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Originally Posted by Barney  On the subject of switching between genres, I see the distinction between literary and other genres has cropped up in this thread.
An old question perhaps, but what is it that makes a work literary? I assumed something attained the status of literature if the writing really stood out as excellent, if it "dealt with themes" as well as concentrating on a compelling narrative (although I get very impatient with novels that put the language before the story. Come on, you have to meet the reader halfway!)
Can a genre work achieve literariness (if that's a real word), or is literature expected to be rooted in workaday reality? |
It depends how the author, agent and publisher perceive it, therefore on which imprint it is submitted to and published by. If it's published by Jonathan Cape, it will be seen as a literary novel. If it's published by Orbit, it's a genre novel. Occasionally, of course, a specific writer or novel 'transcends the genre'.