Last week I raised the issue of the frequent, sometimes intense disapproval of popular storytelling in our time: of the “category fiction” that sells millions of copies while “literary fiction” sells thousands, and of the corresponding forms of commercial film. These works are often regarded as trash rather than art, and dismissed as, at best, a waste of time, at worst a form of self-destructive addiction. When social anxieties invade a debate over the arts, the conversation quickly becomes muddled and irrational. In such cases, the useful thing to do is to detach and look first at the larger picture, which often involves taking a historical long view. I began to do that last time, only to find that my long view got so long that I was unable to arrive back in the present time by the end of the newsletter, and promised to complete the discussion in this present newsletter.
April 22, 2022
April 22, 2022
April 22, 2022
Last week I raised the issue of the frequent, sometimes intense disapproval of popular storytelling in our time: of the “category fiction” that sells millions of copies while “literary fiction” sells thousands, and of the corresponding forms of commercial film. These works are often regarded as trash rather than art, and dismissed as, at best, a waste of time, at worst a form of self-destructive addiction. When social anxieties invade a debate over the arts, the conversation quickly becomes muddled and irrational. In such cases, the useful thing to do is to detach and look first at the larger picture, which often involves taking a historical long view. I began to do that last time, only to find that my long view got so long that I was unable to arrive back in the present time by the end of the newsletter, and promised to complete the discussion in this present newsletter.