A very interesting discussion on the nature of genres and subgenres of science fiction and fantasy, and the difficult task of defining them.
I posted a comment there, because this is a subject that interests me very much, being a Creative Writing teacher in an university in São Paulo. More on that later here (and probably in other webspaces as well).
illustration by Fabio Cobiaco
Thank you for your insightful comment.
And I rather agree with every point you made; particularly in not making the publishing houses the scapegoat for the all this messy defining and redefining.
I don't really have any problem with defining fiction. It is necessary; it is usually accurate; it is very, very human. What I find absurd about it though, is the angst people will endure to come to a suitable classification when it really isn't that pressing or relevant.
And most importantly, I dislike the stigmas associated with genre fiction. Science fiction and fantasy does not earn the respect it very often deserves. "Literary fiction" on the other hand is touted as some philisophical answer to a question no one asked and does not have to endure this treatment; even when specific trends and styles come up within it that are obviously just GENRES going by a different name.
You know, the whole question of "literary fiction" still befuddles me. I know heaps of Brazilian writers who refuse to be labeled (ok, it´s their right to do so), but, at the same time, when you ask them what their novels are about, they just can´t seem to know. It´s as if they, don´t having a genre, couldn´t even tell orally their stories.
Please take into account that I´m not referring to post-modern experimental prose (though I´m a sucker for it, but Brazilian writers aren´t doing this for a long while now, unfortunately).