Genre Fiction and Popular Reading
The term genre f iction generally refers to works for a general audience that are eas-
ily categorized by subject matter and usually by form and that follow conventions
related to theme, plot, and character. Indeed, established patterns are expected by
readers of these works. Romance, the largest and most popular of fiction genres
in the United States, features the amorous attraction between a woman and man.
The plot revolves around the attempts of lovers, one often reluctant, to be together
despite—usually—seemingly impossible odds. Mystery fiction includes crime and
detective novels, police procedurals, and thrillers, each of which can be divided
further into subgenres such as hard-boiled detective fiction, cozies, and techno-
thrillers. The genre features an attempt to solve a crime, normally murder, by a
protagonist who may or may not be a professional detective. Through “detection,”
observation, and deduction, the protagonist eventually exposes the criminal or
antagonist, usually in the plot’s denouement. Speculative fiction includes science
fiction, fantasy, utopian novels, and cyberpunk; all of these “speculate” about sci-
ence, the future, and evolving social organizations. Science fiction usually features
unusual settings—in alternative versions of Earth or on other planets, and posits
theoretical developments extrapolated from current knowledge. Fantasy, a broader
term, may include science-fiction elements. Works with this label feature newly
imagined worlds or alternative versions of the past or present which can have uto-
pian/dystopian characteristics. Fantasy fiction is often peopled by creatures and
characters with mystical, supernatural, or magical abilities. Gothic works include
horror fiction featuring supernatural violence, grotesque characterizations, and
eerie settings, all of which inspire fascination, fear and revulsion. Westerns are set
in the frontier American West and concern the conflict between civilization and
lawlessness. They feature the lives and exploits of cowboys, Indians, lawmen, and
scouts who tend to be loners and typically involve the pursuit of a personal sense
of justice, not to be confused with the law.
Because of their popularity and formulaic plots, works of genre fiction are
often regarded as low-quality literature chiefly produced for profit but may
include distinguished work thought to be more skillfully written with a more
serious purpose. Despite its large numbers of readers, genre fiction has a history of
being ignored by academics. Indeed, literature and creative-writing classes do not
usually focus on genre fiction because of the assumption of its inferiority. Many
contemporary writers, however, embrace genre fiction, finding the categories
adaptable and flexible enough to meet a variety of subject matter and concerns,
including those of social and political importance.
In their resistance of simplified plotlines and themes, contemporary writers
blur the lines between genre and literary fiction. E. L. Doctorow’s Welcome to Hard
Times (1975), Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy novels, and Annie Proulx’s
short stories all challenge earlier Westerns that romanticize frontier justice, rug-
ged individualism, the destruction of natural habitats, and the conquest of Indian
territories. Michael Chabon’s The Final Solution: A Story of Detection (2004)
encourages readers to reexamine the notion that evil can be easily conquered. In
it, an elderly (and unnamed) Sherlock Holmes attempts to “solve” the mystery of