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Re: Reviewing Nonfiction
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From: Judith Ridge <judith.ridge_at_gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:05:26 +1100
2010/1/31
What Maia describes as creative nonfiction sounds a bit like the New Journalism that was popularized in 60s and 70s. A phrase people often use to praise a nonfiction work is "it reads like fiction." I find the phrase irritating because it suggests that nonfiction cannot have literary merit unless it adopts the conventions of fiction. That thinking seems to still embody the bias that nonfiction is not literature, and suggests that nonfiction can only be regarded as "literary" or "creative" if it strives to be as much like fiction as possible.
Creative nonfiction is a term that's been around for some time—at least since the 1970s—and it may well have some connection to the New Journlais m of the 60s and 70s (I'm not sure about any direct connection but it seems plausible to me that they may have emerged from the same set of cultural circumstances). The term does seek to make a distinction between conventional nonfiction (just the facts, ma;am) and an approach that incorporates the literary conventions of fiction, poetry (that Emmett Till book for example) into the telling of a true story. If you find that irritating, or object to the distinction, well, so be it, but it is an accepted term in its own right. See here:
http://www.creativenonfiction.org/
and a definition of the term from the site:
This general meaning of the term is basically acknowledged and accepted in the literary world; poets, fiction writers—the creative writing community in general—understand and accept the elements of creative nonfiction, althou gh their individual interpretation of the genre’s boundaries may differ. The essential point to acknowledge here is that there are lines—real demarcat ion points between fiction, which is or can be mostly imagination; traditional nonfiction (journalism and scholarship), which is mostly information; and creative nonfiction, which presents or treats information using the tools o f the fiction writer while maintaining allegiance to fact.
Judith
Judith Ridge Western Sydney Young People's Literature Officer
Arts and Cultural Development Blacktown City Council PO Box 63 (62 Flushcombe Road) Blacktown NSW 2148 AUSTRALIA
-- My work blog: http://westword.wordpress.com/ My personal blog: http://www.misrule.com.au/s9y/ My personal website: http://www.misrule.com.au
Received on Sun 31 Jan 2010 07:05:26 AM CST
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:05:26 +1100
2010/1/31
What Maia describes as creative nonfiction sounds a bit like the New Journalism that was popularized in 60s and 70s. A phrase people often use to praise a nonfiction work is "it reads like fiction." I find the phrase irritating because it suggests that nonfiction cannot have literary merit unless it adopts the conventions of fiction. That thinking seems to still embody the bias that nonfiction is not literature, and suggests that nonfiction can only be regarded as "literary" or "creative" if it strives to be as much like fiction as possible.
Creative nonfiction is a term that's been around for some time—at least since the 1970s—and it may well have some connection to the New Journlais m of the 60s and 70s (I'm not sure about any direct connection but it seems plausible to me that they may have emerged from the same set of cultural circumstances). The term does seek to make a distinction between conventional nonfiction (just the facts, ma;am) and an approach that incorporates the literary conventions of fiction, poetry (that Emmett Till book for example) into the telling of a true story. If you find that irritating, or object to the distinction, well, so be it, but it is an accepted term in its own right. See here:
http://www.creativenonfiction.org/
and a definition of the term from the site:
This general meaning of the term is basically acknowledged and accepted in the literary world; poets, fiction writers—the creative writing community in general—understand and accept the elements of creative nonfiction, althou gh their individual interpretation of the genre’s boundaries may differ. The essential point to acknowledge here is that there are lines—real demarcat ion points between fiction, which is or can be mostly imagination; traditional nonfiction (journalism and scholarship), which is mostly information; and creative nonfiction, which presents or treats information using the tools o f the fiction writer while maintaining allegiance to fact.
Judith
Judith Ridge Western Sydney Young People's Literature Officer
Arts and Cultural Development Blacktown City Council PO Box 63 (62 Flushcombe Road) Blacktown NSW 2148 AUSTRALIA
-- My work blog: http://westword.wordpress.com/ My personal blog: http://www.misrule.com.au/s9y/ My personal website: http://www.misrule.com.au
Received on Sun 31 Jan 2010 07:05:26 AM CST
