MADAYAG, Clarisse M.

DECEMBER 02, 2020

SEEL 112 || CONTEMPORARY, POPULAR, AND EMERGENT LITERATURE

A DISCUSSION TO THE VARIOUS EMERGING GENRES OF LITERATURE

As time was constantly changing, many changes and developments had paved
way to the things that we have today. These things constantly teach us knowledge
and skills necessary to our everyday lives. The knowledge and skills that were learned
into these various developed things had been used by many people to achieve their
goals and dreams in life.

Different changes and developments have been made to different areas like
health, sports, environment, politics, and education. In the field of education, we can
never ever replace literature. Literature is a source of knowledge from different
people of different races and different places. These literatures had been written
based from the writer’s experiences, philosophies, ideologies, and imaginations.
Literature written in different eras holds an account of the different trends,
philosophies, experiences, and many others of the people who lived in that particular
era. Literature is a collection of written works from different people of different
eras. It was like a bankbook where anyone can deposit his or her knowledge and
withdraw the deposited knowledge anytime and anywhere. In a money bankbook, you
only have the authority to open and see what was inside your account unless you
published your account which was the same in the field of literature. In literature,
you have your own choice whether you want to publish your work or just to keep it for
yourself. Everyone can share their knowledge and skills through writing their own
written work and everyone can also learn various knowledge and skills through
reading these written works.

The 21st century era had paved way to the new genres of literature.
Technologies had paved to the new forms of literature which was loved and adored by
the people of this present generation. Emergent literature refers to a contemporary
body of texts that is gaining momentum in the global landscape. From the word
“emerge” which means “come into view, come out, appear” [ CITATION Emend \l 1033 ],
emergent literature are those literatures that come out because of the current trends
and situations in the community. These are reflections and products of the current
trends and situations of the present generation.

There are many different literary forms and genres that continuously attract
the attention of the people of the community. These various literary genres have
been loved, enjoyed, and adored by almost three-fourths of the population of the
community. According to Almacion (n.d), the emerging literary forms or genres of the
present generation are the following: creative non-fiction, hyper poetry, mobile
texttula, speculative fiction, chick lit or chick literature, flash fiction, blog, graphic
novels, digi fiction, manga, and doodle fiction, and illustrated novel.

I will discuss each of these genres to elaborate further the unique

characteristics of these new emerging genres of literature.

Creative Non-fiction has become the most popular genre in the literary and
publishing communities. Creative Non-fiction is a rich mix of flavors, ideas, and
techniques. It was a combination of newly invented writing and traditional style of
writing. This was writing from personal experiences or writing about the personal
experiences of other people. This genre involves styles of writing about factual
events in an author’s life or other’s life which she deeply knew. The message was
conveyed through the use of several literary techniques like characterization, plot,
setting, dialogue, narrative, and personal reflection.

The words “creative” and “nonfiction” describe the form. The word “creative”
refers to the use of literary craft, the techniques fiction writers, playwrights, and
poets employ to present nonfiction—factually accurate prose about real people and
events—in a compelling, vivid, dramatic manner. The goal is to make nonfiction
stories read like fiction so that your readers are as enthralled by fact as they are by
fantasy. [ CITATION Leend \l 1033 ]

Creative non –fiction can be an essay, journal article, research paper, memoir, poem,
biography, autobiography, oral history and many others.

These are some of the notable examples of creative non-fiction.

 In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

 Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer
 The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
 The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
 Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

[ CITATION Eng20 \l 1033 ]

Hyper Poetry refers to works of verse which could not be presented without the
computer. Hyper poetry includes verse with links to sub-poems or
footnotes, poetry “generators,” poetry with movement or images. It uses the
computer screen as a medium rather than the traditional printed paper.

It is a very visual form which is related to hypertext fiction and visual arts. The
links mean that a hypertext poem has no set order, the poem moving or being
generated in response to the links that the reader/user chooses. It can either involve
set words, phrases, lines and others that are presented in variable order but sit on the
page much as traditional poetry does, or it can contain parts of the poem that move
and / or mutate.[ CITATION Mar17 \l 1033 ]

This was a type of poetry that was available only through a webpage which
take advantage on the hyperlinks. This was a modern type of presenting a poetry
using advance technologies in the modern generation. This was a modern type of
poetry.

Hyperpoetry was also called as a cyberpoetry. These are some examples of

hyperpoetry that can be found on the web.

 All Fall Down by Y.H. Chang (http://www.yhchang.com/ALL_FALL_DOWN.html)

 Raindrops by William Harris (http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/Hyper-
Poetry/raindrops.html)
 Medical Notes of an Illegal Doctor by Alexis Kirke
(http://epc.buffalo.edu/ezines/brink/brink02/medical.html#backdaily)

[ CITATION Hun17 \l 1033 ]

Mobile phone texttula or cellphone novel or mobile novel is a written work that
was made through a cellular phone using text messaging as the medium. This genre of
literature initially began in Japan. The chapters of the novels were only limited to 70-
100 words each due to character limitations on cell phones.

Phone novels started out primarily read and authored by young women on the
subject of romantic fiction such as relationships, lovers, rape, love triangles,
and pregnancy. The popularity of mobile phone novels had gained popularity on wider
subjects. The literature was sent directly to the reader via email, SMS text message,
or subscription through an online writing and sharing website, chapter by chapter.
The identities of the writers of these novels were strictly unknown.

  This type of emergent genre has brought out a new era of minimalism and art.
In each chapter, readers will be able to experience narration, poetry and even visual
arts in the use of carefully chosen line breaks, punctuation, rhythm and white space. [
CITATION Air17 \l 1033 ]

This had paved way to the new different approach of readers and writers in
literature. This genre narrates literature in a brief and understandable manner which
enables readers to be more excited on the updates of different chapters day by day.

Another emerging genre of literature was speculative fiction. Speculative

fiction is a type of story that deals with the observations of human conditions. This
genre offers experiences and challenges in a different type of lens in order for people
to see what our tomorrow or future could be later on.
 Speculative fiction is a literary “super genre” in which it encompasses a
number of different genres of fiction wherein each of these genres have speculative
elements that are based on conjecture which do not exist in the real world.
Speculative fiction was a genre that was sometimes called “what-if” books. This new
genre of emerging literature changes the laws of what’s real or possible as we know
them in our current society, and then speculates on the outcome.

According to Master Class (2020), there were eleven (11) sub-genres that were
under the speculative fiction. Written works under speculative fiction may fall under
one or more of these sub-genres. These are the following: science fiction, sci-fi
fantasy fiction, supernatural fiction, space opera fiction, urban fantasy fiction,
utopian fiction, dystopian fiction, apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction,
alternate history fiction, and superhero fiction.

Chick lit or chick literature is another new emerging genre of literature. Chick
lit is a collection of written works that were written by young women which were
intended to read by young women. The themes of this genre were mostly about the
life and struggles of young women of today. This genre tackles the issues that young
women face in the modern world like romance and friendships. The young women
authors often write in a more humorous and lighthearted ways in order to successfully
catch the attention of young women of today’s generation.

Flash fiction is a medium of brief and enclosed stories. Its average word count
ranges from a minimum of five words and a maximum of 1,500 words. Some articles
stated that the maximum of words allowed under flash fiction was 2,000 words.

Flash fiction was a new emerging genre which was sometimes called short
shorts, nanotales, micro-stories, postcard fiction, or a napkin fiction. The emphasis
of this genre was placed on movement wherein each sentence must peel back a new
layer that wasn’t visible at first. If a line or a word doesn't progress the story or
reveal more about a character, it probably won't belong in this medium. [ CITATION
Wha18 \l 1033 ]

According to Gaiman (2020) , there were three unique characteristics of flash

fiction. A written work under flash fiction should have these following characteristics:
brevity, complete plot, and surprise. A flash fiction should compress an entire story
into the space of a few paragraphs. Written works under flash fiction is indeed a story
with a beginning, middle, and ending. Great flash fiction often incorporates surprise
which was usually in the form of a twist ending or an unexpected last line. This
surprise is not a gimmick. The purpose of this surprise was to prompt the reader to
think deeply about the true meaning of the story.

Another genre under emerging literature was blog. A blog is an online diary or
journal located on a website. The contents of a blog typically includes text, pictures,
videos, animated GIFs and even scans from old physical offline diaries or journals and
other hard copy documents. Since a blog can exist merely for personal use, sharing
information with an exclusive group or to engage the public, a blog owner can set
their blog for private or public access.

Blog contents can appear as posts on one continuous streaming page or posts
on individual pages reachable through one or more pages set up in a list-style format
as post title links, excerpts and related tags. All posts or links to posts are typically
displayed to readers in reverse chronological order with the most recent content
appearing first. [ CITATION Jamnd \l 1033 ]

[ CITATION Dan20 \l 1033 ] enumerated five ways to effectively create a successful

blog. According to him the first thing that an interested person should do was to  plan
the blog post by choosing a topic, creating an outline, conducting research, and
checking facts. The next step was to craft a headline that was both informative and
will capture the readers’ attentions. The third step was to write the content of your
post. Next was to use images to enhance the post, improve the flow, add humor, and
explain complex topics to the target readers. The final step was to edit the blog post.
Remember to avoid repetition, read your post aloud to check the flow. It was good to
have someone else who will read your post and will provide feedback. Be sure to keep
sentences and paragraphs short. Avoid being a perfectionist and don’t be afraid to cut
out text or adapt your writing last minute.

Graphic novels are simply defined, book-length comics. This type of genre tells
a story in a single continuous narrative from first page to last. These are collections of
shorter stories or individual comic strips. [ CITATION Grand \l 1033 ]

Graphic novels have similar forms as comic books in which the story was
narrated using sequential art. This type of genre has more complex plot than those of
comic books. The story was narrated through sequenced pictures or drawings, speech
balloons, panels, and many others which were almost the same with the elements of
comic books. The only difference between the two was the complexity of the story.

Digi Fiction was another type of genre under emerging literature. It was a book
that includes passcodes so that there is more information for the book online. It might
be short videos to watch, or more text. The entire book can be found in an online
version only. [ CITATION 21s15 \l 1033 ]

The emergence of advance technologies had paved way to the emergence of

digital fiction. This genre often contains hyperlinks, moving images, mini-games, or
sound effects. The reader has a role in constructing the text by selecting hyperlinks or
by controlling a character’s journey through the story world. Digital fictions require
readers to interact with the contents throughout the reading experience. [ CITATION
Ali14 \l 1033 ]
 Manga originally began in 1950s from the country of Japan. Manga from the
Japanese words man which means ‘rambling, aimless’ and ga which means picture.
[ CITATION Mannd \l 1033 ] These were comic and graphic novels which were developed
by Japanese. Manga was a term used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning.

Manga is a type of genre which was loved by almost all people in different
ages. I knew someone who was old enough but still loves to read manga. This type of
genre conforms to different ages of the modern generation.

When an author incorporates doodle drawings and written graphic in place of

traditional art the author was into doodle fiction. The drawings created by the author
enhance the flow of the story. These doodle drawings add humor to the illustrations
which heavily affect the masterpiece when replaced or omitted.

One of the most notable masterpieces under doodle fiction was the story of the
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. The book was written by a cartoonist named Jeff Kinney. The
book was filled with hand-written notes and simple drawings of the protagonist.
[ CITATION Jea19 \l 1033 ]

The last genre enumerated in Almacion’s list was the illustration novel.
Illustration novel requires readers to interpret the images in order to understand and
comprehend the flow of the story. The 50 percent of the narrative utilized
illustrations in a form of images or pictures or drawings without any captions. The
textual parts were presented in a traditional form.

It refers to an extended narrative with multiple images which work together

with the text to produce meaning. The illustrated novel was not a work graced by a
single decorated cover or frontispiece.[ CITATION Mar10 \l 1033 ]

These new emerging genres of literature were products of the emerging

advance technologies and ideologies of the modern generation. The emergence of
these genres was a response to the developments of the many areas of literature.
These genres were continuously loved, enjoyed, and adored by the people of the
present modern generation for it to be categorized under emerging literature.

REFERENCES:

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21st Century: Graphic Novels, Manga, and Digi Fiction. (2015, September 29).
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