What does “Literary Fiction” means and what’s the difference with Fiction? How do I spot it easily? what is its definition and its characteristics?
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Generally it refers to fiction that is grounded and believable as opposed to fiction with speculative elements like fantasy or sci-fi.
So a book about a high school kid dealing with their sexuality would be literary fiction. But if the same high school kid developed some magical powers it becomes fantasy instead.
*To Kill a Mockingbird* is literary fiction, *Star Wars* is not. Literary fiction usually uses fictional characters to examine real social, political, economic etc issues in our world, generally with real settings (time period, location etc). It is also generally considered more “highbrow” and “cultured” to read than non-literary (or commercial) fiction, because it expects the reader to be already familiar with the issues being examined in the work.
It’s ‘non-genre’ fiction. That is it’s not horror, or romance or police procedural, or western, or science fiction etc.
Genre fiction has tended to be looked down on in literary circles, as being commercially driven, rather than ‘artistic expression’.
Realistic fiction that doesn’t fit any of the commonly marketed genres, like sci-fi, Western, romance, etc. That is, if it is fiction but isn’t part of any specific genre of fiction, then it’s probably literary fiction, also known as non-genre fiction, serious fiction, etc.
Sometimes the definition is a bit muddy when there are historical elements or e.g. a sense of fantastic realism. But these aren’t necessarily a blocker in themselves. E.g. Perfume is commonly called literary fiction, even though it’s also historical fiction. But the historical aspect is really just a framing for the novel and not its focus.
Some novels may also have elements of romanticism, horror, eroticism or such, but the elements aren’t pronounced enough to push it to genre categories. E.g. Lolita might be an example.
When the definition isn’t clear, typically the more stylistically the book is written and the more nuanced its story, the more likely it is that it is labeled as literary fiction rather than genre fiction. Genre fiction is assumed to commonly be books that appeal the most to the fans of the genre, while literary fiction books are often thought as books that would have something to offer to most readers.
There can at times be a sense of elitism to it, e.g. why would we call Perfume literary fiction but not The Egyptian? So always worth it to remember that how books are labeled can be a somewhat subjective thing.
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