Literary Social Strata (or Why Are People So Snooty?)

There has been much chatter of late about the stigma of writing YA. This was all news to me because, coming to teen fiction from the world of romance–aka the unclean genre–I had no idea that YA authors were equally looked-down-upon, if not by the general public, then at least by the literary world itself.

So, for those of you living in a blissfully unaware state where books are either good or eligible for use as a table-leveling device, here’s a breakdown of the relative social prestige of various genres.

1. Literary
2. Commercial fiction which is not romance
3. Young adult/children’s
4. Romance

And, because that list annoys me, here’s a breakdown of my personal preferences for reading those same genres.

1. Young adult/children’s
2. Romance
3. Commercial fiction which is not romance
4. Literary

(Don’t panic. I wouldn’t actually read anything literary, even as a last resort. I prefer my endings happy and my literary devices–similes, metaphors, and the like–comprehensible. It is only included for purposes of symmetry.)

This prejudice of perception breaks down even further within the publishing world. Hardcover is supposedly better than paperback. Trade size paperback is better than mass market. Single title romance is better than category romance is better than e-published romance.

I would like to say this apparent need to belittle others is restricted to the field of literature, but coming from a theatrical family I know this is a widespread problem. Legitimate theatre is more respectable than musical theatre. Off-Broadway is better than Broadway. Off-off-Broadway is better than both. Budgetless, cutting edge, avant garde theatre that either puts people to sleep or assures they never want to attend the theatre again is the best of all.

Just who decided that popular necessarily equals devoid of value?

(For example, I was once told that Hair, one of the most revolutionary and culturally important productions of all time, had no artistic value or integrity because–gasp–it played on Broadway. That’s just dumb. That’s like saying Romeo and Juliet has no artistic value or integrity because Leo and Clare played the star-crossed lovers on the big screen. Or that Disney is killing theatre–when, in actuality, Disney is saving theatre by creating a new generation of theatregoers.)

After surviving the “shame” of being an aspiring romance author (there, I’ve admitted it in public) I’ve learned to let the belittling comments slide right off my YA back. It helps to keep in mind that:

a) Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and Jane Austen were all writers of “popular” fiction, which means today’s most popular authors (hello, JK Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, and Meg Cabot) are writing the classics of the future, and

b) readers (teens, even) actually want to read my books, which means I’m helping forge a new generation of readers who will grow up with a love of the written word (and hopefully the ability to differentiate between utter crap and greatness).

If that doesn’t work, I just cash my advance check, answer my fan mail, and wait patiently for those snobby types to thank me (and the rest of the YA world) for cultivating their future readers.

Here endeth the treatise on literary snobbery.

Sorry for the rant. This was supposed to be a short, funny post (just my two lists at the top) but I was so inspired by Bennett Madison’s brilliant thoughts on the topic that I couldn’t contain my opinions. Blame him. And then buy his fabulous books.

Hugs,
TLC