Analysis: Commercial fiction's reputation, structures and popular appeal mean it's an ideal medium to conduct social activism
When talking about novels, we tend to differentiate between literature and commercial fiction, those bestselling books with bright attractive covers which we perceive as unchallenging, designed to be consumed on holidays and left behind to create space for more souvenirs on our way home. Easy reads, beach reads, airport novels: commercial fiction is often seen as less ambitious and, therefore, less worthy than literary fiction.
Commercial fiction is an umbrella term that covers a variety of commercially successful genres, such as thriller, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy. The term is often used to differentiate popular fiction from literary fiction but, because authors can write commercially successful literary fiction, I define commercial fiction as all fiction produced for a mass audience. My research argues that commercial fiction's reputation and generic structures mean it's an ideal medium to conduct social activism in a number of different ways.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's The Book Show, Louise O'Neill examines the world of commercial fiction
Commercial fiction gives us a greater understanding of others
Reading fiction invites us to experience different perspectives. It allows us to draw similarities between ourselves and those around us. It also provides a space to undermine the cultural narratives underpinning the marginalisation of minority groups by drawing attention to and counteracting harmful stereotypes. Therefore, novels like Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling show us that all types of people have abortions, and Asking for It demonstrate how important it is to believe and support rape victims.
There's a very large audience for these books
Commercial fiction is marketed to a wide audience and has the potential to sell in large amounts. For example, popular Irish author Marian Keyes has sold over 30 million books globally, while #Booktok sensation Colleen Hoover has sold upwards of 20 million books. This means that commercial fiction bestsellers have the potential to offer new viewpoints on socio-political issues to hundreds of thousands of readers.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Oliver Callan Show, interview with Marian Keyes about her book My Favourite Mistake
Commercial fiction authors often communicate with their readers
Literary activism is more effective when outside commentary guides readers towards and reinforces the activism in their books. Commercial fiction authors can communicate directly with their readers through social media, newspaper interviews and, in some cases, television, radio, and podcast interviews to direct and instruct the reader as to how the themes of social change in their writings should be interpreted. Furthermore, research indicates that parasocial relationships between celebrities and fans can make fans more willing to engage with the celebrity’s political opinions. Therefore, high-profile authors can encourage readers to engage with and remember the book’s socially activist perspective.
Fans often read multiple novels by the same author
Many brand name authors are found in commercial fiction. These are authors who sell large amounts of books on release based on their name and reputation, meaning readers often read multiple books by the same author. Research shows that readers must repeatedly encounter a socially activist viewpoint to fully encode it and apply it in their daily lives. As authors often revisit themes across novels, reading more than one novel by the same author encourages readers to adopt the activist viewpoint.
Commercial fiction is seen as non-political
The push to sell as many copies of a commercial fiction book as possible means that they are often viewed as apolitical. This is because of the assumption that any politics inherent in a book will harm sales. Consequently, as academic Tania Modleski demonstrates, many people perceive the role of mass-market fiction titles as upholding the existing status quo.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Brainstorm, meet the 5 worst boyfriends in fiction
This actually works in commercial fiction’s favour. According to psychologists Friestad and Wright’s Persuasion Knowledge Model, people adapt over time to become aware of the various avenues that can be used to persuade them of something. As people become aware of attempts to persuade them, they argue that people are then less susceptible to being convinced. Therefore, commercial fiction is more able to convince readers of social justice principles because the reader does not expect the novel to try to persuade them of anything.
Generic conventions facilitate ideological reinforcement
Genre fiction has certain conventions: the detective solves the crime, the couple end up together and the monster is defeated. The clear delineation between hero and villain represented by these conventions, where the hero often achieves happiness, and the villain is generally punished for their ill behaviour, emphasises "good" versus "bad" behaviour. This lack of ambiguity helps the reader to encode these behaviours in their memory because the reader experiences the character’s thoughts and actions and then observes the direct consequences, which are often moralistic.
For example, in crime novels, the villain is generally apprehended, and in romance novels, the characters who prioritise themselves over all others are often miserable and alone by the end of the novel. Although it may take several novels with similar themes to mentally encode the socially activist viewpoint, the readers’ emotional response to the hero and villain’s journey can potentially reach readers on an emotional level. This emotional engagement is important because emotions target deeply held beliefs, which more factual forms of social activism struggle to reach. So the next time you are drawn to an "easy" read, it might well contain the tools to help to change the world!
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
