Ata-ul-Ghani Tahir

Sir. M Islam Khan

Prose

28 April 2023

Can popular fiction be qualified as “Literature”?

As an avid reader of modern fiction and a student of literature this question or

guilty feeling often arises in mind especially while reading a novel, that am I being guilty

of reading something “Not Literature” and/or indulging in a pleasure seeking escapade

which does not behove a literature student. This feeling is often followed by the thought

that, is the most clichéd maxim that literature is mirror of life true or not?, at this point

however again a question arise is it just a philosophical or literary slogan and does not

apply now as it used to be…. Because ipso facto if life(or life style) has changed or at

least evolved, then should not the literature have evolved too?

This paper is an attempt to solve the riddle or an attempt of reconciliation between

the literary fiction and the genre fiction because according to most of critics and literary

persons this genre fiction is usually defined as something not part of literature rather a

grosser kind of entertainment which is sensuous, exaggerated, exciting and formulaic.

This perhaps although being a prevalent thought at present, is because scholars and

researchers inevitably have biases which reflect in their judgment.

In order make things right what should be done is that this genre fiction must be

treated as a unique new field or medium that deserves its own place in literary cannon,

Genre of fiction generally known as popular fiction is rarely explored for its literary traits

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and just left off after being declared as a side effect or by product of popular modern

culture. On the other hand film and television studies have evolved as a medium that

reflect the unique social, political, cultural and economic dimensions and studied as such.

First of all it should be considered that this approach of excluding fiction from

literature is justified or not or even if it is done, would it not be against the spirit of

literature itself? Because to exclude any form of writing we would have to restrict the

definition of literature which would not be just considering the following statement about

literature:

 In fact, the only thing that is certain about defining literature is that the

definition will change. Concepts of what is literature change over time as

well.1

So in order to salvage the popular fiction from the allegation of not being

literature it seems a valid argument that just as all the other genres of literature, it also

serves its purpose or role in the society, just as the previous literature was the mirror of

life at that time so is this popular fiction depicts the social and cultural and political

tendencies of this age.

Who is to say that literature should only serve just this purpose and cannot be a

mean of pleasure and entertainment? Again if we are to put certain limitations on a piece

of art and literature, we might as well render it useless.

A persistent problem in defining this genre fiction as “popular culture” would be

the ambiguity of word “popular”. If a literary novel by James joyce sells more copies

than a latest legal thriller novel by John Grisham, which is more popular? Can both be

1 Simon Ryan; Delyse Ryan. "What is Literature?". Foundation: Fundamentals of Literature and Drama. Australian Catholic University. Retrieved 9 February 2014.

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popular? Is the distinction qualitative and quantitative? The debate between “popular

fiction” and “literature” happens perhaps on the basis of “low” and “high” culturally

speaking or language wise, but regardless of these distinction popular fiction demands its

own attention, because be it language or culture they are subjective to time and place and

change is the only constant in both these phenomena.

Suppose if literature represents life, and would be mimetic in nature. According to

the expressive theory of literature if any piece of literature spring from author’s inner self

then again it would be mirrored from soul although it would reflect the intrinsic feelings

rather than outer circumstances of the author. So, in either theory, be it mimetic or

expressive literature can be put out internal and external realities while at the same time

be educating at the same time, would be compatible with both mimetic and didactic

theories. Here the point of interest is how the literature is explained in different, wide and

variant ways which keep on evolving by the passage of time :

In the “formalist theory” of literature … literariness renders literature distinctive

and special. … A similar transformation followed in the visual arts; the

postimpressionist painters focused on paint brush strokes, and color intensities

rather than seeking photographic realities. Writers and theorists at he time often

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felt that to justify literature by pointing to its accuracy and realism was to put it in

competition with the sciences, social sciences,

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Works Cited

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York:

MLA, 2003.

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Lastname, Firstname. “Title of the Article.” Name of the Scholarly Journal Volume.Issue

(Date): first page-last page.