What were the main ideas we learned this past week?
The big idea this week was literature vs commercial fiction and is there really a difference. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines literature as written works (such as poems, plays, and novels) that are considered to be very good and to have lasting importance, which I think it is a very good definition of literature. The definition of commercial fiction is a little more trickier. Commercial fiction is more plot driven with characters actively pursuing a goal with a happy ending. I don't agree with that definition, at least the end of it. I will just throw out Hunger Games. Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling both have written works of lasting importance, but one author has written "literature" while the other has written "commercial fiction". In my opinion, it depends on the reader and what their idea of literature is and what their idea of commercial fiction is. If the book has made you stop and think about the world in any way, it can be literature. I'm not saying that I don't believe commercial fiction doesn't exist because it does. Fanfiction is a perfect example. I don't think anyone would put 50 Shades of Grey as a book of lasting importance. Most written works have elements of both literature and commercial fiction, making it hard to classify it. Classifying written works as one or the other might drive away a reader. Labels aren't good.
Here is a TED-like talk talking about how commercial fiction is taking over: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOCDGiHwOxg
The big idea this week was literature vs commercial fiction and is there really a difference. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines literature as written works (such as poems, plays, and novels) that are considered to be very good and to have lasting importance, which I think it is a very good definition of literature. The definition of commercial fiction is a little more trickier. Commercial fiction is more plot driven with characters actively pursuing a goal with a happy ending. I don't agree with that definition, at least the end of it. I will just throw out Hunger Games. Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling both have written works of lasting importance, but one author has written "literature" while the other has written "commercial fiction". In my opinion, it depends on the reader and what their idea of literature is and what their idea of commercial fiction is. If the book has made you stop and think about the world in any way, it can be literature. I'm not saying that I don't believe commercial fiction doesn't exist because it does. Fanfiction is a perfect example. I don't think anyone would put 50 Shades of Grey as a book of lasting importance. Most written works have elements of both literature and commercial fiction, making it hard to classify it. Classifying written works as one or the other might drive away a reader. Labels aren't good.
Here is a TED-like talk talking about how commercial fiction is taking over: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOCDGiHwOxg