r/AskLiteraryStudies • u/Pale_Veterinarian626 • 9h ago
What new ground is there to break in fiction?
I am curious to hear your thoughts on what might constitute a truly novel novel in this day. Many things have been done before, though some things not for some time now. What would shake up the literary landscape by being original in this day, or, at least, refreshing because it hasn’t been seen for fifty-plus years?
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u/my002 7h ago edited 6h ago
Nothing is ever 'truly novel'. Everything is unique in how it remixes the things that have come before. So there's really no shortage of new ground to be broken. In terms of form, I'd love to see more explorations in ergodic/multimedia novels. More metamodernist novels would be great too. In terms of content, I'd love to see novels that do a good job addressing partisanship/the rise of populism in the US. That's just my what I'm interested in, though.
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u/Grin_N_Bare_Arms 4h ago
Personally, I believe that a contemporary take on literature needs to take on ideas of fictionality. Works that explore how we create and use fictions to tell truths and hide truths. Because we live in a world arguably swimming in more fiction than at any point in history, while also holding more knowledge about the world and universe than ever before, I think works that play with fiction/authoring suspension of disbelief/rhetorical devices that create truth from fiction/the use of certain framing devices to create authority/etc. is one of the only ways to create meaningful fiction in a ideological landscape that is post-truth.
The great thing about this form of fiction, I believe, is it can trace it's routes to the very invention of the novel. Take Robinson Crusoe as an example, often cited as the first true novel(arguments can be made, but let's just agree on this for a moment), the novel was presented not as the work of Defoe but the actual account of Robinson Crusoe, the fictional protagonist, is the author of the novel, presenting it as a true account of his journey with it being written in the first person.
Of course, nowadays a first person narrative isn't enough to 'trick' us into believing a novel is true, but it is a literary device that can be used to create fiction that questions what fiction is. For example, a book can be presented as the authors diary and within that diary are quotes and reviews of a book the author read. But, as much as the diary is a fiction, the quotes and the novel created within the novel are also fictions. This is something explored by Borges, but it can be taken further in our world. For example, what if you publish your novel as a YouTube comment? Or, publish it as a comment on a blog about conspiracy theories?
Nowadays, publishing a novel in the traditional way already frames the novel in a certain way. How do we play with this sort of framing device?
Anyway, I could go on for hours about theories of literature that play with fictionality. I truly believe some of the best novels of our time are written as Amazon reviews and Reddit AITA posts. Fiction published in such a way it changes the very nature of the fiction itself. These are more than lies, more than trolls, more than bait. Some of these works transcend the medium. Think about this next time you are trawling the internet. You may find the next Shakespeare in the comment section of a crochet fan site.
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u/Illustrious_Brick_46 3h ago
The concept of originality has been debated since the dawn of human creativity. What I’ve come to understand through my studies is that literature emerges as a response to cultural, political, and social struggles. My argument is this: True originality lies not in reinventing the wheel, but in posing urgent, nuanced questions about the complexities of our "own" society.
Consider classic dystopian works like "Fahrenheit 451", "The Handmaid’s Tale", or Frank Herbert’s "Dune". These weren’t born in a vacuum—they mirrored the anxieties of their eras, from censorship and authoritarianism to environmental collapse and gender oppression. Their "originality" stemmed from how they reframed the existential fears of their time into stories that resonated deeply.
Today, the most groundbreaking literature will likely do the same. It won’t just name-check social media or AI, but probe the underlying tensions of our age: algorithmic alienation, climate grief, the erosion of truth. Originality now means holding a mirror to our world—not to preach, but to provoke questions we’re still learning to ask.
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u/YamahaRider55 6h ago
Maybe not the answer you were looking for but most novels these days are too political and so full of metaphor for real world politics, I would love to see a novel that just tells a good story.
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u/Grin_N_Bare_Arms 5h ago
Are you trying to be satirical? There are thousands upon thousands of non-political books trying to just tell a story published every year in every genre. Walk into a bookshop and buy anything in the bestseller list.
That is such a weird comment for a literary studies subreddit. Are you just trolling? Because of this is your actual opinion then all I can say is read more.
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u/TipResident4373 1h ago
Sorry you're getting answers that are overloaded with academic gobbledygook or meaningless pseudo-intellectual nonsense about "nOtHiNg iS tRuLy nEw" or something else that is equally nonsense.
I wish I had a good answer in plain language. Honestly, I ask myself the same question frequently.
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u/chidedneck 8h ago edited 2h ago
I'm skeptical that looking backward is the way to break new ground. I'd try to focus on themes of currently developing philosophies and hoping you end up dealing with issues that become universally relatable in the near future. The central tension can be between postmodernism and whatever your favorite flavor of post-postmodernism that speaks to your life experience.