~||*|* Realism vs. Absurdism in Classic Literature *|*||~ or, Majik Realism and the Quest for Genius

Once upon a Time, before I was the Arch Villainess of Alt Lit, I studied Classic Literature. My Theory was that if I read noThing but Classics, I would become a Classic. That makes Sense, Right? I kept on that Train for about Six Years - I read allmost noThing but Authors who were either Decidedly Classics ( via being Long Dead ) or were being considered as Classics ( via being aLive and at the Top of their Game / Recently Dead ). I have since branched out ( Sorta ). Now, after Six Years of reading Literary Classics ( and having written SomeThing [  S.i/S: ] I think will be considered a Classic [ in Canada, au moins ] ), I figure I am Sufficiently Skilled in the Art of Literary Genius to go out and try to find Other Literary Geniuses Millenni-Geni. I mean, they have to xist. And now they're on the InterNet! Just because I’m a MegaloManiac doesn’t mean I don’t get Lonely. Not Only that - I have gotten mySelf Addicted to Great Literature. Only the Best Prose will do. Any imPurities I notice Right away and I turn up my Nose. I am the Snob of Snobs when it comes to Literature and I will not apologize. My High Standards make Others raise theirs.

Which brings me to Alt Lit. Ah, yes, Alt Lit. The Most Promising Pool of Literary Talent in North America this Generation and still Such a Snore. This is why I must go around attacking People. Liven Things up, you know. Get the Gears turning in People’s Minds.

For this Reason ( getting the Gears turning ), I’m going to do a Little Xpose on Classic Literature. What is it? How does an Author get to be it? Is “Classic” a Literary Style? Who this Generation ( besides me ) looks like they have the Most Potential as a “Classic”? Why? It’s All so Very Fascinating, a Little Mysterious, and a Lot up for Debate. Here goes.

The Literary Classic - a deFinition

Literary Classics are those Literary Books which are read Hundreds, if not Thousands, of Years after their Original Publication. Here’s a Graph with Some Basic Authors.

Clickit to make it Bigger

A Classic Book is, eSentially, a Work of Literature that has achieved a Timeless Quality. The inFrequency of the Occurrence of Classic Works of Literature Comparatively to Works of Literature in General ( eSpecially post-Industrialism ) would suggest that “Timelessness” is a Difficult Quality to achieve in Art - it is the Territory of Geniuses.

This brings me to the Question of does a “Classic Literary Book” have a “Style”? I would say no. Which is not to say that there are not Stylistic Trends in Classics, or Certain Qualities that show up More Often than Others in Classic Books, More that these allways seem to be in Flux and I do not want to rule AnyThing out in Terms of the Qualities that a Classic Book can have.

You will have noticed, unDoubtedly, the Patriarchal Bias of my Graph and of Western Literature in General. This is not because “Mostly Only Men are Geniuses” but because for a Long Time, Only Men were permitted Self Xpression in Art.

There are Qualities, however, besides being written by Men, which I have noted as being Common among Classic Books.

1. Most are Novels, Books of Poetry and Books of Philosophy. There are Some “Classic” Short Story Authors, Such as Borges or Chekov, and a Good Number of Classic Playwrights - but that's allmost getting out of the Territory of “Books” - still, Most Books you will find labelled “Classics of Literature” in a Book Store or a Library or by People amongst Each Other are Novels, Books of Poetry and Books of Philosophy which have defined, in their Contents, the Aesthetic, Moral, and Political Attitudes of an Era or Nation or have helped to change these. Within Esoteric Branches, there are “Classics,” but let us Consider the Mean “Classic Book” to be SomeThing you find in a Book Store's “Classics” Section.

2. All Classic Books have inCredible Prose. The “Genius” Element of the Classic Writer lies in his / her Prose. The Prose of the Classic Writer is inComparable. It is Complx, multiFaceted, ProFound, Poetic, Lyrical, Evocative, Dramatic, Distinctive, and flows Naturally, allmost Effortlessly, though, you know, All the Effort went into making it read that Way.

3. Most Classic Novels are told in a Realist Style. This, because it seems Contentious, is a Subject I want to xplore Some More - hence the Title of this Essay :

Realism vs. Absrudism in Classic Literature 

- or - 

Majik Realism and the Quest for Genius

Having read Many Many “Classic Novels,” I have concluded that Most are told in a “Realist” Style. To define “Realist” I am going to compare that Particular Style to what I consider to be its Opposite - “Absurdist.” In this Essay, a “Realist” Novel ( Most Poetry is by Definition Lyrical as opposed to Realist [ Charles Bukowski is an Xample of a Realist Poet ], and Most Philosophy is by Definition Realist as opposed to Lyrical - Poetry and Philosophy being, in my Mind, Poles of the Same Globe, with Fiction to One Side of the Equator and Religion to the Other

), a “Realist” Novel is a Novel in which All the Details in that Novel All could have taken Place in Real Life, even if they didn't. An “Absurdist” Novel is One in which neither the Events nor the Characters in the Book could Reasonably have taken Place. Here I have set up the Contrast between Realist Literature and the Pulpy subGenre of Absurdism also known as “Genre Fiction” - allmost noThing that happens in a Work of Genre Fiction could take Place in Real Life. Absrudism becomes More Literary as it moves Closer to “Satire,” and, as Absrudism moves Closer to Satire, it also moves Closer to Realism.

A Completely Absrudist Work of Literature is, of Course, imPossible; and a Totally Realistic Book is nonFiction, not a Novel.

Genre Fiction is what happens when the Author copies 

( through Repetition, a Plot / Character develops Realism [ a StereoType is a Kernel of Truth which is inflated by Means of Repetition ], but then Quickly becomes Stock ).

Satire is what happens when the Author comments

Literature is what happens when the Author invents

Realism and it’s Fantastical subGenre, Majik Realism, is what happens when the Story determines what is considered “Reality”

So, what does this mean? It means that the Closer you are to Absurdism, the Shittier a Writer you are, and the Closer you are to Realism, the Better you are. Or, to put it a Nicer Way, trying to invent a Story is the Work of an Amateur. The Genius becomes the Story.

Hence the Success of Tao Lin, who has coupled Genre Fiction's Memetic Repetition with Realism's Objectivity and Majik Realism's Mythological Aspects. I’ll talk More about him Later. Now I want to elaborate on the Most Illusive of the Genres, “Majik Realism”, which, in this Essay, I am using to designate the Sweet Spot of Literature where Belief and disBelief are Suspended, and the World of the Book, no Matter what it describes, is as Real as the Hands you are holding it with.

Attempting Majik Realism is how Many Young Literary Writers fall into the Trap of Absurdism. Majik Realism, when done Right, has the Feel of a Dream, and who doesn’t want to live Dreams? For this Reason - trying to capture the Dream-State - Novice Writers are inclined to intersplice Reality and Fantasy in their Work. Most of the Results are CringeWorthy. With Every “unRealistic” Event a Novice Author puts into a Book, the further they slide into Absurdism, the Mire of Mediocrity. For this Reason, if you want to get Attention, like, Fast, and Respect, as a Young Writer write about your Life ( the Thing you know Best ) in a Realistic Style. We are predisPosed to like whatever “relates” to us. Tao Lin writes about his Totally Normal Boring Life as a Hispter in New York and he becomes the Sensation of his Generation ( Same for Lena Dunham ). Noah Cicero writes about being a DishWasher in Ohio and becomes a Cult Hit. Marie Calloway fucks a Dude and EveryBody cares. Cat Marnell is a Drug Addict. Sheila Heti has Friends. HooRah. Yawn. AnyWay. It works.

But, because Most People live Similar Lives, eSpecially now that American Consumer Capitalism has taken over the Globe and ENSLAVED US ALL, writing about your Life in a Realist Style Pure and Simple can get Repetitive.

So the Trap of Absurdism lurks. Don’t fall in my Friend, don’t fall in. I mean - you can fall in. Most Writers do. And these Writers live Perfectly Fine Lives and are Well-received and Widely Read. What I’m talking about is if you want to achieve Literary Genius - if you want to be a Classic Author. And that is a Task Only for the Most Dedicated of us.

Which Brings me back to Majik Realism, the Sweet Spot of Literature, the One Every Writer tries for and Most fail to get at. The Great Social Novelists of the 1800s didn’t even bother. They were like, fuck it, Guys - let's just stick to Realism - that's Epic enough, what with the Wars. Kafka went there ( Majik Realism ). Nietzsche went there. Joyce went there. The Poets go there. The Poets live there, Man - that’s why they die so Young. It’s the Darkness. The unConscience. The Land of Mythology. Cause that’s what the Best Magik Realist Literature is - it’s Mythology, and it’s the Stuff that sticks around a Long Long Long Long Time.

So, it’s Kind of Ironic that if you attempt to wade into Mythology through inVention, you fall into the Trap of Absurdism, and if you write about your Life Straight-up you get Attention ( note how I talk about the Boring Popular Realist Writers More Often than I talk about the More Interesting but Less Popular Imaginative Writers ). This Paradox is because Majik Realism, Mythology, the Stuff that lasts, is a Genre of Realism. ie - you have to get through Realism to get at it. The Thing to do is to make Sure you're writing Compelling Realistic Scenes.

What the Myths of your Culture are you cannot see until you describe them as they are. So Tao Lin and Marie Calloway and Megan Boyle and Noah Cicero and Cat Marnell and Sheila Heti and I build a Contemporary Mythology around ourSelves Simply by talking about ourSelves as we are. Tao Lin is a Master of Memetic Replication. It is his Particular Genius. He has managed to get his Reality Meme out there More Effectively than Noah Cicero, who has a Similar Writing Style but a Broader Subject Matter, because Tao has created SomeThing Very Simple ( a line of minimalist prose ) and he repeats it Easily and Efficiently ( that Poem about the Whale that went on and on the Same Line; Novels Full of Similar Sentences and Scenes over and over again; Constant Twitting about iNane Things; ect ). Marie Calloway is a Tao Lin Meme. So is Megan Boyle. Both Girls were selected by Tao Lin from All the Girls out there because he could use them to market his Meme ( build his Personal Mythology - his Majik [ Realist ] Aura ). Blake Butler has SomeThing of a Personal Mythology because he is Active in the American Lit Scene, but his Novels fall into the Absurdist Trap, and until he gets out of that his Literary Fiction will not be as Popular as his nonFiction, which is Realistic.

So, what happens is, the Further you dive into yourSelf, your Xperiences, the More Realistic you get, but also the More Majikal. Life its Self begins to seem Majikal, and the Need for inVention drifts away into the Dreamscape that is “Reality” at the Cosmic Level.

I don’t invent

no

I am

That’s why my Work is so Convincing. That’s why S.i/S: will be a Classic, and noOne will know if I “made it up” or not - the Answer to that Question can Never be determined because “Reality” itsSelf is unStable Ground.

But enough about me. I allready know I’m a Genius. What I’m Curious about are the Others. Who will join me in the Land of the Classics? Who has it in them? The Stamina? The Purity of Drive in the Literary ArtForm ( One of the Most Difficult ArtForms )? The Willingness to let go of their Smaller Self ( their Self ) and join their Larger Self ( their Era )?

It is those who are the Least concerned with “Popular Opinion” who can get to this Place - which is why its so Rarely those who are iniTially Popular! - ascribing to Popular Opinion allmost allways means obscuring the Majikal Realist Truth of Subjectivity / Morality for the Sake of not rocking the Boat too Much. As I said, Genius, the Truest Realism, Mythology ( which is not so “Realistic” at All, is it? ), is found by looking Deep into the Self. Those whose Sense of Self is Lacking, those who need Others to award them their Worth or will make theirSelves over to be accepted, will not make it - these People will be led aStray by the  Conventions of the Moment; they are More Concerned with Social Graces than with Literature, and so they will not be Geniuses, though they may be read by Many People in their Own Time. Those whom the Story carries, however, those who are allways looking for the Story, not out there in Other People or in Escapist Fantasies but in theirSelves, they will find it, and I am sure it will look to them as it looks to me as it looks in Bolano as it looks in Tolstoy as it looks in Faust as it looks in Homer - like Mythology - like Majik.

Allways be Ready to change your Mind.