21ST CENTURY LITERARY GENRES

CHICK LITERATURE

literature that focuses on female protagonists. These stories are usually targeted at younger women and are described as “popular fiction

SPECULATIVE FICTION

Often described as “what-if” literature, it alters the laws of reality or possibility in society and explores the potential outcomes of those changes.

Science fiction

stories with imagined technologies that don’t exist in the real world, like time travel, aliens, and robots.

Supernatural fiction

sci-fi stories about secret knowledge or hidden abilities, including witchcraft, spiritualism, and psychic abilities.

Space opera fiction

a play on the term “soap opera,” sci-fi stories that take place in outer space and center around conflict, romance, and adventure.

Urban fantasy fiction

stories about societies deemed problematic within the world of the novel, often satirizing government rules, poverty, and oppression.

Apocalyptic fiction

stories that take place before and during a huge disaster that wipes out a significant portion of the world’s population

Post-apocalyptic fiction

stories that take place after an apocalyptic event and focus on the survivors figuring out how to navigate their new circumstances

Alternate history fiction

stories that focus on true historical events but are written as if they unfolded with different outcomes.

superhero fiction

stories about superheroes and how they use their abilities to fight supervillains.

FANFICTION

Stories written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, movie, etc.

ILLUSTRATED NOVELS

It refers to an extended narrative with multiple images that, together with the text, produce meaning.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Graphic novels, like comic books, use sequential art to tell stories, but they usually stand alone with more complex plots and can cover fiction, nonfiction, history, fantasy, and more.

DIGI-FICTION

A literary experience that combines three media: book, movie/video, and internet website

DOODLE FICTION

A literary presentation where the author incorporates doodle drawings and handwritten graphics in place of traditional fonts.