{"id":277,"date":"2017-10-04T22:34:41","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T04:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dight.dichmanndigital.com\/?p=26"},"modified":"2017-10-04T22:34:41","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T04:34:41","slug":"is-the-novel-the-worst-genre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briancroxall.net\/f17dh\/student-posts\/is-the-novel-the-worst-genre\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Novel the Worst Genre?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cIf what most attracts readers is the drama of the day, then, once the day is over, so is the novel.\u201d<\/p>\n

This bold statement made by Francis Moretti shines light on the issues that are plaguing the novel in the modern day–or are they?<\/p>\n

For me at least, Moretti’s statement carries a kernel of truth, to be sure, but is far from an all-encompassing description of the inherent downfall of the novel. I do agree that modern novels are over saturated with pop-culture references and trendy, less-than-academic writing styles: the tendency for authors to play entirely off of the allure of modern drama is exactly the reason why terrible novels like Twilight and Divergent become popular, while containing absolutely no literary merit. It’s hard to believe any of these “modern” novels will make it past the turn of the decade, let alone the century. When compared to texts that are considered “classic,” most of today’s novels just don’t compare. One reason for this is obviously the shallow and appeal-based content most novels of today usually seem to have, but the novels of old contain something that today’s novels absolutely do not have: timelessness. Pieces like Gulliver’s Travels tackle issues and topics that are relevant regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, or time period: can the same be said about the majority of today’s novels? In a sort of brutal irony, today’s novels have become so focused on being “relatable” to a specific target audience that they have lost their relatability in the long run. In a hundred years, no one is going to remember the novels that are today considered popular, because they offer no lasting insight on the human condition.<\/p>\n

However, while I agree that the “drama of the day” is not beneficial in creating lasting and powerful works, I do not believe that it will lead to the downfall of the novel genre itself. Such a claim seems a bit too brash to me: I feel that literary trends shift as society shifts. This is seen throughout history: the very fact that the novel is popular today, as opposed to the epic poem, is evidence that societal genre preference shifts over time. I don’t think this is due to faults within the genre itself, but rather due to the fact that society as a whole changes over time, and thus the prevalent literary genres follow suit.<\/p>\n

So does focusing on the “drama of the day” lead to terrible novels? Yes, of course. But there will always be awful works of literature regardless of the genre or archetype. Shallow writing habits won’t lead to the downfall of the novel, because in the end the novel is not a thing that can be toppled, only interchanged and eventually replaced with the new genre society prefers.<\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Its-Worst-Book-Ever-Written\/dp\/1535428805<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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