At the AWPUR International Literary Forum, writers talk about artistic discoveries of contemporary prose
“It seems that the most interesting thing about contemporary prose is not the search for new meanings and protagonists, or stylistic innovation, which was a major concern of the 20th century literature, but the search for new genres,” said writer Pavel Basinsky when opening the discussion.
By genres he means both the diversity of artistic forms (novels, novellas, short stories, sketches, essays) and themes (detective stories, science fiction, biography), and all literary phenomena and trends in their entirety.
One of the trends is the shifting of boundaries between non-fiction and fiction, according to Chinese writer and translator Liu Wenfei. He believes that the traditional novel became outdated back in late 19th century (“Tolstoy was the last one”). The genre is surely still there, but the tasks authors try to fulfill on its pages are completely different. “Fiction and non-fiction are no longer opposites, but rather twins in the family of literary genres.”
In his speech, writer Dmitry Danilov reflected on why dystopia as a literary genre has become popular again in recent years.
“Dystopia is the genre of anxiety. However, all serious literature is infiltrated with anxiety, with thoughts about where we are heading. I personally don’t think that literature should be reassuring: it should let readers see the tragic nature of human existence. The greatest books of all time ask questions that we cannot ignore but are unable to answer.”
“Easy-to-read genres, books that provide a sense of security and comfort – this is what’s trendy today,” said Serbian writer Neva Altaj.
The conflict between an individual and the reality gave rise to a new genre, the long novella, remarked Hindi poet and prose writer Uday Prakash: “It’s neither a short story, nor a novel. The central question of the new novella is how to withstand today’s world.”
Closing the discussion, prose writer Roman Senchin shared his view on today’s literature: “Fiction has been increasingly losing credibility among readers. First-person literary narratives based on true facts and seeking to make sense of real life events – that’s what people are talking about much now.”
By genres he means both the diversity of artistic forms (novels, novellas, short stories, sketches, essays) and themes (detective stories, science fiction, biography), and all literary phenomena and trends in their entirety.
One of the trends is the shifting of boundaries between non-fiction and fiction, according to Chinese writer and translator Liu Wenfei. He believes that the traditional novel became outdated back in late 19th century (“Tolstoy was the last one”). The genre is surely still there, but the tasks authors try to fulfill on its pages are completely different. “Fiction and non-fiction are no longer opposites, but rather twins in the family of literary genres.”
In his speech, writer Dmitry Danilov reflected on why dystopia as a literary genre has become popular again in recent years.
“Dystopia is the genre of anxiety. However, all serious literature is infiltrated with anxiety, with thoughts about where we are heading. I personally don’t think that literature should be reassuring: it should let readers see the tragic nature of human existence. The greatest books of all time ask questions that we cannot ignore but are unable to answer.”
“Easy-to-read genres, books that provide a sense of security and comfort – this is what’s trendy today,” said Serbian writer Neva Altaj.
The conflict between an individual and the reality gave rise to a new genre, the long novella, remarked Hindi poet and prose writer Uday Prakash: “It’s neither a short story, nor a novel. The central question of the new novella is how to withstand today’s world.”
Closing the discussion, prose writer Roman Senchin shared his view on today’s literature: “Fiction has been increasingly losing credibility among readers. First-person literary narratives based on true facts and seeking to make sense of real life events – that’s what people are talking about much now.”