Sonia Hernandez

April 22, 2002  

Disentangling Genres  

        When asked to explain what distinguishes one literary genre from another, aficionados of a particular genre sometimes answer, “I know it when I see it.” It may be true that some devotees develop a sixth sense in identifying a literary work as belonging to a specific genre. However, uncommunicated intuitive knowledge does little to either define relatively new or fledgling genres, or distinguish  break- away genres, such as exploration and science fiction from the similar or closely related “parent” genres of travel and adventure, and fantasy, respectively.

         The better defined a genre, the less likely a reader will be to mistake one genre for another and the more likely a selection will match a person’s expectations. However, the age old literary function of genre, to provide an interpretive framework for readers, is sometimes secondary to the business imperative that a text be marketed in the most profitable manner. Since some genres have a higher readership than other, publishers may have a  financial motivation for marketing a novel in a particular genre although readers may be mislead.

        To increase interest, authors also frequently write books which exploit public interest or current trends.  Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, capitalizes on the recent expeditions to the South Pole. However, the novel’s journey and destination are largely superfluous to the action of the plot.  The story is a suspenseful fantasy of dark visions, darker actions and ghostly visitations from the living dead. Although some readers and critics consider it a science fiction novel, Pym is primarily a compilation of the many gothic plot devices of Poe’s short stories. A  marvelously atmospheric romance, it is a prime example of the gothic genre and Poe’s ability to evoke horror and the sublime. Poe was after horror and Gothic, and he got it. Readers anticipating exploration literature may be disappointed.

        Determining the primary genre of a particular text can be extremely difficult even under the most pristine circumstances. In attempting to disentangle the elements of each genre in stories such as Poe’s Pym, a historical perspective of the concept of genre is helpful. An understanding of the evolutionary nature of genres is essential to understanding how genres as seemingly disparate as romance, with its emphasis on frequently messy human emotions, and science fiction, with its perceived emphasis on antiseptically scientific and technological themes can have common roots.

        Genre, a method of classifying literary works, is similar to the taxonomy system used in science. During the Renaissance, the three basic genres of epic, comedy and tragedy, were called poetic kinds and were thought to be fixed literary types somewhat as biological species were thought to be. Perhaps because genres were associated with social rank and status, neoclassical critics of the era believed poetic kinds should remain pure (Abrahams 108 ). Mingling of the  epic and tragedy genres, considered the aristocracy of the literary world with the lowly pastoral, short lyric and others plebeian forms was not considered acceptable (Abrahams 109). 

        As the Renaissance stricture against mixing genres eroded,new hybrid genres emerged such as the comic tragedy. In addition to these blendings, additional genre developed as a response to changes in society. In order to minimize arguments and inconsistencies in classifying works, widely accepted definitions of newer genres  is essential.  Although the semi-descriptive name of science fiction implies stories which are imaginary scientific accounts of events, more specificity is needed in order to distinguish this genre from similar genres including fantasy and horror. Brian Aldiss’ definition is highly effective because it includes both content and form: Science fiction is the search for a definition of humanity and our status in the universe which will stand in our advanced, but confused state of knowledge (science) and is characteristically cast in the gothic or pre-gothic mode (4). The critical elements of science fiction are established as estrangement, inherited from the genre’s gothic roots and rational explanation for imagined worlds and scenarios (Freedman 17).

         Distinguishing science fiction from science fantasy or either from fantasy is much more difficult, sometimes seemingly impossible, because “both modes are part of fantasy in a general sense” (Aldiss 4) and both may borrow from the gothic. However, unlike fantasy, science fiction does not demand the total suspension of disbelief so much as it requires a belief in and understanding of the new scientific principles or world view set forth by the author.  Science fiction deals with improbable possibilities, fantasy with plausible presented impossibilities (Aldiss 5) is a helpful corollary to Aldiss’ definition.

        Science fiction’s roots are hotly debated. Science fiction either originated in the very ancient past or is a natural outgrowth of a modern society so greatly dependent on science that its fantasies must of necessity be clothed in science. Basically, science fiction is either a form of fantastic literature which has existed since prehistory or, by definition, requires an element of science and is, therefore, a recent creation (Mann 3) . Given the evolutionary nature of the concept of genre, is it possible that both of these seemingly contradictory premises can be true?

        Science fiction may include tales which take place in the past, present and future, and include a mesmerizing, ancient vampire, a destructive force composed of biological-computer hybrid aliens with a hive mentality or a redeemer and his faithful companion robot, recently arrived to save the human race from itself. Are these characters so different from the enthralling, sirens or socially-inept, murderous Cyclops of Homer’s The Odyssey, or the numerous saviors immortalized in the various religious faiths throughout the ages? 

        The two groups differ in form only. Essentially, these two groups are allegorical figures, symbolic fictional characters and actions which express truths about human conduct and experience in terms appropriate for the times. Changes in the appearance and actions of literary allegorical figures and the scenarios in which these characters function parallel changes in society. While both fantasy and science fiction use allegory, an important distinction between the two is that science fiction will tend more toward realism; fantasy more toward myth (Aldiss 5). Until science began to pervade both society and literature, “most fantastical writing had been of a religious nature” (Mann 7). From the Epic of Gilgamesh and classical Greek and Roman mythology to the more recent The Fairie Queen  by Edmund Spenser and John Milton’s Paradise Lost, fantastical writing promoted the world view, beliefs and philosophies of a particular religion.

         Although works such as The Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s The Odyssey cannot be meaningfully interrupted today as either science fiction or fantasy (Mann 9), but are assigned rather to myth, the two texts establish a rudimentary link between fantasy and myth to the two closely linked genres of travel and exploration. While both involve journeys, travel literature concerns journeys to frequently traveled, populated places, while exploration is defined as a visit to and observation of a presumably uninhabited place or new civilization under usually arduous conditions where few travelers like the author have previously traveled (White 2). Journeys of exploration are often purposeful with goals beyond the enjoyment of the trip itself. Historically, actual journeys have served as voyages of self-discovery and a test of individual character. When the function of the journey is to comment or shed light on human nature, the text functions as myth rather than fiction or fantasy.

        Another distinction in the use of travel and exploration literature is the nature of the explanations given for new situation. Both travel and exploration literature describe unusual features the new landscape such as Charbdyis, the whirlpool, and indigenous peoples like Cyclops. In fantasy and myth, there is no effort to rationally explain unusual events or properties. Supernatural intervention explains Gigamesh’s invisibility cloak, the effect of the siren’s song on men, and the Cyclop’s disposition.        When travel and exploration characteristics are used in a science fiction work, scientific explanations are provided. The traveler in H.G.Wells’ The Time Machine is transported to a future world in a machine built upon scientific principles. He finds a future world devastated through the application of scientific principles and a population which is evolving in accordance with natural laws.

        Utopias, the literature concerning perfect societies has proven incredibly durable and popular. Literary utopias offer the opportunity for analysis of the nature of society that the journey offers for the analysis of individual character.  The earliest story of a utopian society, Plato’s Republic, tackles issues of justice and injustice, contains the requirements for a perfect state and the durable, striking imagery of a cave as the symbol for ignorance and perception (Aldiss 64-71,91).  In 1516, Thomas More’s Utopia,  a satirical novel of a perfect society founded on an unknown island, led the new wave of primarily political and moral writings (Mann 7) exploring the nature of man within his society. Since these societies are generally in distant locations, themes of travel and exploration are common in utopian literature.

        Although early utopian works, such Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Voltaire’s Micromegas which appeared in 1726 and 1752  respectively, are considered political commentaries couched in the fantasy genre rather than science fiction, both introduced the use of aliens, metaphorical humans with radically different cultures to satirically explore and comment upon the problems of society (Mann 8). Aliens, strange new worlds and cultures have become an identifying characteristic of science fiction. From these utopian journeys would eventually spring a more modern form of science fiction known as scientific romance (Mann 9).

        The birth of the scientific romance requires the development of Edward Burke’s 1756 essay “The Sublime and the Beautiful,” in which Burke distinguishes between the beauty and placidity of pleasure and the pain and terror of the sublime (Aldiss 12). The first literary work to utilize Burke’s theory was The Ossianic poems. Allegedly the work of a third century Irish poet, Ossian, the two epic prose poems written in a loose, rhythmic style filled with supernatural and melancholy imagery were quickly imitated through out Europe.  Although subsequently proven to be forgeries, primarily the work of translator James Macpherson with only a smathering of original, ancient Gaelic poetry by Ossian, the Ossianic poems, with their dark imagery of brooding lands, stormy nights, castles  haunted by Celtic ghosts and mysterious figures, blood oozing everywhere greatly influenced the Romantic movement (“Macpherson, James”) from which the gothic genre, with its emphasis on the distant and unearthly and had an large element of suspense, emerged (Aldiss 15,52). 

        The Gothic revival began in earnest when Horace Walpole wrote the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto in 1765 followed in 1786 by William Beckford’s Vathek, a novel which combines the exotic atmosphere of The Arabian Nights and the supernatural partnerships of  Faust (Aldiss 13).  Oscar Wilde’s modern novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray borrows from Vathek both the theme and the assertion of the sublime (Aldiss 13). Although Jane Austen poked fun at the gothic mode in Northanger Abbey, the genre was so popular even the renowned Romantic poet Percy Shelley, husband of Mary Godwin, wrote Zastrozzi and St. Irvyne, two “blue book” or cheap imitations of gothic novels (Aldiss 15).  From extreme forms of Gothic, such as  Matthew Lewis’ The Monk , a book filled with bleeding nuns, incest, homosexuality, generally lascivious conduct, matricide and torture, was born the horror genre, which lives on today in the works of Stephen King and others.

        The Romantic Movement did not give birth to the gothic genre in a vacuum. Literature was developing new perspectives, new styles and new approaches to describe human experience, partially because society and science were entertaining new philosophies which questioned the basis of all relationships including those with God, society, the environment and each other. Science, philosophy and literature seem to come together between 1794 and 1799.

         After centuries of belief in the literal interpretation of the Biblical account of creation, the ancient Greek idea that all life started in the water (Aldiss 8) was resurrected. The publication of Zoonomia in 1794, by a  gifted poet, scientist and inventor Dr. Erasmus Darwin, foreshadowed not only his grandson Charles’ theories of evolution but also the Big Bang theory regarding the creation of the universe. Believing the diversity of life resulted from eons old interactions of numerous factors such as sexual promiscuity and food availability, Erasmus’ theory was a direct challenge to accepted view of Bishop James Ussher, who in the seventeenth century proclaimed God created the world on 4004 BCE (Aldiss 11). Erasmus’ contributions to the Industrial Revolution include rotary pumps, horizontal windmills a proposed oxygen and hydrogen powered motor and a belief in practical applications of electricity.

        Coinciding with the publication of Zoonomia was Caleb Williams, considered the first book of psychological pursuit, by William Godwin. Ann Radcliffe’s novel The Mysteries of Udoplho, recognized not only for being the high point of Gothic style, but also for containing a new element in literature, suspense, was also issued (Aldiss 12).

         The utilitarian philosophies of David Hume and John Mill introduced clarity into modern political thinking and had great influence on Anglo-American political systems (Nelson 248). Ethics and ethical decisions now had a mathematical component and could be quantified and validated like physics and chemistry. The naturalistic ethics of utility challenged priori and natural law arguments. Although no liberal himself, Hume’s work influenced liberal political thinking and greatly changed how individuals perceived the basis of most relationships.  In 1772, Mary Wollstonecraft published Vindication of the Rights of Women, an early feminist tract. The abolishment of slavery was a hotly debated liberal cause.  The grandeur of man evident in the writings of the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man of 1779 provided a legal basis for the transformation of relationships between the individual and God, society and each other.

         In 1794, all the components for the evolution of the genre of science fiction are all present. Mary Godwin, daughter of writers and philosophers Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, braids all the elements together in Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. Considered a gothic romance when published in 1818, it is recognized today as the first science fiction novel.

         The home of Mary Godwin’s youth was a hub for the scientific, philosophical and scientific ideas of this incredible time. Her liaison  and subsequent marriage to Percy Shelley, the Romantic poet, rebel,  atheist, lover of freedom and ardent admirer of Erasmus Darwin (12) and Erasmus’ scientific ideas, seems to be a natural extension of the intellectually stimulating environment of her early youth. Joined by Lord Byron, the trio understood themselves to be living in a new age  (Aldiss 23) in which physical phenomena had natural, not supernatural explanation. Theirs was a thoroughly Newtonian world ruled by fact, not fiat. Mary was more interested in politics and knowledgeable of science than is generally known (Aldiss 23,25).  Her literature, like her world, included a more dominant scientific viewpoint.

        Frankenstein is a story of creation which parallels the Biblical account in Genesis. Man creates a being in his own image by taking from the Earth. The difference between the two accounts is that the spark of life is administered, not by the supernatural, but a scientist in a controlled laboratory experiment using the forces of nature. With his actions, Dr. Frankenstein is espousing the emerging new ideology. Events can be controlled if one knows how. 

        Shelley repeatedly underscores that knowledge is the key. Unlike Christopher Marlowe’s  Dr. Faust, Frankenstein renounces the supernatural and remains grounded in the science. He abandons the metaphysics and alchemy of Agrippa and Paracelsus because these methods are outdated and useless.

        In keeping with the scientific method, Frankenstein duplicates his feat. He will create a companion for the lonely creature whom every one rejects. In what has become a standard theme in science fiction, Frankenstein doubts he cannot control his creations.   When Frankenstein breaks his promise and destroys his second creation, the murderous hatred which fills the creature is more the reaction of a rejected Cain than that of a vengeful God. But, even he is being strangled by his creation, Frankenstein praises the search for knowledge as honorable and courageous. It is Frankenstein’s reaction to his creation, not the search for knowledge that causes problems. Society then takes action against the creature. There is no supernatural mystery in this novel, no after life, no promises of rewards for good behavior or threats for not toeing the line. There is only independent action of individuals who suffer the consequences of their action.

        Although both Poe’s novel Pym, and Frankenstein, combine the genres of travel, exploration, romantic, and the more sensational aspects of the gothic and sublime, today,  Poe’s novel is considered a prime example of gothic while Shelley’s novel is recognized as science fiction.  Poe missed being considered the Father of Science Fiction because he mishandled the form (Aldiss 51).

          At its core, Pym is the story of an alienated man, an excellent premise for a science fiction novel, who ends up in a strange land with very different people, a now standard device for the genre. But the use of science, proven or projected theories is infinitesimal. (If Pym’s explanations of the Arctic climate, the technical operation of the ship, the extensive discussion of the storms and his theory how to avoid becoming shark bait are scientific explanations sufficient to render the text as science fiction, any narrative describing the weather or currents or the operation of a vehicle would qualify as well. This is travel literature). When providing a scenario that affords an opportunity for a scientific explanation, Poe resorts to fainting, sleeping, unconsciousness or, as he does with the first appearance of the dog, plain sleight-of-hand. At the end, Poe approaches the transcendent quality of science fiction, but he bails out. Escaping the black island, Pym finds himself amidst the word of God, after which he is swept across the water to secret ahead. A main component of science fiction is the attempt to demystify, to expose secrets. While Shelley reinforces the theme of natural knowledge, Poe continues to operate in the realm of mystery avoiding explanations. The second half of Pym is great fantasy, perhaps even myth, but it is not science fiction.      

        While Shelley was the first to write science fiction, Jules Verne was the first to be commercially success with the genre (Aldiss 99). Although originally a writer of plays and light opera, Verne is now associated in popular literature exclusively as a science fiction author. His collected works are known as Les Voyages extraordinaires. His works mark the start of the scientific romance, a “consolidation of central themes and ideas of science fiction into a dominant form” (Mann 9).

         The evolution of genre continues. Verne’s works celebrate the accomplishments of the machines and their builders is also typical of “hard core” science fiction, a subgenre which focuses on technology and the physical sciences. “Soft core” science fiction, such as Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, focuses on the social sciences. The newest addition to the science fiction genre is cyberpunk. Man and machine meet and attempt to assimilate. Frequently these stories involve high technology and low life individuals or locales. Two other popular subgenres include far future and future history science fiction.

        Someday, the family tree of literature will doubtlessly have more branches than a mighty sequoia.With this in mind, some critics propose a “family” concept of genre (Anderson 111).  Viewing genre, as a delineation, a sketching, of  the scope and limits of a grouping rather than as a classification and acknowledging that overlaps may be a more effective. (Freedman 20). Perhaps in the future, when  aficionados answer  “I know it when I see it,”  the reference will be to an easy, familial resemblance rather than a specific genre.

 

Works Cited  

Abrahams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Ft. Worth TX: Harcourt, Brace College Publishers, 1999.

Aldiss, Brian and Wingrove, David. The Trillion Year Spree.         Poughkeepsie,  NY: House of Stratus, 2001.

Disch, Thomas M. The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of. NY: Simon and Schuster, 2000.

Freedman, Car. Critical Theory and Science Fiction. Hanover, NH: UP of New England, 2000.

“Macpherson, James.”  E-Library. 1.2 (2002 ): Online. Internet. 14   April 2002 

        http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/M/MacphersJ.asp

 

Mann, George. The Mammoth Encyclopedia. NY,NY: Carrol and Graf, 2001.

Nelson, Brain R. Western Political Thought. Inglewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall,1982.

White, Craig. Syllabus LITR 5738:Literature of Space and Exploration University of Houston Clear Lake. Houston TX.