> are there really no distinctions made between genre
fiction and
> literary
> fiction in Europe?
The situation is unclear - as the discussions of genre here
and on similar lists probably make clear. There is a tendency
for crime writing and sf to be considered as something
"different", but there is a lot of confusion.
For example, in the very good local book store and in my
local library (both 2 blocks from my home, but I'll try not
to be triumphalist) "Fiction" and "Crime" shelves are
separately labelled, but there is lots of crime on the
fiction shelves. Yesterday I bought MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN from
the fiction section, and THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE from the
crime; in the library, I look in both sections if I want a
little murder.
Even the more modern university "English" departments in the
UK often teach courses in "The Murder Mystery" these days, or
include crime writers in other literature courses: a very far
cry from one of the worst days in my life, when I attended
the usual oral exam at Oxford University for my doctoral
thesis only to be told by the chief examiner "If you wish to
publish this dissertation, do give my name as a reference;
but this is not the sort of topic for which we award Oxford
doctorates." (The subject had of course been formally
accepted; the problem was that I was writing about Ezra
Pound, who was both American and 20th century, and therefore
beyond the pale to certain people. Nowadays, of course, you
wouldn't let anybody get away with this, but I'm talking a
while back, she quavered.)
Marianne Macdonald
Author of the Dido Hoare mysteries. Visit my website:
www.marianne-macdonald.com
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