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Why didn't DFW just write fantasy and sci-fi?
Motherfucker was so obsessed with "sincerity," with a reaction against postmodernism and irony. But that's exactly what the speculative fiction genres are. They all spring from Tolkien, who is sincere, much more sincere than Wallace ever was. Subsequent writers have carried that core of sincerity forward, whether to elevate it (like Wolfe and LeGuin) or to make it cheap (like Jordan). There are a few postmodern shitters that slum around the genres, like Moorcock, but overall both fantasy and science fiction remain extremely sincere fields of writing.
And even if you go back in time, to the forefathers of the genres, guys like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard, they're all fairly sincere. Some of them are nihilistic--Howard certainly was--but it was a sincere nihilism.
And even if you think about Infinite Jest, there's an argument to be made that it's science fiction. It certainly has elements of cyberpunk in it.
So why didn't DFW just fucking write epic fantasy? I think he would have been happier.
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>>9419757
but he did.
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>>9419757
because there's a stigma attached to it and his academic clique buddies wouldn't read SFF
Think of how many amateur or wannabe writers you know. Now how many of them are writing SFF as their first novel?
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>>9419757
>Motherfucker was so obsessed with "sincerity," with a reaction against postmodernism and irony
He made 1 quote in an interview and wrote 1 essay everyone misinterprets, and yeah it's a part of IJ but only a small one.
It's just his obnoxious fans that exaggerate the "le sincere saint" shit.
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>>9419757
honestly I do think that IJ is really kind of an SFF novel
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>>9419817
Nothing wrong with being stupid anon, keep at it
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>>9419857
tight thanks
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>DFW
>Sincere
Pick one.
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