...but Is It Literature?

[Tabouli]

Pippin:
> As far as taste/artistic merit goes, IMO, the only one of the above 
who compares to JKR for sheer magnetic story-telling power is Herbert.<

Now this reminds me of a plaguing question... What Is This Thing Called Literature??  What makes one book a trashy airport novel and another a respected classic, worthy of winning serious awards? Particularly interesting in the context of HP fandom, because HP has been classified into both (oooo, that glorious quote about "Is Britain a Harry Potter nation or a Beowulf nation?"!  Beautiful, just priceless).

I get the vague impression that it's something to do with accessibility, which is a bit worrying.  I often get the impression that the line of the Literary Establishment goes something like this: "If its themes, language and storyline are simple and pacy enough to be considered "entertainment" by the Common Herd (eeoh, how Vulgar!), it must surely be trash and of no True Literary Merit."  By extension, then, True Literature is that which can be appreciated by an erudite, sophisticated elite.  And by definition, then, anything which becomes a bestseller is questionable, because there just aren't enough erudite sophisticats around to buy True Art.

I'm reminded of this by Pippin's mention of story-telling power.  After some of my attempts to read the Literary Classics, I have to say that "story-telling power" does not seem to be a prerequisite for membership into this elite category.  In fact, I have to say that several "trash" authors I've read truly seem to have a better grip on storytelling!  (they arguably have to, to keep the short attention of the Unwashed Masses, I suppose).  In the opinion of the Literary Types I know, this is just laziness on my part, verbal popcorn: I should be prepared to work at my reading material, wade through the lush (lush as in rainforest, I suspect: dense, damp, heavy and impenetrable) prose of the Greats in search of a story and so forth.

Why?  Partly because I can, having the necessary qualifications for entry into the Sophisticated Literary Types circles, namely being middle class, having too much education from prestigious institutions, sounding articulate, etc.etc.  But mostly because I "should".  Because it's apparently Worth It to slog through the Greats, for the great stimulation and enrichment they apparently offer, unlike the trashy popcorn I ingest.

Ahhhh, elitism.  Let me conclude this cynical musing with a question for ye OT types: maybe Harry Potter is children's fiction, maybe it isn't.  But the real question, ladies and gentlemen, is "Is It Literature?"  (and why or why not?)

Tabouli.


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