70 Contemporary Literature, 1970 to Present
a missing parrot belonging to a mute Jewish boy during World War II, while the
greater crime—the Holocaust—eludes him. Women writers have reformulated
the romance to address the problems arising from a preoccupation with relation-
ships related to romantic love, or its perversion. Plus-sized characters in Jennifer
Weiner’s novels highlight the injustice of being measured against imposed stan-
dards of physical beauty. Jodi Picoult’s work deals with rape and teen suicide.
Writers also acknowledge that genre fiction’s ability to entertain and
enlighten does not negate its capacity to comment upon social and political issues.
African American writers Octavia Butler, Samuel Delany, and Nnedi Okorafor
use the tradition of science fiction to address issues related to racial difference.
While Okorafor concentrates on Africa and Africans in her work, Delany and
Butler challenge gender and racial categories by creating characters with unstable
and shifting racial and gender identities. Walter Mosley also writes science fic-
tion, but he is better known for his series featuring black private detective Easy
Rawlins, starting with Devil in a Blue Dress (1990); these novels emphasize racial
inequity in Rawlins’s inability to move as freely as his white counterparts. Specu-
lative fiction and mystery writers also highlight environmental issues. Rudolfo
Anaya’s Jemez Spring (2005), one of his Sonny Baca mysteries, is about issues
related to water use in the arid Southwest. Also promoting environmental aware-
ness are the novels of Frank Herbert, David Brin, and Ursula K. Le Guin, who
write speculative fiction.
As writers search for fresh ways to tell stories, they have blended genres.
Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, which includes Twilight (2005), New Moon
(2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008), combines Gothic vampire
elements and romance. Detective fiction has proven malleable enough to com-
bine with other genres as well. Romantic suspense, for example, has long been a
popular subgenre of romance. Science-fiction versions of detective fiction have
proven popular, too. Android bounty hunter Rick Deckard in Philip K. Dick’s
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) was among the first science-fiction
detectives, providing a model for private investigators such as Albert Morris in
David Brin’s Kiln People (2002). Michael Chabon’s detective novel The Yiddish
Policemen’s Union (2007) uses an element of speculative fiction in his creation
of Alaska, instead of Israel, as the site of Jewish settlement after World War II.
Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (published in four issues of DC
Comics from February to June 1986) combines detection, crime fighting, and
Gothic elements with the graphic novel.
Students interested in genre fiction or in one particular form should first
gain an understanding of the plot, character, and thematic conventions associated
with the genre. The RESOURCES section provides resources for several genres.
To locate works not included in this essay, students may wish to consult various
professional organizations devoted to promoting genre fiction. All of these sites
include discussion or links to sources about the conventional features of their
genres. The Western Writers of America, founded in 1953, is the oldest of these
types of organizations; its website is <www.westernwriters.org>, and it lists win-
ners of its annual Spur, Lariat, and Branding Iron Awards. The website for the
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, founded in 1965, can be found