Snippets
January 23rd, 2008 by Kathleen Bolton
Ever heard of the New Weird literary movement in genre fiction? I’m embarrassed to admit I hadn’t either until Therese pointed out that Hal Duncan, one of our first interviews, is considered one of the titans of New Weird (apparently, according to the linked Wikipedia entry, the movement’s already over [eyeroll] ). I wanted to interview Hal because his debut novel VELLUM completely knocked my socks off. VELLUM was strange and compelling and completely mental in the best way possible.
Despite the fact that the New Weird literary “movement” is supposedly over, across the pond there’s still a lively debate about how genre fiction is the new realm of literary exploration, and that sci-fi and fantasy fic offer the most malleable edges for writers to turn it loose:
“For serious writers of speculative fiction the prize has always been the belief that the unrealities of science fiction, fantasy and horror provide unique tools with which to dissect the realities of our world. Those tools have been so successful that the language of speculative fiction has become one of the most powerful forces in contemporary culture. You only have to switch on a TV or load up a video game to find yourself immersed in the worlds of sci-fi.
If the New Weird writers represent a turning point it is because they are the first generation of writers to grow up completely immersed in the culture of sci-fi. For such writers the language of speculative fiction is the first and preferred means of expression, because it is the only way to describe a real world permeated on every level with unreality, fantasy and fiction. Whatever the Next Weird may bring, it seems certain that the real experimental energy of literature will remain in genre fiction.”
Do you agree? Or do you think labeling speculative fiction “New Weird” is another way to pigeonhole genre writers into another, erm, genre.
Speaking of speculative fiction, please check out our own Dave Duggins’ contribution to New Weird discourse by visiting Spacesuits and Sixguns e-zine for the best in short story genre fiction.
And don’t forget to visit WU’s Google Notebook for the latest publishing news.
what we consider ‘classic’ literature might have been ‘real experimental energy type literature’ back when it was published. harry potter books will be considered much the same as classic young adult literature series in the vein of ‘the wizard of oz’ or ‘anna of the green gables’ etc. what this means is that in terms of speculative fiction there is unlimited opportunity and the powers that be will always be keeping an eye on what is coming out of the genre fiction arena for the newest ‘latest and greatest’.