Why is modern literature so self-concerned? Every second author

>>9561257
>I haven't seen a new, promising novelist or poet in a long time
That's because instead of reading new authors you shit up /lit/ with poltardian bait threads, bucko.

>>9561257
Modern authors are just a bunch of wussies who can't explain themselves without putting labels. New American liberal movement trend does also adds fuel to the fire.

>>9561257
>morality, spirituality, nature or the supernatural
Because none of these exist in the modern mind.

>>9561257
that's the big joke of the modern age. it has no identity beyond that it calls itself "modern."
it's really not surprising that it ended up looking like a bunch of children on a quest to figure out who they are and where they fit into the greater narrative. or if there even is such a thing.

>>9561273
It's not fucking 'poltardian' you fuck. I'm tired of seeing every new piece of literature or art being described as an "interesting new take on gender identity" or some other bullshit. It has been done to DEATH, and I would like to see some interesting, new, and modern interpretations on topics that seem to have been left in the dust by modern authors.

I have no problem with people writing protest art, poets like Tony Harrison for example, but to have a New York Times Bestseller list (for example) which effectively amounts to the angst-ridden diary entries of a few boring retards is not interesting to anyone outside of the metropolitan liberal elite that love that tripe so much.

I want to read about existence, the mystical, and about passion for life and love - not Rupi Kaur-tier self-concerned crap.

Such as?

>cosplaying as an intellectual

cmon anon

I think it's because of a hundred years of advertising that zeroed in on people's egotism.

>>9561315
Just using the example of this article: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/24/sally-rooney-conversations-with-friends-interview-salinger-snapchat-generation

The author, Rooney, is described as using "discussions of feminism, masculinity, gender and politics" to "fuel" her book.

>>9561318
Never once said I was an intellectual, I'm just tired of the same navel-gazing shite being the USP of almost every supposedly 'groundbreaking' new novel.

>>9561313
So what modern lit have you read?

>>9561354
Of course you have modern literature that doesn't concern itself with identity politics (Bolano's 2666 as an example). I'm referring to modern commercial literature, the kind I linked here >>9561334.

>>9561354

he hasnt read anything, hes just cribbed together an opinion from memes.

People write what they know. You'd be surprised at how many people have taken up these new virtue-signaling garbage ideologies (when taken to the extreme, like everything) and just define themselves by them.

>>9561257
>Why does literature no longer explore beyond ourselves?
>Of course you have modern literature that doesn't concern itself with identity politics
Fuck off, pointless retard.

>>9561257
Give three major examples.

>>9561384
>I haven't seen a new, promising novelist or poet in a long time who would rather
>Of course you have modern literature
So what is the point of the thread again? It's exactly poltardian style bitching about made up problems and fighting straw men and windmills. Kys yourself.

>>9561388
A few examples of modern 'best-sellers' that rely mainly on discussions of identity in place of any original talking points:

This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel

>What happens when your little boy wants to be a girl? This is a warm family story about two parents, five children and how their “secret” becomes something totally normal and accepted. Some parts of the book are more exciting than others – such as when the family fights off bigotry or when the mum is dealing with a belligerent colleague.

How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

>It's a good time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill, and we haven't been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain... Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should we use Botox? Do men secretly hate us? And why does everyone ask you when you're going to have a baby?

Supernova by Dewi Lestari

>Supernova: The Knight, The Princess and the Falling Star presents a series of intertwined and unconventional love stories, straight and gay, with a bit of science and spirituality added to the mix. The major characters are young, urban, and technologically highly aware. They are caught up in major forms of contemporary social conflict.

Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance

>A Yale Law School graduate looks at the struggles of the white working class through the story of his own childhood.

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

>Finally shines a spotlight on the role of female ‘computers’ during the space race and, most importantly, drew attention to a trio of extraordinary women without whom history might have looked very different

I must make it very clear that I am in no way knocking the artistic integrity of any of these books - as I know that I'm in position to critique their actual content, writing style or any other aspect. I am simply arguing that all of these books, and many others like them, focus entirely on the nature of identity and assigning a label to oneself. There is no sense of wonder or trepidation to any of these books. They simply exist to emphasis the differences between us, and there is nothing interesting in this. I can understand the author's desire to teach about what it is like to be a member of a certain group - however it is terribly boring to have to read so many novels that engage purely with this desire to ascribe labels and nothing much more beyond that.

>>9561472
*I'm in no position

>>9561423

A Little Life
Between the World and Me
Milk and Honey

because you're a lazy idiot who spends too much time on 4chan

>>9561414
>>9561424
When I say modern literature, I mean literature that is consumed by the populous. 2666 isn't the kind of book you would pick up at an airport, the ones here: >>9561472 are though.

Maybe I didn't make it clear enough what I meant, no need to be faggots about it though.

>>9561472

you are a phenomenal brainlet

stop projecting minor supermarket trash to being overarching ideological conspiracies

>>9561493
Stop pretending that I'm insinuating there are 'ideological conspiracies' when its clear that all I am doing is pointing out a trend I have observed.

I'm not asking you to agree with me, I'm just telling you that I have noticed something. Perhaps I have a misconception of the ideological trends of airport-fiction novels, but I can assure you that you are a bigger brainlet for getting so angry that I'm having this discussion in the first place.

I also go to a better university than you so fuck off.

>>9561489
>why is cheap entertainment pondering to the lowest common denominator bad?
Because it's what sells, you pseud retard. Why the fuck are you even bitching about it? If you openly admit there is good modern literature, then why spend time whining about the bad one? What is the point in "finding trends" in worthless pulp unless you plan writing some? "Look, guys I know there are outstanding restaurants with great cuisine out there, but what about all the dog turds tasting slightly fruity lately? Isn't that a quaint phenomenon. Golly, what a poignant observation!" Fucking kys yourself.

>>9561504

>i go to a better universit than you

thanks for confirming you are a stupid youngfag

>>9561257
>morality, spirituality
but both of those are linked to identity

>>9561558
shhh dont tell him

>>9561558
Wrong. Since fucking when was ethics an issue of identity politics?

The logic of postmodernity is identity.

>>9561638
since crime and punishment?

>>9561658
Please explain. Dosto never based his moral arguments on identity. The closest to identity that his discussions come focus on the moral nature of the individual and their closeness to God - but this is never dependent on any other classifications such as gender or race. Dosto never says that moral goodness is derived from being a white Christian man from a working class background.

you're definitely overstating the problem, but I agree that the death of romanticism is tragic. I can't think of any modern Byrons or Goethes. the climate of both mainstream and "intellectual" society is so superficial and materialistic nowadays.

>it's another uneducated teenager tries to act like he knows the state of modern literature episode

>>9561257
lol. indeed.

>Why

society of the spectacle and all that

File: 1443327002316.png (888KB, 632x605px) Image search: [Google]

888KB, 632x605px

>>9561313
>"it's not poltardian"
>continues to be a poltard

>>9561472
You should have started with this. I'm not sure if there is any 1 reason for the prevalence of trashy self-obdessed literature among contemporary American leadership.

Maybe that's just who we are as a society nowadays. Larry Brown and Barry Hannah were doing good work a few years back at least in the South. There certainly must be good writers with a more objective worldview, but who knows. In a country where Toole and Pancake both killed themselves it's hard to say if good honest writing could make a dent in the American psyche anymore.

>>9561384
Commercial literature has always been bad - in the past it was shitty pulp fiction, penny dreadfuls, and then advertisers and publishers discovered that controversial things sell - and so identity politics, being a big controversial issue in the media today will of course influence commercial literature greatly.

>>9562445
>it's an anon pretends he knows the state of modern literature