Fellow Lit Blog Hoppers, this might be the most interesting question so far. Is there something such as literary non-fiction? There are many non-fiction books in the novel section of your local Barnes & Noble but this is problematic, according to the definition of literary fiction we established on the first week. We said that literary fiction addresses issues beyond the story that is being told. Non-Fiction, especially journalism, does just that. So what's the rightful place of literary non-fiction? Does that even exist?
What makes literary non-fiction stand out from outstanding journalism is primarily one thing. Subjectivity. Before you call me simplistic, let's remember there are many aspects to this statement. Journalism is based in reporting the fact and not on experience. Truman Capote's In Cold Blood stand out so much by the angle taken by Capote (the murders as a social trauma) and by the echo of the different voices of his novel. The sadness and the anger of Holcomb's inhabitants would lose of its strength if there was no Perry Smith to reverberate their woes. It's a novel on human experience, rather than cold facts. Same thing,but different angle for Norman Mailer's non-fiction novel The Executioner's Song. Instead of blatantly reporting the facts that lead to Gary Gilmore's spectacular execution, he constructed his narrative with a precise question in mind: "What was it to be Gary Gilmore"?
If you want to bring more depth to the question, there are always Hunter S. Thompson, who brought first person point of view to his journalism efforts. Instead of reporting the event, he is a part of it. Therefore, you see through his eyes and you don't put emphasis on things equally. For example in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, the event is a motorcycle race. There is a very short part of the story dedicated to this event and Thompson rather wants to discuss the disillusionment of the seventies and the death of the American Dream.
So that's is. Non-Fiction is made literary by a subjective angle and an emphasis on the human experience. Some might argue that you also need to take a narrative stance to your story, but I think it's a little too easy. Every story is a narrative. The newspaper are full of great, objective, Balzac-like narrative.
