What are the main differences between literary novels and genre novels?

The difference between the so-called "literary novel" and the so-called "genre novel" is an arbitrary invention of English literary critics in19th and 20th centuries.

The dichotomy is essentially like this: "literary" novels are regarded as serious realistic works, exploring the human situation and participating in social criticism. On the other hand, the works of "genre" novels are considered unrealistic and not worth taking seriously. The so-called "genre" novels mainly include fantasy novel, science fiction, horror novels, crime novels and romance novels.

However, when you look at the classics of classical literature, this dichotomy soon collapses. Classical literature classics are full of all kinds of works. According to the current definition, they will be regarded as "genre novels", so they are not worthy of serious study.

For example, forgotten one's epic is one of the oldest extant literary works and is regarded as a classic. It discusses the theme of human death and the meaning of life, but if we want to classify it in modern terms, the most accurate classification may be a fantasy work. After all, it has anthropomorphic gods, demigod heroes, ogres, deformed bulls, and plants that give immortal life.

Above: In forgotten one's epic, the ogre Humbaba, the forsaken and EnB.W. Kidu on the Terracotta Warriors killed him.

Similarly, the Iliad, regarded as the basic work of western literature, also has anthropomorphic gods, talking horses and vivid rivers. In the Odyssey, there are anthropomorphic gods, cyclops who live in caves and eat people, witches who turn people into pigs, all kinds of sea monsters, trips to hell and all kinds of magic disguises.

Even william shakespeare, perhaps the most respected English writer of all time, has written wonderful works. A Midsummer Night's Dream contains elves, magical love potions, and spells that can make people grow donkey's heads. There was a wizard in the storm. He has a wand that can cast spells and summon ghosts.

I think few people will argue that Odyssey, A Midsummer Night's Dream or The Tempest are not "literature" to some extent, because they are all works of fantasy. So I still think that the difference between the so-called "literary novel" and the so-called "genre novel" is wrong.

Above: Prospero, Ai Lier and sleeping Miranda. This painting was painted by william hamilton in 1797.