Pop literature
Pop literature is a literary subgenre derived from the broader genre called postmodern. As a subgenre of the postmodern, pop literature inherits most of its characteristics, such as appropriation, blurring of genres, metafiction, open-endness, fragmentation of characters and fictional structure, the effacement of differences between the original and its copies, etc. The term was originally used in Portuguese by Brazilian writer Evelina Hoisel in her book Supercaos: os estilhaços da cultura em Panamérica e Nações Unidas [Superchaos: the splinters of culture in PanAmérica and Nações Unidas][1] (released in 1980 and republished in 2014) in order to classify an array of texts that had acquired characteristics from the Pop Art movement and the cinematic discourse. The term was later expanded by Décio Torres Cruz in his books O pop: Literatura, mídia e outras artes (2003, republished in 2013) [Pop: Literature, media and other arts][2] and The Cinematic Novel and Postmodern Pop Fiction: The Case of Manuel Puig (2019).[3]
Definition
Although the term pop derives from popular, pop literature differs from popular literature.[4] Pop literature appears as a literary typology in the sixties and it is intrinsically connected to the Pop Art movement and the counter-culture movements of the period. As defined by Torres Cruz, pop literature is a type of literature based on the products of mass media, which "borrows the elements and techniques from both cinema and Pop Art in order to construct cinematic narratives." According to this author, Walter Benjamin's idea of loss of "authenticity introduced by mechanical reproduction has contributed to the way postmodern pop literature established itself." As a consequence, "postmodern pop literature creates multimedia effects by borrowing techniques from several sources and by reusing tradition and adding new meanings to it through collage."[5] In its origin, pop literature was closely linked to Pop Art in its subversive nature and style, to the avant-garde movements of the sixties, and also to the cinematic feature found in some novels and in Pop Art itself. With its precursors in Baudelaire and Whitman, according to Torres Cruz, the genre starts and consolidates itself in the sixties, reflects the worldview of the period, but moves on through the following decades until it reaches the new millenium and moves forward.
Some writers of pop fiction
There is a wide range of authors in different parts of the globe that may be classified under this postmodern sub-genre. The first author to have used this writing style, according to Evelina Hoisel, is the Brazilian writer named José Agrippino de Paula in his novel PanAmérica (1967), later followed by Roberto Drummond in his novel A morte de D.J. in Paris [D.J.'s death in Paris]. Besides these writers, Torres Cruz expanded the list to include precursors to this typology in the use of cinematic techniques even before the appearance of cinema, such as Walt Whitman's use of literary equivalences to close-up and soundtrack in Leaves of Grass, and in Baudelaire's themes of chaos and detritus in Les fleurs du mal. He also mentions writers and works from the beginning of the 20th century linked to the nouveau roman, such as Swiss Blaise Cendrars’ novels La Fin du Mond, filmée par l’ange N.-D [The End of the World filmed by the Notre Dame Angel] (1919), La Perle Fiévreuse (1921) and L’Or (Sutter’s Gold). In the French world, he includes Jules Romains' novel Donogoo Tonka or The Miracles of Science: A Cinematographic Tale (1920), Abel Gance’s J’Accuse, Robbe-Grillet’s La Jalousie and L’année dernière à Marienbad (France). In England, he mentions H. G. Wells' cinematographic novel The King who was a King (1929) and The Beatles' book Yellow Submarine (1968) as part of this typology.[6] Torres Cruz also analyzes several other writers from different parts of the world with works from the seventies and eighties whose style and techniques may be classified as pop fiction: Donald Barthelme (USA),[7] Italo Calvino (Italy; Cuba),[8] Cabrera Infante (Cuba),[9]Julio Cortázar[10] and Manuel Puig[11](Argentina), Antonio Torres,[12] Caio Fernando Abreu,[13] Rogério Menezes and W. J. Solha (Brazil), and Beth Goobie (Canada). In the 90s, other writers continued using this genre, such as Scottish author Irvine Welsh (Scotland) in his novel Trainspotting (1993), which was later adapted into a film in 1996.[14]
References
- ^ Hoisel, Evelina. Supercaos: os estilhaços da cultura em Panamérica e Nações Unidas. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira,1980.
- ^ Cruz, Décio. O pop: Literatura, mídia e outras artes. Sakvador: Quarteto; EDUNEB, 2003.
- ^ Torres Cruz, Decio. The Cinematic Novel and Postmodern Pop Fiction. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 978-90-272-6181-6.
- ^ "Popular art". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
- ^ Torres Cruz, Décio (2019). The Cinematic Novel and Postmodern Pop Fiction. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. p. 14. ISBN 978-90-272-6181-6.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ The Beatles. Yellow Submarine. Illustrated by Heinz Edelmann. Based on an original story by Lee Minoff. 1968.
- ^ "Book Review: City Life by Donald Barthelme". J. Kent Messum. 2015-10-18. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
- ^ "Cosmicomics", Wikipedia, 2020-05-29, retrieved 2020-09-18
- ^ "Cabrera Infante: Three Trapped Tigers | The Modern Novel". www.themodernnovel.org. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
- ^ "Fantomas contra los vampiros multinacionales", Wikipedia, 2015-01-24, retrieved 2020-09-18
- ^ "Kiss of the Spider Woman". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
- ^ Fernanda Sampaio Carneiro (2014-06-25). "Resenha: "Um cão uivando para a lua", de Antônio Torres". Falando em Literatura... (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-09-18.
- ^ "MORANGOS MOFADOS - - Grupo Companhia das Letras". www.companhiadasletras.com.br. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
- ^ "Trainspotting (novel)", Wikipedia, 2020-08-01, retrieved 2020-09-18
External Links
- Sutter’s Gold (film)
- Trainspotting (film)