Cult fiction
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| "[[I know of no bomb other than a book]]" --Stéphane Mallarmé | "[[I know of no bomb other than a book]]" --Stéphane Mallarmé | ||
| <hr> | <hr> | ||
| - | "At present it is impossible to give a full list of the authors from whom we shall quote. Mention of such names as those of [[Sir Richard Burton]], [[Casanova]], [[Aretino]], [[the Marquis de Sade]], [[Wilkes]], [[Boccaccio]], [[Bandello]], [[Masuccio]], [[Straparola]], [[Rabelais]], [[Lucian]], [[Apuleius]], [[Aristophanes]], [[Sinistrari]], [[Nicolas Chorier]], [[Poggio]], [[J. S. Farmer]], [[John Payne]], [[La Fontaine]], [[Chaucer]], [[Brantôme]], [[Sellon]], [[Pisanus Fraxi]], [[Payne Knight]], [[Havelock Ellis]], [[Bloch]], [[Huhner]], [[Auguste Forel|Forel]] and [[Kraft-Ebing]], will give some idea of the work contemplated."--''[[Anthologica Rarissima: The Way of a Virgin]]'' (1922) by L. and C Brovan | + | "Any list of [[cult fiction]] will feature [[Lucian]], [[Apuleius]], [[Rabelais]], [[Brantôme]], [[Laurence Sterne|Sterne]], [[Marquis de Sade|Sade]], [[De Quincey]], [[Poe]], [[Baudelaire]], [[Zola]], [[Kafka]], [[Lovecraft]], [[Céline]], [[Bataille]], [[Borges]], [[Simenon]], [[Cortazar]], [[Burroughs]], [[Vonnegut]], [[Saramago]], [[Martin Amis|Amis]] and [[Houellebecq]]."--Sholem Stein |
| + | <hr> | ||
| + | "My taste, if you will, is depraved, I like strongly spiced literary stews, works of [[decadence]] where a sort of sickly sensibility substitutes for the robust health of the classical era.[[My taste, if you will, is depraved|[...]]]" --Zola | ||
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| [[Image:Charles Baudelaire.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Charles Baudelaire]]]] | [[Image:Charles Baudelaire.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Charles Baudelaire]]]] | ||
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| [[Image:Index Librorum Prohibitorum.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' ("[[banned books|List of Prohibited Books]]") is a list of publications which the [[Catholic|Catholic Church]] [[censorship|censored]] for being a [[danger]] to itself and the faith of its members. The various [[edition]]s also contain the rules of the [[Church]] relating to the reading, selling and censorship of books. The aim of the list was to prevent the reading of [[morality|immoral]] books or works containing [[theology|theological]] errors and to prevent the [[corruption]] of the faithful.]] | [[Image:Index Librorum Prohibitorum.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' ("[[banned books|List of Prohibited Books]]") is a list of publications which the [[Catholic|Catholic Church]] [[censorship|censored]] for being a [[danger]] to itself and the faith of its members. The various [[edition]]s also contain the rules of the [[Church]] relating to the reading, selling and censorship of books. The aim of the list was to prevent the reading of [[morality|immoral]] books or works containing [[theology|theological]] errors and to prevent the [[corruption]] of the faithful.]] | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | '''Cult fiction''' is a term used to denote [[fiction]] that has attracted a [[cult following]]. This category does not include [[non-fiction]]. | + | '''Cult fiction''' is a term used to denote [[fiction]] that has attracted a [[cult following]]. This category does not include [[non-fiction]] but does not necessarily exclude the category [[great books]]. |
| - | On a general level, books that tend to attract a cult following include [[banned books]], [[Transgressional fiction|transgressive fiction]], [[List of controversial books|controversial books]], [[erotic literature]], [[ergodic literature]], [[Drugs in literature|drug literature]], and some [[genre fiction]]. The earliest compilation of cult fiction was the ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' (index of prohibited books) by the Catholic church, although most books on that list were non-fiction. | + | Books that attract a cult following include [[banned books]], [[Transgressional fiction|transgressive fiction]], [[List of controversial books|controversial books]], [[erotic literature]], [[ergodic literature]], [[Drugs in literature|drug literature]], and some [[genre fiction]] ([[crime fiction]], [[horror fiction]], [[fantastic fiction]], [[supernatural fiction]] or [[science fiction]]). The earliest compilation of cult fiction was the ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' (index of prohibited books) by the Catholic church, although most books on that list were non-fiction. The first work of fiction prohibited by the Index was ''[[Pamela]]'' by Samuel Richardson. |
| - | Broadly the category can be divided in two, cult because of [[thematic literary criticism|content]] and cult because of [[Experimental literature|form]]. | + | Broadly the category can be divided in two: a) cult because of its [[subject matter]] and [[thematic literary criticism|themes]] and b) cult because of its [[Experimental literature|form]] in the case of ergodic literature, [[nonlinear narrative]]s or [[metafiction]]. |
| - | The term cult fiction, which was first attested in the late 1980s is probably a calque from [[cult movies]] or cult films, a term which as been in use since the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before this, cult fiction was the province of [[bibliophile]]s who were hunting for [[curiosa]]. | + | The term [[cult fiction]] was first attested in the late 1980s and is a calque from [[cult movies]] or cult films, a term which has been in use since the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before this, cult fiction was the province of [[bibliophile]]s who were hunting for [[curiosa]]. |
| + | ==Historiography== | ||
| + | :''[[#Bibliography]]'' | ||
| + | A precursor of an anthology of cult fiction (in its late 20th meaning) was ''[[The Outsider (Colin Wilson)|The Outsider]]'' (1956) by Colin Wilson, a work that delved into the [[countercultural]] significance of novels that have outsiders as protagonists. | ||
| + | |||
| + | And in the [[19th century literature|19th century]], there were the excesses as highlighted in the literary sections of ''[[Psychopathia Sexualis]]'' (1886) by Krafft-Ebing and ''[[Degeneration (Nordau)|Degeneration]]'' (1892) by Nordau and in the literary study ''[[The Romantic Agony]]'' (1930) by Praz. | ||
| + | ==Transgression== | ||
| + | A basic idea of cult fiction is that of [[transgression]], either transgression of subject matter or transgression of form. | ||
| + | ===Transgression of subject matter=== | ||
| + | :''[[transgressive fiction]]'' | ||
| + | The basic ideas of transgressive fiction are by no means new. Many works that are now considered [[Western canon|classic]]s dealt with controversial themes and harshly criticized societal norms. Early examples include the scandalous writing of the [[Marquis de Sade]] and the [[Comte de Lautréamont]]'s ''[[Les Chants de Maldoror]]'' (1869). French author [[Émile Zola]]'s works about social conditions and “[[bad behavior]]” are examples, as are Russian [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]'s [[existentialist]] novels ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'' (1866) and ''[[Notes from Underground]]'' (1864) and Norwegian [[Knut Hamsun]]'s psychologically-driven ''[[Hunger (novel)|Hunger]]'' (1890). Sexual extravagance can be seen in two of the earliest European novels, the ''[[Satyricon]]'' and ''[[The Golden Ass]]'', and also (with disclaimers) ''[[Moll Flanders]]'', and some of the excesses of early [[Gothic fiction]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Early twentieth-century writers such as [[Octave Mirbeau]], [[Georges Bataille]] and [[Arthur Schnitzler]], who pungently explored [[psychosexual development]], are also important forebears. | ||
| + | ===Transgression of form=== | ||
| + | ====Ergodic literature==== | ||
| + | :''[[ergodic literature]], [[metafiction]]'' | ||
| + | |||
| + | Examples are the ''[[I Ching]]''; [[B. S. Johnson]]'s ''[[The Unfortunates]]''; [[Milorad Pavić (writer)|Milorad Pavić]]'s ''[[Dictionary of the Khazars]]''; [[Vladimir Nabokov]]'s ''[[Pale Fire]]''; [[Michael Joyce (writer)|Michael Joyce]]'s "[[Afternoon, a story|Afternoon: a story]]"; ''[[House of Leaves]]'' by [[Mark Z. Danielewski]]; and [[Julio Cortázar|Julio Cortázar]]'s ''[[Hopscotch (Cortázar novel)|Rayuela]]''. | ||
| + | ====Metafiction==== | ||
| + | :''[[metafiction]]'' | ||
| + | Metafiction is primarily associated with [[Late modernism|late modernist]] and [[postmodernism|postmodernist literature]], but is found at least as early as [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer]]'s 14th century ''[[Canterbury Tales]]'', and [[Laurence Sterne]]'s ''[[Tristram Shandy]]'' (1756). [[Miguel de Cervantes|Cervantes]]' ''[[Don Quixote]]'', published in the 17th century, is a metafictional novel and so is [[James Hogg]]'s ''[[The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner]]'' published in 1824. Russian author [[Nikolai Gogol]] implements a limited, self-referencing narrator in his novel, ''[[Dead Souls]]'' published in 1842. The novels of [[Flann O'Brien]] are considered to be examples of metafiction. In the 1950s several French novelists published works whose styles were collectively dubbed "[[nouveau roman]]". These "new novels" were characterized by the bending of [[Literary genre|genre]] and [[Stylistics (linguistics)|style]] and often included elements of metafiction. It became prominent in the 1960s, with authors and works such as [[John Barth]]'s ''[[Lost in the Funhouse]]'', [[Robert Coover]]'s "[[Pricksongs & Descants |The Babysitter]]" and "[[The Magic Poker]]", [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s ''[[Slaughterhouse-Five]]'', [[John Fowles]]' ''[[The French Lieutenant's Woman]]'', [[Thomas Pynchon]]'s ''[[The Crying of Lot 49]]'' and [[William H. Gass]]'s ''[[Willie Master's Lonesome Wife]]''. William H. Gass coined the term "metafiction" in a 1970 essay entitled "[[Philosophy and the Form of Fiction]]". Unlike the [[antinovel]], or anti-fiction, metafiction is specifically fiction about fiction, i.e. fiction which deliberately reflects upon itself. | ||
| - | A precursor to the late 20th meaning of the term cult fiction was ''[[The Outsider (Colin Wilson)|The Outsider]]'' (1956) by Colin Wilson, a work that delved into the [[countercultural]] significance of the novel. | ||
| == Bibliography == | == Bibliography == | ||
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| *''[[Anthology of Black Humor]]'' (1940) by André Breton | *''[[Anthology of Black Humor]]'' (1940) by André Breton | ||
| ===As a genre=== | ===As a genre=== | ||
| + | *''[[Classic Cult Fiction|Classic Cult Fiction: A Companion to Popular Cult Literature]]'' (1992) by Thomas Reed Whissen | ||
| *''[[Cult Fiction: A Reader's Guide]]'' (1998) by [[Andrew Calcutt]] and Richard Shephard | *''[[Cult Fiction: A Reader's Guide]]'' (1998) by [[Andrew Calcutt]] and Richard Shephard | ||
| *''[[Cult Fiction: Popular Reading and Pulp Theory]]'' (1998) by Clive Bloom | *''[[Cult Fiction: Popular Reading and Pulp Theory]]'' (1998) by Clive Bloom | ||
| - | *''[[Classic Cult Fiction|Classic Cult Fiction: A Companion to Popular Cult Literature]]'' (1992) by Thomas Reed Whissen | ||
| *''[[The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction]]'' (2005) by various | *''[[The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction]]'' (2005) by various | ||
| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| + | *[[Antinovel]] | ||
| + | *[[Comic novel]] | ||
| *[[Cult classic]] | *[[Cult classic]] | ||
| *[[Underground literature]] | *[[Underground literature]] | ||
| *[[Subversion]] | *[[Subversion]] | ||
| *[[Book censorship]] | *[[Book censorship]] | ||
| + | *[[Book collecting]] | ||
| *[[Jahsonic's literary canon]] | *[[Jahsonic's literary canon]] | ||
| *[[Non-mainstream]] | *[[Non-mainstream]] | ||
| + | *[[One-hit wonder]] | ||
| + | *[[Books about books ]] | ||
| + | *[[Lists of 100 best books]] | ||
| + | *[[List of metafictional works]] | ||
| + | *[[David Bowie's Top 100 Books]] | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
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"One is not criminal for painting the strange tendencies inspired by nature"--Marquis de Sade "The book which most deserved to be banned would be a catalogue of banned books." --Georg Christoph Lichtenberg "I know of no bomb other than a book" --Stéphane Mallarmé "Any list of cult fiction will feature Lucian, Apuleius, Rabelais, Brantôme, Sterne, Sade, De Quincey, Poe, Baudelaire, Zola, Kafka, Lovecraft, Céline, Bataille, Borges, Simenon, Cortazar, Burroughs, Vonnegut, Saramago, Amis and Houellebecq."--Sholem Stein "My taste, if you will, is depraved, I like strongly spiced literary stews, works of decadence where a sort of sickly sensibility substitutes for the robust health of the classical era.[...]" --Zola |
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Featured: |
Cult fiction is a term used to denote fiction that has attracted a cult following. This category does not include non-fiction but does not necessarily exclude the category great books.
Books that attract a cult following include banned books, transgressive fiction, controversial books, erotic literature, ergodic literature, drug literature, and some genre fiction (crime fiction, horror fiction, fantastic fiction, supernatural fiction or science fiction). The earliest compilation of cult fiction was the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (index of prohibited books) by the Catholic church, although most books on that list were non-fiction. The first work of fiction prohibited by the Index was Pamela by Samuel Richardson.
Broadly the category can be divided in two: a) cult because of its subject matter and themes and b) cult because of its form in the case of ergodic literature, nonlinear narratives or metafiction.
The term cult fiction was first attested in the late 1980s and is a calque from cult movies or cult films, a term which has been in use since the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before this, cult fiction was the province of bibliophiles who were hunting for curiosa.
Contents |
Historiography
A precursor of an anthology of cult fiction (in its late 20th meaning) was The Outsider (1956) by Colin Wilson, a work that delved into the countercultural significance of novels that have outsiders as protagonists.
And in the 19th century, there were the excesses as highlighted in the literary sections of Psychopathia Sexualis (1886) by Krafft-Ebing and Degeneration (1892) by Nordau and in the literary study The Romantic Agony (1930) by Praz.
Transgression
A basic idea of cult fiction is that of transgression, either transgression of subject matter or transgression of form.
Transgression of subject matter
The basic ideas of transgressive fiction are by no means new. Many works that are now considered classics dealt with controversial themes and harshly criticized societal norms. Early examples include the scandalous writing of the Marquis de Sade and the Comte de Lautréamont's Les Chants de Maldoror (1869). French author Émile Zola's works about social conditions and “bad behavior” are examples, as are Russian Fyodor Dostoyevsky's existentialist novels Crime and Punishment (1866) and Notes from Underground (1864) and Norwegian Knut Hamsun's psychologically-driven Hunger (1890). Sexual extravagance can be seen in two of the earliest European novels, the Satyricon and The Golden Ass, and also (with disclaimers) Moll Flanders, and some of the excesses of early Gothic fiction.
Early twentieth-century writers such as Octave Mirbeau, Georges Bataille and Arthur Schnitzler, who pungently explored psychosexual development, are also important forebears.
Transgression of form
Ergodic literature
Examples are the I Ching; B. S. Johnson's The Unfortunates; Milorad Pavić's Dictionary of the Khazars; Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire; Michael Joyce's "Afternoon: a story"; House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski; and Julio Cortázar's Rayuela.
Metafiction
Metafiction is primarily associated with late modernist and postmodernist literature, but is found at least as early as Homer's Odyssey, Chaucer's 14th century Canterbury Tales, and Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1756). Cervantes' Don Quixote, published in the 17th century, is a metafictional novel and so is James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner published in 1824. Russian author Nikolai Gogol implements a limited, self-referencing narrator in his novel, Dead Souls published in 1842. The novels of Flann O'Brien are considered to be examples of metafiction. In the 1950s several French novelists published works whose styles were collectively dubbed "nouveau roman". These "new novels" were characterized by the bending of genre and style and often included elements of metafiction. It became prominent in the 1960s, with authors and works such as John Barth's Lost in the Funhouse, Robert Coover's "The Babysitter" and "The Magic Poker", Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman, Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 and William H. Gass's Willie Master's Lonesome Wife. William H. Gass coined the term "metafiction" in a 1970 essay entitled "Philosophy and the Form of Fiction". Unlike the antinovel, or anti-fiction, metafiction is specifically fiction about fiction, i.e. fiction which deliberately reflects upon itself.
Bibliography
Avant la lettre
- Curiosities of Literature (4 vols. 1791-1823; single vol. 1824) by Isaac D'Israeli
- Anthology of Black Humor (1940) by André Breton
As a genre
- Classic Cult Fiction: A Companion to Popular Cult Literature (1992) by Thomas Reed Whissen
- Cult Fiction: A Reader's Guide (1998) by Andrew Calcutt and Richard Shephard
- Cult Fiction: Popular Reading and Pulp Theory (1998) by Clive Bloom
- The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction (2005) by various
See also
- Antinovel
- Comic novel
- Cult classic
- Underground literature
- Subversion
- Book censorship
- Book collecting
- Jahsonic's literary canon
- Non-mainstream
- One-hit wonder
- Books about books
- Lists of 100 best books
- List of metafictional works
- David Bowie's Top 100 Books
