-
However, various other definitions exist, including a written work of fiction that: • does not fit neatly into an established genre (as opposed to so-called genre fiction),
when used as a marketing label in the book trade • is character-driven rather than plot-driven • examines the human condition • uses language in an experimental or poetic fashion • is considered serious as a work of art[22] Literary fiction
is often used as a synonym for literature, in the narrow sense of writings specifically considered to be an art form. -
[23] While literary fiction is sometimes regarded as superior to genre fiction, the two are not mutually exclusive, and major literary figures have employed the genres of
science fiction, crime fiction, romance, etc., to create works of literature. -
[7] Since fiction is most long-established in the realm of literature (written narrative fiction), the broad study of the nature, function, and meaning of fiction is called
literary theory, and the narrower interpretation of specific fictional texts is called literary criticism (with subsets like film criticism and theatre criticism also now long-established). -
[14] The attempt to make stories feel faithful to reality or to more objectively describe details, and the 19th-century artistic movement that began to vigorously promote
this approach, is called literary realism, which incorporates some works of both fiction and non-fiction. -
Despite the traditional view that fiction and non-fiction are opposites, some works (particularly in the modern era) blur this boundary, particularly works that fall under
certain experimental storytelling genres—including some postmodern fiction, autofiction,[10] or creative nonfiction like non-fiction novels and docudramas—as well as the deliberate literary fraud of falsely marketing fiction as nonfiction. -
As fiction writing developed in Ancient Greece, relatable characters and plausible scenarios were emphasized to better connect with the audience, including elements such as
romance, piracy, and religious ceremonies. -
The distinction between the two may be best defined from the viewpoint of the audience, according to whom a work is non-fiction if its people, settings, and plot are perceived
entirely as historically or factually real, while a work is regarded as fiction if it deviates from reality in any of those areas. -
[citation needed] The style of literary fiction is often described as “elegantly written, lyrical, and …
-
[15] One common structure among early fiction is a series of strange and fantastic adventures as early writers test the limits of fiction writing.
-
According to the academic publication Oxford Reference, a work set up this way will have a “narrative based partly or wholly on fact but written as if it were fiction” such
that “[f]ilms and broadcast dramas of this kind often bear the label ‘based on a true story’.” -
One realistic fiction sub-genre is historical fiction, centered around true major events and time periods in the past.
-
Contrarily, realistic fiction involves a story whose basic setting (time and location in the world) is, in fact, real and whose events could believably happen in the context
of the real world. -
[3] Types by word count [edit] Types of written fiction in prose are distinguished by relative length and include:[34][35] • Short story: the boundary between a long short
story and a novella is vague,[36] although a short story commonly comprises fewer than 7,500 words • Novella: typically, 17,500 to 40,000 words in length; examples include Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
or Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899)[37] • Novel: 40,000 words or more in length Process of fiction writing [edit] Main article: Fiction writing Fiction writing is the process by which an author or creator produces a fictional work. -
Or, it depicts true historical moments, except that they have concluded in a completely imaginary way or been followed by major new events that are completely imaginary (the
genre of alternative history). -
Plasmatic narrative, following entirely invented characters and events, was developed through ancient drama and New Comedy.
-
[11] Furthermore, even most works of fiction usually have elements of, or grounding in, truth of some kind, or truth from a certain point of view.
-
Aside from real-world connections, some fictional works may depict characters and events within their own context, entirely separate from the known physical universe: an independent
fictional universe. -
It may refer to any work of fiction in a written form.
-
All types of fiction invite their audience to explore real ideas, issues, or possibilities using an otherwise imaginary setting or using something similar to reality, though
still distinct from it. -
The distinction is further obscured by a philosophical understanding, on the one hand, that the truth can be presented through imaginary channels and constructions, while,
on the other hand, works of the imagination can just as well bring about significant new perspectives on, or conclusions about, truth and reality. -
Regardless, fiction is commonly broken down into a variety of genres: categories of fiction, each differentiated by a particular unifying tone or style; set of narrative techniques,
archetypes, or other tropes; media content; or other popularly defined criterion. -
Fiction writers use different writing styles and have distinct writers’ voices when writing fictional stories.
-
[24] The term is sometimes used such as to equate literary fiction to literature.
-
[29] Usually in literary fiction the focus is on the “inner story” of the characters who drive the plot, with detailed motivations to elicit “emotional involvement” in the
reader. -
On the one hand literary authors nowadays are frequently supported by patronage, with employment at a university or a similar institution, and with the continuation of such
positions determined not by book sales but by critical acclaim by other established literary authors and critics. -
The opposite circumstance, in which the physical world or a real turn of events seem influenced by past fiction, is commonly described by the phrase “life imitating art”.
-
History Storytelling has existed in all human cultures, and each culture incorporates different elements of truth and fiction into storytelling.
-
Definition and theory Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly expressed, so the audience expects the work to deviate to a greater or lesser degree from the real
world rather than presenting, for instance, only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. -
[9] Fiction and reality Fiction versus non-fiction [edit] In contrast to fiction, creators of non-fiction assume responsibility for presenting information (and sometimes opinion)
based only in historical and factual reality. -
Characters are individuals inside a work of story, conflicts are the tension or problem that drives characters’ thoughts and actions, narrative modes are the ways in which
a story is communicated, plots are the sequence of events in a story, settings are the story’s locations in time and space, and themes are deeper messages or interpretations about the story that its audience is left to discuss and reflect
upon. -
Literary critic James Wood argues that “fiction is both artifice and verisimilitude”, meaning that it requires both creative inventions as well as some acceptable degree of
believability among its audience,[8] a notion often encapsulated in the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s idea of the audience’s willing suspension of disbelief. -
[39] The alteration of actual happenings into a fictional format, with this involving a dramatic representation of real events or people, is known as both fictionalization,
or, more narrowly for visual performance works like in theatre and film, dramatization. -
The Internet is also used for the development of blog fiction, where a story is delivered through a blog either as flash fiction or serial blog, and collaborative fiction,
where a story is written sequentially by different authors, or the entire text can be revised by anyone using a wiki. -
Early fiction was closely associated with history and myth.
-
[33] Often, even when the fictional story is based on fact, there may be additions and subtractions from the true story to make it more interesting.
Works Cited
[‘1. As philosopher Stacie Friend explains, “in reading we take works of fiction, like works of non-fiction, to be about the real world – even if they invite us to imagine the world to be different from how it actually is. [Thus], imagining a story
world does not mean directing one’s imagining toward something other than the real world; it is instead a mental activity that involves constructing a complex representation of what a story portrays”.[12]
2. ^ The research of Weisberg and Goodstein
(2009) revealed that, despite not being specifically informed that, say, the fictional character Sherlock Holmes, had two legs, their subjects “consistently assumed that some real-world facts obtained in fiction, although they were sensitive to the
kind of fact and the realism of the story.”[13]
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9. ^ Culler, Jonathan (2000). Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-19-285383-7. Non-fictional discourse is usually embedded in a context that tells you
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JSTOR 2504534.
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for Modern Fiction. Waveland Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1478609148.
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Holland, Norman N. (1984). “Interactive Fiction”. Critical Inquiry. 11 (1): 110–129. doi:10.1086/448277. ISSN 0093-1896. S2CID 224795950. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
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Fiction is the Future of Publishing Archived 19 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine. ” The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast Company LLC.
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Doyle, Charlotte L. (1 January 1998). “The Writer Tells: The Creative Process in the Writing of Literary Fiction”. Creativity Research Journal. 11 (1): 29–37. doi:10.1207/s15326934crj1101_4. ISSN 1040-0419.
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‘]