Paraliterature
Paraliterature comprises written works dismissed as not literary.
It includes commercial fiction, popular fiction, pulp fiction, comic books and, most notably, genre fiction with works of science fiction, fantasy, mystery and others.[1][2]:361
The term was introduced by art critic and scholar Rosalind Krauss in her text 'Poststructuralism and the "Paraliterary"' (1980).[3] Krauss inaugurated the genre to allow for a juxtaposition of the works of Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida.[3] Krauss argues the paraliterary is 'the space of debate, quotation, partisanship, betrayal, reconciliation; but it is not the space of unity, coherence, or resolution that we think of as constituting the work of literature.'[3]:37 She links the paraliterary to postmodern literature, noting 'it is not surprising that the medium of a postmodernist literature should be the critical text wrought into a paraliterary form.'[3]:37
On the term "paraliterature", Ursula K. Le Guin commented that "it exists. What I'm saying is that I don't want to perpetuate this division. So I would always put it in quotes, or do something to show that I'm rejecting a word that I have to use".[4]:182
See also
- Paracinema
- List of books considered the worst
- List of books considered the best
Notes
- "Paraliterature - Oxford Reference". www.oxfordreference.com. doi:10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100305318 (inactive 2020-04-25). Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- Baldick, Chris (2008-01-01). The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199208272.001.0001. ISBN 9780199208272.
- Krauss, Rosalind (1980). "Poststructuralism and the "Paraliterary"". October. 13: 36–40. doi:10.2307/3397700. ISSN 0162-2870. JSTOR 3397700.
- Freedman, Carl Howard (2008). Conversations with Ursula K. Le Guin. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781604730944.