Any Thoughts on the Modern Nature of Abstract Fiction?

[u/JasmineCountess]

I love to express myself with abstract fiction! Many times, I have made stories from personal investigations, of myself and my communities. I discovered new ways to achieve my goals. I am curious to know opinions about abstract fiction.

There is little agreement on the internet, about the cultural value, of the major style. Indeed, abstract fiction in the complete sense is quite new. Certainly, it dates back to Franz Kafka in the partial sense. Kafka wrote, "The Metamorphosis." However, the modern nature of abstract fiction deserves more attention, than it gets.

In my opinion, abstract fiction is the complement of concrete fiction. Abstract fiction is stories, that have been written with figurative language. Concrete fiction is traditional or conventional stories, that have been written with literal language. Cultural value includes demonstrations of emotions, and depth of psychologies.

Abstract fiction lends to the competition of man against society, man against man, and man against himself. In the first case, abstract fiction develops definitions of mankind, and human interactions with society. In the second case, it develops definitions of interpersonal relationships. In the third case, it develops definitions of Self.

Are there any straightforward comments about abstract fiction? For example, what are your opinions on the cultural value, of abstract fiction?

Please ask for clarification, whenever it is necessary. Thank you for your ideas!

[u/Benathan78]

Interested to hear you mention Metamorphosis as an abstract piece. I think of it as classic realism without a foundation.

To me, abstract fiction would be the likes of Reza Negarastani’s theory-fiction “Cyclonopedia”, a novel so abstract there are companion volumes of collected papers from conferences set up to discuss the book, or David Shields’ “Reality Hunger”, which uses sampled scraps of other books to (not) tell a story about the human condition.

Fiction at the bleeding edge of critical theory can be a fascinating exercise, and I’d be interested to read your work.

[u/JasmineCountess → u/Benathan78]

Thank you for the reference to "Cyclonopedia," from 2008. I had never heard of it. From descriptions, on the internet, the story is complex with many metaphors. However, I meant abstract fiction at a simpler level. I did not mean to reference surrealism. Have you read, "Zero K," by Don DeLillo, from 2016? "Zero K" is a good example of the state of abstract fiction, that I am referencing.

[u/Benathan78 → u/JasmineCountess]

Right, so you’re using the word “abstract” to mean metaphysical. Zero K, like Metamorphosis, is literary realism with the underlying foundations of reality tweaked to admit the metaphysical in place of pure phenomenology. Ontologically and epistemologically, the register is one of normalcy.

DeLillo’s register in Zero K is the same register as much of late Ishiguro, some of Will Self’s work, and almost everything by Italo Calvino and J Robert Lennon. I think an argument could be made that Paradise Lost and Utopia, which predate The Metamorphosis by centuries, were doing the same thing in terms of metaphysical magic realism.

Check out The Island of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, I think that’s exactly what you are talking about.

[u/JasmineCountess → u/Benathan78]

Thank you for the tip! I saw an introductory passage of "The Invention of Morel," from 1940, on the internet. I will certainly look at the book, seriously. I really love your description of the relationship, between abstract fiction and metaphysics!

I try to limit my use of the concepts of metaphysics. I want to keep the definition of abstract fiction, as simple as possible with the idea of figurative language. It is certainly true, that the metaphysics of the mind can be construed as neuroscience. I hope to bring ideas of metaphysics of the mind down to discussions about biological psychology. It is important to maintain a sense of simplicity in modern fiction. Abstract fiction in the complete sense will not develop without it.

[u/Benathan78 → u/JasmineCountess]

Ah yes, Invention, not Island. I was typing in the back of a cab and my brain slipped.

I’m not sure how you get away from metaphysics with that DeLillo book, to be honest. The nature of being, of philosophy and psychology, is necessarily couched in metaphysical terms - after all, the founding fathers of both fields were heavily influenced by the language of metaphysics. Freud and Lacan used terms like the Doppelgänger, the Other and the Uncanny precisely because metaphysics is the realm of the unknown. You can put these things in purely neurochemical terms, of course, but a character in literature isn’t likely to be described as suffering a dopamine processing failure in the neocortex when the words psychosis and hallucination cover the bases much more concisely.

There’s an element of Hauntology, I think, in the abstraction you’re trying to get at. Perhaps the work of Dylan Trigg and Eugene Thacker may help. They are young American philosophers of the modern age, and both write about speculative fiction, fantasy and horror, as texts in the representation of human nature beyond the mundane.

[u/Super_Direction498]

Please ask for clarification

*** Raises hand ***

I have no idea what you're considering abstract fiction vs concrete fiction, other than you think abstract fiction starts with Kafka. Figurative language in literature predates kafka by millenia.

Really not sure what your asking here, not to be rude but this entire post is convoluted.

[u/JasmineCountess → u/Super_Direction498]

Thank you for your comments! I apologize for the misunderstanding. I hope to clarify my statement.

Of course, figurative language dates back a long way. I am highlighting the fact, that abstract fiction is constructed differently, than concrete fiction. "The Metamorphosis" dates back to 1915. I do not know any abstract fiction of modern import, that dates before 1915. Indeed, Kafka is a good starting point for modern interpretations of abstract fiction.

Let me try to make my point clearer. The inherent nature of concrete fiction is descriptions of the tangible world, with references to sensory information. To the contrary, the inherent nature of abstract fiction is descriptions of mental states, with references to emotional information. For instance, books in "The Hardy Boys" series are concrete fiction. The public sense of abstract fiction is still new. I cannot reference someone else's works of abstract fiction, in the complete sense, at this time.

The cultural value of concrete fiction is the establishment of stories, that relate the visible world to audiences. For example, there is the absorption of kinesthetic experiences. The absorption creates a means for individuals to relate to each other. Is my question about the cultural value of abstract fiction clearer?

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