Fitting in a Genre
Duty and Desire a novel by Anju Gattani
Shortly after completing the original draft of Duty and Desire, I learned that all novels had to fit in a genre.
Multicultural was the in-word at the time and it appeared to “fit” my work.
But when I asked myself if my characters were multicultural, the answer was no. They were characters whose opinions, values, beliefs, and faith were shaped by one culture – one vastly different from the West.
So what category should my novel be in if it is published in the West and it is about a culture mostly foreign to the West, Indian culture, even if Indian culture is a very multi-cultural society?
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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, US American Women Writers, Women Writing Fiction
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Hi
This problematic is not limited to books/genres alone. I feel a similar difficulty as a writer when I send my work to American or European literary journals. I do not wish to dilute the ‘Indianness’/Asian elements at all, as that is the point, but I also get very troubled when I think that my editors/half of my readers perhaps will never get the socio-cultural context of the story. And that bothers me no end.
All the best for your book Anju. Thanks for the post!
Lovely discussion. Very relevant for today’s world!
Hi Anubha,
Glad to have you join the conversation and share your thoughts! This is truly wonderful.
I think any writer who writes an ‘out of the box’ story will find this difficulty. Readers do get the socio-cultural context of the story when we, the authors, put in the extra work to make it feasible for them to understand.
Whether they choose to accept it or not… that’s another story! 🙂
Regards
Anju
Modern romances no longer require a happily ever after ending, so Duty and Desire could fit there, but I think it fits better in Multicultural. I don’t think each book shelved there has to have multicultural characteristics within the story. I believe it’s a broader categorization of the types of books found there. I.e., books set in India, in Thailand, in Afghanistan and China are to be found in the Multicultural section of the bookstore. So if readers want something exotic, want to learn about the daily lives and workings of other countries, they’d seek out the Multicultural shelves. I’m not a huge fan of Romance novels so I don’t go to that section of the store unless there’s a specific novel I’m curious about. And I think that Romance readers who have heard about Duty and Desire will hunt it down, no matter where it’s shelved. So I think the challenge isn’t so much about labeling, but about getting our book known to readers. How many of us regularly browse the Fantasy aisle? And yet J. R. R. Tolkein transcended category to become one of the top selling authors of all time.
Hi Kimberley,
So good to see you here and you are right! Readers will find books no matter how they’re labelled. But classifying them correctly does make the search easier! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me and keeping the conversation going!
And yes… books which transcend genre and cut across… will always find their way to readers’ hearts!
Regards
Anju
Your closing sentence said it beautifully.
I too struggled with pigeonholing of labels, but being shelved beside other great books in fiction/literature is its own reward.
Thanks for joining the conversation, Eugenia.
Trying to fit in a box… a genre… and tagging your creations with a label… can sometimes be so daunting! 🙂
Thanks so much for joining me, Eugenia. What an honor to have professionals like yourself share the conflict 🙂
I think if we start shelving books under heading such as multi-cultural or cross cultural, we will no doubt alienate some readers who will take one look at those words and turn in the other direction. As a lover of books depicting other cultures, I’m not happy with these labels. For me Duty & Desire is a story of love, passion and the desire to find one’s voice in a stringent society. I say shelve it in Romance so that readers can have more and dare I say better choices. On the flip side however, there’s anything wrong with carving out a niche for novels that set their stories in other cultures. Bookstores shelve books mostly by what the publisher wants so it’s inevitable to find a book say in general fiction that ought to be in thrillers. Oh, and as for the term multi-cultural, it’s the first and only time I’ve ever heard some one say that it refers to African American, but it’s quite unlikely that’s what it means.
Hi Chelle,
Glad you hopped on over and joined the wonderful comments we’re getting here 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed the read of Duty and Desire and understand the dilemma of where it could be shelved. Yes, there are bits of romance… but then again, it doesn’t fit the romance genre that requires a Happily-Ever-After ending.
I think publishers also classify according to shelving at bookstores… so, perhaps it works both ways?
A lot to chew on and think about!
It does bother me to peg my books as multicultural, especially since multicultural is still code for African American (or maybe now it’s progressed to being code for non-caucasian). I much prefer calling mine Bollywood Romances, becuase that’s exactly what they are– high drama with Indian characters. In my opinion, Duty and Desire is straight up Indian women’s fiction.
Hey, but if tagging our books as multicultural brings more readers to them, I’ll take it.
Hi Sonali,
Thanks for sharing your view and I too have always been confused about the multicultural code terminology. (Nice term by the way!) Does it only apply to African-American stories or beyond?
And tagging! That’s another issue too. I mean, you can’t call it ‘romance’ if it doesn’t fit in the ‘romance’ genre. Duty and Desire has elements of romance + suspense + little coming-of-age elements… I could go on and on…. 🙂
Jennifer,
I would suggest you consider the type of story you are writing. Is it a love story? Horror? Mystery/Suspense? I have seen Multicultural as a category, but within that should be sub-genres, too, I would think.
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for hopping over and sharing your viewpoint!
DUTY AND DESIRE cuts across genres. There’s a little romance, some mystery/suspense, aspects of tradition, culture. It falls under contemporary women’s fiction and it’s a story of Indian characters in today’s modern India. A little of everything… with dashes of this and that…
Whoever added the comment with “cross-cultural” was brilliant! I think it fits your book perfectly. As for multi-cultural, I recall back in the early 90’s asking an editor of a publisher of so-called multi-cultural books where the “multi” came in, since they used the term to apply to their African-American stories. Why not call them exactly that? She answered that they lived in hope of getting stories from other ethnicities. Not sure it ever happened, and I’m still scratching my head over her answer. I think the Marketing folks had too much power!
Meanwhile, shelving has its own dilemmas: my humorous Latina romance fiction is shelved in some stores under Hispanic Studies, next to poet Pablo Neruda, and in others under General Fiction, usually snuggled next to Sylvia Plath. Oy. It makes my head hurt.
Hi Berta,
Sounds like you’re not the only one with a headache. I’ve been scratching my head over this for sooooooo long now and still can’t make any sense out of it!
Even more surprised to hear that your Latina romance fiction was shelved in so many different places… Hispanic Studies to poeems to General fiction… I think u’re still holding your head even now 😛
See, you wanted me to comment…and I did…several times. Sorry about that. The first one wasn’t showing up…me & technology are just not getting along at the moment.
I had a glitch with technology myself and the blog comment didn’t show up – *sigh* Technology and me just don’t get along sometimes…. 🙂
I have to agree with you. Cross cultural is a better term for your book, though I’d probably call it Contemporary Indian Fiction.
Multicultural stories should involve more than one culture, and the cultural background of the characters should be an integral part of the story. In my story, The Djinn’s Dilemma, the hero is half djinn (genie) and half human and his attitudes reflect that dichotomy. My heroine is part Afro-Caribbean and her heritage plays a role in her power and belief system.
But then bookstores are always shelving books in confusing ways. I remember when LKH’s novels were under science fiction, until one day I suddenly found them under romance. Go figure.
I totally agree with you multicultural should mean more than one culture. For example, in The Djinn’s Dilemma, my hero is half djinn (genie) & half human, a mix of Middle Eastern and Irish cultures. The heroine is mixed race as well: Afro-Caribbean with White American.Since the story is about their relationship, it’s a multicultural story. Though it’s simpler to call it paranormal romance. ;D
However, a lot of times romances written by Black writers are shelved in the African-American section instead of Romance in bookstores. And that’s shortsighted of the stores because a good romance is a good romance and will appeal to a wide spectrum of romance readers.
A similar confusion existed between urban fantasy/dark paranormal and romance. When I first got hooked on LKH’s books, she was shelved under science fiction, after a while in romance. It was confusing.
So I think I’d have to agree with cross cultural. Actually, with yours I’d call it a Contemporary Indian Women’s Fiction 🙂
Hi Mina,
I think your works sound like the perfect multicultural story. I just read your novel, ‘The Djinn’s Dilemma’ and the cultural blend within the characters and the relationships between them make it feel like a true multi (many) cultural story.
The issue with DUTY AND DESIRE is the International blend of fashion, lifestyle and so many other issues that break it out of the stereotype ‘Indian’ story. Sanjeet is Indian but a Harvard-Grad return with an American accent. Sheetal is Indian and she speaks English with the British pronounciations (not accent). It’s a very modern story… and a LOT of today’s Western influence in the Indian market.
Thanks for your wonderful input and for sharing your ideas and experiences!
I think your novel is Mainstream Fiction. You bring another culture to the fore, but it’s emphasis is the story. Unfortunately, the genre categories get classed by publishers and distributors and book stores, not the author. No matter what the genre, the story is what sells and yours is definitely sales worthy. Good luck.
Hi Shanon,
I started out in 2002 writing the best story I could in the best way I know how. 25+ rewrites and revisions of DUTY AND DESIRE and 9 years later I had the debut in a series (to follow). It’s supposed to fall under ‘multicultural fiction’ but one reader said it was ‘fantasy’ for her and several have said it falls under ‘contemporary women’s fiction’ and there have been some who (like you) have said commercial / maintstream…
Hmmm… what a tangled web we writers weave! Thanks for your support and encouragement and kind words 🙂
Cross cultural. Why? Because Duty and Desire gives us insight into the Indian culture, while showing us the affects of our culture on your protagonist. Two cultures are, in effect, being experienced in Duty and Desire.
Hi Tarah,
Thanks for the insight. It’s true, DUTY AND DESIRE is set in India with a wide cast of Indian characters. Some are rooted in Indian culture by choice, some are bound by tradition and some are trying to break free – toward the western values of freedom and ‘being the woman/man you can be’.
I think cross-cultural is a GREAT term! It crosses physical and mental boundaries, attempts to open the doors fro compare and contrast and gives western/European readers a reach across cultures. What a wonderful term! What do you all think?
I like international, too. I find genre extremely difficult to define, especially with my own writing. I write the story and then try to figure out where it would fit in publishing.
Hi Larissa,
Thanks for sharing your point of view and like yourself I wrote the best story I could and then had to figure out where it belonged. But as genres and classifications continue to broaden and blur… it only gets more confusing.
This has long been a problem in the science fiction genre. There was the West’s take on things, maybe some Soviet (if you knew where to look back in those days,) and…nothing.
Only recently have authors such as Ian McDonald and Paolo Bacigalupi began to bring alternative visions (e.g., non-Western-centric) of Earth’s future into mainstream science fiction.
Hi Len,
Thanks for sharing your view. I didn’t realize the genre of science fiction faced similar issues too. It’s fascinating to know that other authors have been able to channel their thoughts/perception in the genre and bring forward a different perspective. Thanks for opening my eyes and mind to a larger realm of fiction !!
I understand what you mean, Anju. While “multicultural” is a politicized term with a lot of unpleasant baggage, not to mention being inaccurate for books like yours, I’m not sure if there is a better word to use for what booksellers are trying to say. “Foreign” has its own baggage.
Say, how about “International”?
Hi Fred,
Thanks for joining me! The word ‘international’ seems to fit better. But then what if the characters of one country don’t cross over to another country in their life? what if they live and breathe that one perspective, norms, value-system, culture, etc… The word ‘Inter-National’ means or implies (i think) crossing countries and their borders so where does that leave them (and us) now?
Hmmm….. 🙂
Good thinking Anju! Since most part of my novels are set outside the US, I am facing the same classification challenge.
Maybe one way to categorize is that mine are Chinese novels and yours Indian. Together all these non “American” novels are multicultural.
Hi Mingmei,
Thank you for joining me! Um Koi Sai!! Having grown up in Hong Kong I’ve experienced and lived a variety of cultures simultaneously… but the Chinese and Indian cultures are sooo vastly different and still go hand-in-hand with so much in common (root values). And yes… it’s more a ‘shelf’ term than a story / novel term. And when I hear multicultural characters… I just cringe because it doesn’t make sense 🙂
I totally agree, Anju! How can writing from one culture be considered multicultural? It’s really an outdated term, I think. (Unless, of course, a piece of writing involves multiple cultures!)
Hi Anjali,
I’m glad you feel the same way too. I’ve been thinking hard and perhaps this is a ‘shelving-appropriate’ term and sales classification only with regards to book stores, libraries, etc. Thanks for hopping over and sharing ur thoughts!
Hi Susan,
It’s an issue I’ve been thinking about for a-a-a-ages. I guess ‘multicultural’ is just another trendy word that works when classifying books on a shelf but doesn’t really make sense when you nail it down to the story, setting, location, etc of a particular story.
What a great question! I hadn’t thought about this before, but I’ve also written fiction (short stories) set in lands outside the US. But the characters aren’t multicultural. I guess you’ll have to come up with a new category!!