Which 20th century writers (of fiction) will be regarded as classic?

[Flying Pig]

Gotta join in voting for Prof Tolkien. Not for amazing literary qualities, but because his is the pen that launched a thousands books. Talk about sea changes in litterature in the twentieth century, writers who redefined our relation with fiction, and his name is right up there atop the list.

Orwell is also a strong candidate.

The Nobel committee is frequently on the wrong side of history, but they did give Tolkein a rather damning review when he came up for consideration. That said, 'classic' or 'canonical' status is usually a matter of influence rather than quality, so I suspect he will, in time, be given the nod.

A fair few 20th century works are already considered classic, I think - Steinbeck, Orwell, Hemingway, Verne and Golding have been mentioned, and I would add at least Joyce, Woolf and Conrad to that list. As for authors not yet considered classic who might in the future, that is an interesting question. Asimov perhaps, but I can't see science fiction being considered along with 'high literature', at least for a while: Verne still suffers from that. I'll throw in Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Umberto Eco as my bets.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I asked her which came first, the Norway or Cat. Mallory. She answered the corporations.

J

Interesting. I never have read the Alliance/Union series in any kind of chronological order. I should do that next time.

Meanwhile, if you're interested, I found a pretty decent fanfic story about an encounter between Signy Mallory and Ariane Emory (takes place before Mallory became the captain of the Norway and long before the events of Cyteen):

Passing in the Night

For more C.J. Cherryh fanfic (in various universes plus some crossovers): CHERRYH C.J. - Works

The Nobel committee is frequently on the wrong side of history, but they did give Tolkein a rather damning review when he came up for consideration. That said, 'classic' or 'canonical' status is usually a matter of influence rather than quality, so I suspect he will, in time, be given the nod.

A fair few 20th century works are already considered classic, I think - Steinbeck, Orwell, Hemingway, Verne and Golding have been mentioned, and I would add at least Joyce, Woolf and Conrad to that list. As for authors not yet considered classic who might in the future, that is an interesting question. Asimov perhaps, but I can't see science fiction being considered along with 'high literature', at least for a while: Verne still suffers from that. I'll throw in Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Umberto Eco as my bets.

By including Orwell in that list, science fiction is represented.

 

[Evie]

What the literazis deem quality is not worth a rat's rear end.

 

[Flying Pig]

By including Orwell in that list, science fiction is represented.

Hm. I'll have to think about that one. You can make a case for 1984, but would struggle with (say) Homage to Catalonia, and Animal Farm is only science fiction as far as Gulliver's Travels or One Hundred Years of Solitude are.

 

[onejayhawk]

Animal Farm is a fantasy. It fits comfortably in the broader F&SF genre.

J

 

[BvBPL]

Novelists would include Thomas Pynchon and Tom Wolfe.

Poets would include Robert Frost, Allen Ginsberg, and Toni Morrison. And Bob Dylan.

Drama includes Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. I guess Andrew Lloyd Webber too.

Comics are a basically a new medium. They'd probably include Carl Barks, Joe Kirby, Bill Waterson, Will Eisner, the guys who did Lone Wolf & Cub, and a lot more. A lot of classics would come from that era because it was the inception of the art form.

Visual art would include Dali, Picasso, and Warhol.

 

[Kyriakos]

Animal farm is usually termed as 'political satire', and one can always argue that it is even more tied to obvious political meaning than stuff like Gulliver's travels would be in their own time.

It is a nice book (with a rather awesome ending line), yet i don't see how it could be labelled as scifi

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Animal Farm is a fantasy. It fits comfortably in the broader F&SF genre.

Animal farm is usually termed as 'political satire', and one can always argue that it is even more tied to obvious political meaning than stuff like Gulliver's travels would be in their own time.

It is a nice book (with a rather awesome ending line), yet i don't see how it could be labelled as scifi

Kyriakos is correct. There is nothing about Animal Farm that fits into either fantasy or science fiction. Sure, kids would think it's a story about animals... but I saw it in my Grade 12 social studies class. There is no way I can possibly see it as anything but political satire. And it was really damned depressing.