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Are there any contemporary works that might be seen as a part of western canon in 100 or 200 years? If they would need to influence the whole 'western culture' enough so that writers working in a similar style would implicitly be in a conversation with them, then I'm not sure if it's possible with the current fragmentation of the literary world. Setting aside Harry Potter or Stephen, which will probably be a part of their respective genre canon, what has shook the literary world in the last 20 years? Maybe Knausgaard's 'Min Kamp'? I guess anybody writing hyper-detailed biographical work would immediately be compared to him. Apart from him, Eco's books might do the same to literary historical adventure novels, and Houellebecq for nihilistic writing - although he'd have competition from Bukowski, I guess. I'm not even sure if any other more or less contemporary English-speaking authors has had a comparable influence abroad outside of genre writing. Maybe Pynchon or Roth, but I don't feel their influence in Europe much. Probably Vonnegut, but then we're stretching the definition of 'contemporary'. So I guess: FactsAreUseless posted:I don't know why we even need this thread when the Pratchett thread is right there.
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Feb 18, 2015 18:35
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inktvis posted:Even with the most likely candidates, it's impossible to say. At the start of the 20th century, someone like Pierre Loti's reputation would have seemed to be pretty much set in stone - an influence on Proust and Conrad, massive commercial success, giant house, portrait painted by Rousseau, even beating out Zola to a seat on the Académie. But who gives a poo poo about Loti now? Sure, we can say that it's basically impossible to talk about people being a part of the canon or 'influential classics' category until at least a hundred years have passed since their death - but where is the fun be in that? Maybe 'canon' isn't the best word to describe the conversations writers have with each other, the ebb and flow of their influence. That did include Loti at one time (and place) but excludes him from the current conversation/canon. Even the influence of certainly canonical authors like Chaucer, say, are negligible in Spain, for instance. On the other hand, Javier Marias or Juan Goytisolo are like inescapable shadows for young writers in Spain but are hardly read in English-speaking countries at all. So, since listing a 'canon' is pointless anyway, why not speculate and argue?
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Feb 20, 2015 18:00
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