriller, political
The genre is looked at as an optimistic way of life. thriller, military thriller, conspiracy thriller,
Elizabeth Lowell; a popular fiction writer and techno-thriller, eco-thriller, erotic thriller,
critic appreciates romance in the term of romances forensic, legal, psychological, horror, disaster,
follow the ancient Greek formula for comedy serial killer, romantic, supernatural, action and
which celebrates life rather than anticipates death. crime. The thriller overlaps with the mystery
Science fiction: This fiction has some disputes stories but differentiates by their structure of the
over its origin due to lack of sufficient data. Some plot. In thriller, a hero has not only to uncover the
people claim it to have begun in the late Middle crime occurred but thwart the enemies' plans.
Ages and others during the scientific revolution Some of the early and recent thrillers are named
relating it to the discoveries of Galileo and here as John Buchan's the Thirty-Nine Steps,
Newton. Gothic novel is also ascribed as the Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Dan Brown's
beginner of science fiction with Mary Shelley's the Da Vinci Code.
Frankenstein. Science fiction boomed in the 20th The genre fiction witnesses a strong potential in
century with Jules Verne and H.G. Wells who the world literature in the near future. The readers'
staged it as a recognisable genre. The fiction is a inclination for such fiction though a 'pulp' or
deep penetration of science and inventions into 'pastime' or whatever it continues to occupy
society creating an interest in literature which reader's inclination and attention and fulfilling
explores technology's influence on people and their reading desire or directly or indirectly serving
society. It is often set on other planets, in outer the purpose of retaining the reading habit amongst
space or on a future version of the Earth. It is the readers in the internet society world. Some of
sometimes used for history of the world, action- the European universities viewed this potential
adventure and mystery. Alternatively the genre is value parameter of this fiction have begun
varied as even fantasy or horror fiction from the prescribing as a special branch of studies. Some of
science fiction. Within these setting details, the fiction cited in the paper are surely the needless to
conventions of almost any other genre may be used say illustrious but they have usurped a stronghold
including comedy, action-adventure and mystery. amongst the global readerships. They are read and
Western fiction: The western is defined primarily honoured at par the conventional fiction. That is
by being set in the American Old West between the the success of unsolicited honour of the fiction
years of 1860 and 1900 and secondarily by genre. The paper has attempted to bring forth the
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Potential values of fiction genre and its future in literature
Vol.1,Issue.XI/Dec; 2011

upcoming genre of popular fiction which is at the

threshold of the conventional literature knocking
the doors to be opened for and to be treated and
included with due honour in the conventional
literature vis-à-vis the mainstream fiction. The
genre fiction has already been started teaching in
some of the American universities as one of the
branch of regular studies. It is no longer possible
for the fiction to wait to be introduced in the most
global universities in their curriculum. Some of the
fiction mentioned above are better known as
conventional fiction than the fiction genre what is
gaining ground equal with the conventional
fiction. Then they would no more be called as
simple entertainer or pulpy or pastime fiction.
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“ G e n r e f i c t i o n ” . Wi k i p e d i a , t h e F r e e
Encyclopedia. May 2009. The Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc. 26 May 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre_fiction/>
Maxwell, Ann and Elizabeth Lowell. “Popular
Fiction: Why We Read It, Why We Write It”.
Elizabeth Lowell 1998-2009. 26 May 2009
<http://elizabethlowell.com/popfiction.html/>
“Genre fiction”. Knowledgerush 2009.
Knowledgerush. 27 Dec. 2009
<http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Gen
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Meinhardt, Shelly Thacker. “Market Savvy for
Fiction Writers: Popular Fiction vs. Literary
Fiction”. Shelly Thacker Meinhardt 1997-2007.
Shelly Thacker Meinhardt . 07 May 2009
<http://shellythacker.com/index.html/>
Terra, Richard P. “Science Fiction Studies”. Nov.
1 9 9 9 . 2 8 M a y 2 0 0 9
<http://depauw.edu/SFs/reviewessays/terra55.ht
m/>
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