The Decline of Literary Fiction

Over the course of history, authors could be counted on to expose social injustice, to make us reconsider our stubborn opinions, or to simply paint a vivid portrait of the human condition. As time passed, this art form has gradually been declining, giving way to genre fiction, the sole purpose of which is to entertain, leaving the tasks formally accomplished by the writers of literary fiction to the writers of non-fiction.

Literary fiction, by definition, is simply "serious" fiction. But to those well studied, those experts in the field, it is known as fiction with a purpose (aside from mere entertainment). Some works have had a greater impact than others. Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is a prime example. This novel forced a hard look at the life and treatment of slaves; when President Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, he remarked only partly in jest that she instigated the Civil War. A literary piece of fiction's success to some degree can be measured by how controversial it is. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is controversial to this day - as written by William Mackey Jr. in 1995 in his introduction of the novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin continues in our time to be almost as controversial as it was in 1852. Each generation seems to find something within the book's pages to justify its own attitudes toward race. Many African-Americans see in Mrs. Stowe's main character, Uncle Tom, the epitome of the obsequious, toadying, head-scratching stereotype that they have been laboring so long to put to rest. There are many whites, on the other hand, who visualize Tom as the essence of the patient, long-suffering, loyal hero. Whichever way the book is read, obvious chasms exist among the many ways of understanding the true nature of its principal protagonist." (Mackey)

This novel succeeded, no matter what one's personal view of the work is, in creating some necessary social upheaval in regard to a very sensitive topic.

Other works of great importance may not have had an equal impact, but are also highly significant. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is a very light read with comedic undertones. However, it brought to attention the plight of women having the goal of securing a husband, as this was their mere means to security for life. Kate Chopin's The Awakening is a novel with a similar them. Her heroine is an upper-class Louisiana wife and mother, who, while on vacation at a resort comes to realize she is personally unfulfilled as a wife, mother and socialite, and abandons her post as such, even taking up her own residence! She befriends a woman who is a bit of a social outcast, who becomes her only true confidant, and she falls in love with another man. After realizing that she cannot have the life she truly wants, she surrenders, drowning herself in the sea at the resort where it all began.

Some novels have had more of a political them, such as John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Set in the 1930's, Steinbeck chronicles the journey of the Joad family from Oklahoma to California during the Dustbowl and Great Depression. Thousands of people lost their farms to the government and traveled west to California with the promise of work and prosperity, only to find poverty and starvation in government camps.

Racial injustice, in the past, was a theme frequently visited in literary fiction. Harper Lee won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. This novel told the story of two children growing up in a peaceful Southern town. Their father, Atticus, is a lawyer. Atticus chooses to defend Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused in the rape of a white woman. Atticus knows from the moment he takes the case that will lose it, but tells his daughter, Scout, the main reason he took the case is, "if I didn't, I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again." (Lee, 75)

Examples of novels and short stories written in previous times and their literary relevance could be extensive, and occupy many a page. But present day fiction has taken a turn. The majority of people now are fans of mystery, thrillers, romance or comedy. Stephen King is the most popular of horror writer, and said of himself, "I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries." (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/literary.html) This statement says something of society now, too. Life is too busy; things easy, fast and convenient are key. One could speculate the imaginative and entertaining novels are appealing as this culture shuns anything that would make them think too hard or be too serious, or take too much time. Anything too real to deal with is not desirable in their leisure time. Older generations tell the young that life today has gotten so easy with all of the modern conveniences that they young have gotten lazy. Perhaps these are indeed some attributing factors. Another perspective may be that pop culture and today's media (in music, television, and movies) have caused a "dumbing-down effect" and the majority audience does not care to read much anyway, and when they do, they don't care for anything to "heady," or "high-brow," as literary fiction has the reputation of being. When examining world events or social injustice, the appeal now is to read the gossip columns about what celebrity is backing what cause, sometimes making on wonder if it is purely for the sake of publicity.

Is the culture today more interested in political issues for the sake of the show; the never ending war between the left and the right? Some speculation is that the non-fiction writers of the today have all but replaced literary fiction writers of the past. Michael Moore, an extreme leftist has tackled such issues as gun control in him movie documentary "Bowling for Columbine," and a negative viewpoint of the United States occupancy in Iraq in his book "Will they ever trust us again?" Ann Coulter, in her book, "How to talk to a Liberal if you must" takes on issues of Liberal policies in America, and is of a viewpoint that the morals of Americans decrease with the policies of the Liberal government.

All in all, even the best efforts of taking an in-depth look at the human condition has an overriding goal of entertainment and the generation of revenue, something those writers of the past cared less about. David Foster Wallace summed this idea up in his quote, "We've all got this "literary" fiction that simply monotones that we're becoming less and less human, that presents characters without souls or love, characters who really are exhaustively describable in terms of what brands of stuff they wear." (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/literary.html) He also states, on another occasion, "Here's a really pretentious bit of pop analysis for you: I think you can see Cameron's Terminator movies as a metaphor for all literary art after Roland Barthes." (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/literary.html)

When a few editors were interviewed on this topic, some agreed, and some did not. A point of interest is that one who did strongly agree is not an American. Rob Parnell, and editor and writer of both fiction and non fiction, writing coach and mentor, is Australian. The editors were asked this question: "Do you mind sharing your thoughts? My idea is that since the mid 1900's, we've seen a steady decline in literary fiction. I feel that today's non-fiction has begun to take its place, mostly regarding political matters. I'm not saying there isn't great fiction these days; I'm just saying it does not serve the purpose it used to, in exposing the flaws of society and injustices." (Thompson)

Mr. Parnell replied, "I think what happened is that the U.S. took over as the main literary source in the '30's. Before that there was a reliance on the UK, France and Russia to supply the world with literary works. When Hemingway, Steinbeck and Fitzgerald were seen as the new visionaries, they defined what was to come. Commercialism is what rules today's literature. And, as you say, genre fiction, for better or worse, is what sells- and impresses - nowadays." (Parnell)

A contrary viewpoint is taken by the editor of Nimrod, a literary journal from the University of Tulsa. She states in her response, "Well, Jennifer, I wish I could agree with you, but I can't. I think that both fiction and poetry fulfill a great need in that they not only respond to and stimulate the imagination but also fulfill the mind/body connection ‹ and that body is the body-politic as well. Take Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything is Illumined," which in a highly imaginative way deals with the holocaust. By using rather post-modern literary techniques, shifting time-frames, multiple characters, reflexive . . . etc. He takes a subject that has been beaten to death and gives it a personal and moving new slant.

And in poetry ‹ wow! Poets these days are dealing with natural disasters,terrorism, war, as well as personal stories and natural phenomena. Of course, the personal essay (a form I adore) is flourishing. Readers have had and always will have a fascination for the "true" story. But the techniques of the personal essay are largely creative and born from fiction." (Ringold)

And according to Sarah Gorman, a writer and editor, "... Regarding "exposing flaws of society".... What about The Poisonwood Bible (Kingsolver), as just one very modern example? I never truly thought about the way the West destroyed Africa, made its people so very desperate until I saw Kingsolver's picture of it. Her fiction of the '60's showed me much about what happened with AIDS in the '80's, although she never mentions it. (Gorman)

So, there may be some life left for literary fiction, but in a fast world so populated, and so technologically advanced that we have every ability to be continually connected to one another, but choose to take nearly every effort to distance and disconnect ourselves, we will choose a movie to lose ourselves in over a book on many occasions. More than once the comment has been made that if a book is any good, it will be made into a movie. When a book is the choice, the one that will prevail is the thrilling page turner. We want action; we want suspense, not a hard look at what is going on in the world or a glimpse into the heart and soul of a fellow human being. So, if the topic of choice is women's issues, one may be better off to pick up a copy of Oprah Winfrey's "O" Magazine. If it is world events, and the struggle of peoples domestic and foreign, that sought after, perhaps the Sunday New York Times.

Works Cited.

1.) Mackey, William Jr.
Uncle Tom's Cabin: An Historical and Personal Note.
Barnes and Noble Books, 1995

2.) Austen, Jane Pride and Prejudice.
Signet Classic, New York, New York.

3.) Chopin, Kate. "The Awakening and Selected Short Fiction", Fine Creative Media Inc. New York, New York ("The Awakening" was first published in 1899)

4.) Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath

Penguin Books, New York, New York.

5.) Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird.

Warner Books, New York, New York. 1960

6.) King, Stephen.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/literary.html

7.) Foster, David Wallace.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/literary.html

8.) Interview conducted by Jennifer Thompson.
Interviewees: Rob Parnell, easywaytowrite.com

Dr. Francine Ringold, editor, Nimrod.

Sarah Gorman