Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

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What is literary fiction? The definition and the debate

In this video, I try to define Literary Fiction and end up falling into the debate about whether it exists as a genre at all, if it is superior to genre fiction, and how we know what literary fiction is when we see it.

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#literaryfiction #videoessay #genrefiction

Sources
spectator.co.uk/article/good-riddance-to-literary-fiction
newyorker.com/magazine/2012/05/28/easy-writers
entertainment.time.com/2012/05/23/genre-fiction-is-disruptive-technology
huffpost.com/entry/literary-fiction-vs-genre-fiction_b_4859609
rowanglassworks.org/opinion/the-myth-of-literary-fiction
lithub.com/in-defense-of-labels-on-genre-as-a-literary-conversation
lithub.com/nalini-singh-on-the-unnecessary-divide-between-literary-and-genre-fiction
lithub.com/marlon-james-and-daniel-jose-older-against-genre-snobbery
lithub.com/literary-or-genre-its-the-plot-that-counts
nybookeditors.com/2018/07/what-is-literary-fiction
theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/nov/10/david-mitchell-and-literary-and-genre-fiction-world-fantasy-award
theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/05/kazuo-ishiguro-the-buried-giant-fantasy-novel
thenorwichradical.com/2015/11/03/literature-vs-genre-seconds-out-part-1
jstor.org/stable/10.2979/jmodelite.35.1.37?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents