Comments on: Help Me Write: What Constitutes Literary Importance?

By: Karen Resta

Karen Resta — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:40:51 +0000

One American author not well-heralded enough outside the genre she has generally been described as working within (in my opinion) is M.F.K. Fisher.

By: Kelly Parisi Castro

Kelly Parisi Castro — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:10:23 +0000

Did you consider Carson McCullers?

By: Sanjay

Sanjay — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:28:17 +0000

What constitutes literary importance? One answer:literary influence. The continuing worth of an author’s work can be judged by the amount of influence he or she has had on those who come later — be it stylistically or thematically. Or both.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:32:21 +0000

The first answer that popped into my head regarding how we define importance was — those writers who did something no else had and then influenced those who came after them.

However, I like Nigel’s answer better

By: Kevin J. Hayes

Kevin J. Hayes — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:02:43 +0000

Nigel’s comments are eloquent. I agree with his criteria, but (there’s always a but) they are subjective. To determine literary importance perhaps we need to identify a shared Nabokovian tingle. This is not so difficult as it sounds. Herman Melville has this effect on many readers. Describing the first time he read “Moby-Dick,” H. M. Tomlinson said, “It was an immense experience.” I felt the same way the first time I read it.

By: Nigel Beale

Nigel Beale — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:17:01 +0000

“Importance” is of course a loaded word. Important to who? I suppose if enough respected scholars have argued persuasively enough in favor of a particular title, then is assumes importance. As for you determining what constitutes importance, especially in fiction: I’d go with the Nabokovian tingle…whatever makes the hair on your neck stand up…for me it’s whatever makes me shake my head in awe…the sheer beauty of the words, or their cleverness, humor; their ability to transport me to various heights or depths, or levels of immersion, to introduce me to new ideas, elicit new emotions.

By: Kevin J. Hayes

Kevin J. Hayes — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:52:01 +0000

I like Daren’s idea of doing a multi-generic author chapter. I had not thought about that before. I don’t think the phenomenon is restricted to the twentieth century, however. Poe wrote verse, short story, and literary criticism. Melville’s travel writing morphed into novels, and he is now known as one of the finest poets of the nineteenth century, too(see my “Cambridge Introduction to Herman Melville”).

In a way, I am kind of addressing the multi-generic author phenomenon in my novels chapter. Mark Athitakis’s example of Maxine Hong Kingston is a case in point. (You have to click over to Mark’s blog to read his response, but it’s worth it.) Kingston established her reputation by writing challenging works that combined many genres — memoir, short story, legend — into one, but people still said, “Well, she has not written a novel.” Then she published “Tripmaster Monkey” to disprove her critics, but that book does not even come close to her earlier, more innovative work.

Jack London, another of Mark’s suggestions, I will probably put in the short story chapter, but he, too, wrote novels, memoirs, and travels.

By: Roundup: To Build a Fire « Mark Athitakis’ American Fiction Notes

Roundup: To Build a Fire « Mark Athitakis’ American Fiction Notes — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:01:37 +0000

[...] question. Last time he was looking for tips on travel writers (glad I could be somewhat useful); this time he’s hunting for authors who’ve mastered multiple genres: “Take Henry James for [...]

By: Daren Young

Daren Young — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:43:13 +0000

What is it about the American literary scene in the 20th c. (it seems that’s where your problem rests) that has encouraged multi-generic authors, i.e., authors who not only felt permitted to write in multiple genres, but whose diverse contributions were welcomed by publishers? Was this a function of the rise of writers qua celebrities? Or the maturing of the mass-market press? Or some factor I’ve yet to think of? If you can establish this as a trend with some correlative coherence, perhaps it’s worth its own chapter: The Triple-Threat Author, wherein you can give the due you seem to feel is owed those who have excelled in this measure. Of course, this may fly in the face of your stated desire for a “Very Short” approach.

By: Kevin J. Hayes

Kevin J. Hayes — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:27:11 +0000

Kirsty, I agree that Cather, Chopin, and Wharton are important authors worthy of inclusion. I have already put Wharton in my novels chapter. I am saving Chopin’s “The Awakening” for my conclusion, which will look at famous endings in American literature. The example of Cather illustrates the difficulties I outlined in this blog. Besides being a novelist, she was a fine essayist and travel writer, too. She also ghosted S.S. McClure’s autobiography. Right now I plan to discuss the McClure book in my autobiography chapter, but that hardly seems to do justice to Cather. I may have to put “Death Comes for the Archbishop” in my conclusion. Suddenly it seems I am already saving too many works for my conclusion.

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:06:04 +0000

I don’t know about literary importance, but how about some of the wonderful American female writers like Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, and Kate Chopin? Chopin for one seemed equally at home writing novels and short stories… are those genres different enough?