The Refined Reader (30) Origins of the Horror Genre

The Refined Reader aims to take a look at the journey to where we are as readers today.  It's part history, part commentary - providing a brief, conversational summary of various aspects of our bookish past and comparing it to how it has affected us in modern times.  I love history, but I am no historian, and while I plan to do my research, if there are any errors, please let me know!  This is as much a learning venture for me as I hope it is for my blog visitors!

The elements of horror in fiction has it roots deep in our past with folklore and humanity's concern with death and the afterlife.  Gothic literature played an important part in the evolution of horror as it's own literary genre, since modern novels were more based in realism until The Castle of Otranto (1764), the first modern novel to incorporate supernatural explanations.  When The Castle of Otranto was first published, it was marketed as a found medieval story so when it came out that it was in fact written contemporary, it was not critically received very well.  But it became very popular.

Horror literature incorporates many supernatural elements such as ghosts, vampires, werewolves, witches and the occult, and creates emotional, psychological or physical fear within a reader, but in a controlled manner which can be exciting or a thrilling.  Our psychological interest in reading horror stories is an interesting point to explore and there's more of a philosophical discussion of it on the wikipedia page linked below.  There are some ideas that because we don't have to deal with fighting for survival on a daily basis like our ancestors did, horror stories supply that need for excitement or for an adrenaline rush.

Pioneers of the horror genre include Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker in it's earliest incarnations,  H.P. Lovecraft and his 'cosmic horror' (in his stories the insignificance of humanity is often a focal point).  Lovecraft could also be credited in creating the modern zombie tale, as well as Richard Matheson, author of I Am Legend.  Stephen King is a highly influential modern horror writer, who helped make the genre extremely popular in our time.

Personally horror stories that feature overly gruesome details or graphic depictions of death are not appealing to me, but horror stories that deal with the supernatural and psychological horror is very interesting to me.  I usually like to read older horror novels since they are not as disturbing to me.  So I'm a little bit of a wuss. ;)

What are some of your favorite horror stories?  Do you have a favorite supernatural creature?

Source:
Wikipedia 

The Refined Reader (20) The Origins of Science Fiction

The Refined Reader aims to take a look at the journey to where we are as readers today.  It's part history, part commentary - providing a brief, conversational summary of various aspects of our bookish past and comparing it to how it has affected us in modern times.  I love history, but I am no historian, and while I plan to do my research, if there are any errors, please let me know!  This is as much a learning venture for me as I hope it is for my blog visitors!

After reading about science fiction as a genre, it seems much harder to define than I initially thought.  It is not as rigidly defined as other genres, so there can be a lot of overlap, especially in it's origins, with fantasy.  Fantasy is probably one of the earliest genres of storytelling we have, so that makes sense that science fiction is a kind of offshoot from that genre, where things that can only be speculated on is now more structured by natural laws and science.

Perhaps the first work of  true science fiction (at least it was regarded so by Issac Asimov and Carl Sagan) is Somnium (The Dream) by Johannes Kepler, noted astronomer and scientist of the 1600s.  In the story, the narrator (Kepler) talks about a dream he has had after reading a book about a magician.  In the dream a boy and his mother are transported by a demon to the moon and the story details how the Earth looks from the moon.  It at first started as a dissertation on the planetary motion of the Earth, and the framework of a dream and the fictional circumstances was added later.

Other earlier examples lie in some of the tales in the Arabian Nights and a 2nd century story titled True History by a Grecian writer known as Lucian of Samosata, which features the first story about interplanetary travel and aliens but was intended as a satire of stories that see myths as truth.

However it was in the early 19th century that science fiction as a genre really took form.  Beginning with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which is sometimes argued as the first true science fiction novel, and later with the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, which helped to popularize the genre.  The inventions of new technologies also helped to reinvent the format and take it even further into the realm of rational and realistic speculation about the future.

Of course today, the genre is wildly successful in many formats and in many sub-genres.  And I have to mention that there is a wonderful blogger event going on in November - Sci Fi Month, which you can read more about by checking out this post!  I participated last year (but still have to decide if I can commit to it this year!) and had so much fun with it.

What are your favorite science fiction stories?  They can be novels or in any other format!

Sources:
Wikipedia / Wikipedia

The Refined Reader (12) Origins of the Mystery Genre

The Refined Reader aims to take a look at the journey to where we are as readers today.  It's part history, part commentary - providing a brief, conversational summary of various aspects of our bookish past and comparing it to how it has affected us in modern times.  I love history, but I am no historian, and while I plan to do my research, if there are any errors, please let me know!  This is as much a learning venture for me as I hope it is for my blog visitors!

When I was younger (like elementary school age), mystery was my favorite genre to read.  Something about having some problem to solve and trying to pick up on the clues ahead of the detective was majorly appealing to me.

The mystery story as a genre is relatively new in our literary history - it began in the early 1800s with the rise of an organized police force and detectives as well as a higher literacy rate. The 1819 crime novella Mademoiselle de Scudéri. A Tale from the Times of Louis XIV by E.T.A. Hoffman helped to inspire the father of the mystery story - Edgar Allan Poe in his novel The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841). "Poe was one of the first to shift the focus of mystery stories from the aesthetics of the situation to a more intellectual reality, moving the story from "a focus on the superficial trappings of eerie setting and shocking event to a study of the criminal's mind." (Mystery Net)

What followed was a boom time in mystery with works by Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and of course the creation of Sherlock Holmes by Conan Arthur Doyle who played a major part in popularizing the genre.  With Holmes, the mystery became even more of an intellectual exercise, placing even more focus in the power of human agency and reason.

The mystery story has many different sub genres today, that do not always include a logical solution to a mystery (in the case of paranormal for instance) but in most cases a mystery encompasses a crime, the use of logic to solve the crime, and a great deal of suspense.  The genre has also endured very well in popular television series and films.

Do you have a favorite mystery story and/or detective?

(My favorite is Agatha Christie and all her Hercule Poirot novels!)

Sources:
Wikipedia
Mystery Net

The Refined Reader (10) Origins of Fantasy Literature

The Refined Reader aims to take a look at the journey to where we are as readers today.  It's part history, part commentary - providing a brief, conversational summary of various aspects of our bookish past and comparing it to how it has affected us in modern times.  I love history, but I am no historian, and while I plan to do my research, if there are any errors, please let me know!  This is as much a learning venture for me as I hope it is for my blog visitors!

Fantasy.  Definitely one of my most read genres, because it consistently provides a fantastic escapist read. The world is complete fiction, with elements of magic to elevate and inspire a reader.

Unlike the origins of Gothic literature, Fantasy has much less clear-cut beginnings.  Our first known story The Epic of Gilgamesh could be classified as a Fantasy, with other early stories fitting the bill being Beowulf, The Odyssey and The Book of a Thousand and One Nights.  The need to invent stories enhanced by the unreal or the supernatural was very strongly imbued in our species it seems.  It is also likely the first genre of literature since it may be the oldest.

George MacDonald has the strongest claim to being the first modern Fantasy writer with such works as Phantastes (1858) and The Princess and the Goblin (1872).  MacDonald seemed inspired by fairy tales and the mystical (he was a Christian minister) to integrate the mystical and the fantastic in stories that would appeal to everyone.  It is interesting to note that MacDonald's work was the first time fantasy stories in our time were seen as stories for adults as well as for children.  He inspired C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien to create their complex fictional worlds and they in turn helped make the genre very popular.

Fantasy today has taken on many guises, with so many different worlds and aspects to explore and it has become a very popular and enduring genre.  Which is understandable given how early on in our history we began to tell fantastical stories.  I think the appeal of fantasy lies in how well it transports the reader into something very different to their own lives, but because the characters have issues and aspirations that are relatable to our own we can immerse ourselves so easily into the world.

Can you remember your first Fantasy read?  If you are a fan of the genre, what aspects of it appeals to you?

Sources:
Wikipedia
Genre Fiction
George MacDonald

The Refined Reader (7) Origins of Gothic Literature

The Refined Reader aims to take a look at the journey to where we are as readers today.  It's part history, part commentary - providing a brief, conversational summary of various aspects of our bookish past and comparing it to how it has affected us in modern times.  I love history, but I am no historian, and while I plan to do my research, if there are any errors, please let me know!  This is as much a learning venture for me as I hope it is for my blog visitors!

I'm planning to delve into the origins of all the different book genres eventually for The Refined Reader, and decided to start off with what is probably my favorite - the Gothic genre.

So what makes a book Gothic literature?  There are several plot elements that when combined make up a classic Gothic story.  Usually they contain an innocent, virginal heroine, a menacing older man, supernatural elements like ghosts, a sinister mystery, and a forbidding setting (like an old house which may be a reason why the genre is called Gothic, since the stories are often set in houses with Gothic architecture).  The story may revolve around madness, secrets, darkness and death because it's a combination of horror, romance and suspense.

The very first Gothic work is believed to be the 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, who wanted to meld medieval romance (which he thought too fanciful) with the modern novel of the 1700s (which he thought was too realistic).  The genre progressed with such prominent works as The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley to later interpretations by Edgar Allan Poe, the Brontës, and Bram Stoker.

The Gothic genre was pretty melodramatic at first, and relied heavily on shocking, provocative scenarios that often were morality lessons at it's heart.  I love the older Gothic stories because they are so dramatic and unbelievable, and I just find them so entertaining.  As the genre developed more, I think the fear and human weakness that is the root of the drama in these stories was made more effective because the focus became more on what psychologically caused the fear and our human frailties as opposed to just the action.

Gothic novels walk a line between fantasy and reality, and delve into the darker parts of human nature while still maintaining a certain amount of hope - promoting good overcoming evil.  They can be compelling and captivating - especially for a dark and stormy night.

Do you have a favorite Gothic novel or story?  

Sources:
Wikipedia
UC Davis