Fictocriticism is a

postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

style of writing which can be described as "

Gonzo Gonzo may refer to: People * Gonzo (nickname), a list of people with the nickname * Radislav Jovanov Gonzo (born 1964), Croatian music video director Radislav Jovanov, also known as Gonzo * Matthias Röhr (born 1962), German musician whose stage ...

journalism style">Gonzo_journalism.html" ;"title="n reference to the Gonzo journalism">journalism style

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

". Blending fact and fiction, Ethnography, ethnographic observation, Archive, archival history, literary theory and memoir. Professor Carl Rhodes defines fictocriticism as "a writing engaged in genre-bending as a literary and theoretical engagement with existence and

selfhood In September 2012 Sharks began recording demos for a second studio album, which they hoped to finish writing by the end of the year. According to Mattock the band was "focusing on getting the best songs we can .out there as quickly as possible" ...

." It is a new sub-categorization and therefore still being defined and redefined. The tradition of division among the practices of

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...

and

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...

into single narrative stories, essays and critiques tend to merge in fictocriticism which combines elements into a single text. These texts thus often tell a story while making an argument. They range from

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

poetry to discursive meta-fictional inventions. Once

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...

asked for a name:

We must invent a name for those "critical" inventions which belong to literature while deforming its limits.

The name one could have given him was fictocriticism, but he went on anyway to write, and perform, critically, and sometimes fictionally, for instance by telling stories while making his philosophical arguments. Fictocriticism might trace its origins to

Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a liter ...

, continuing through Barthes and making a different appearance in the New Journalism of

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

or Joan Didion. Tending towards the laid-back narrative, the inclusion of the local and singular; the embrace of contemporary

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

and media, the name, and the style, have been adopted enthusiastically in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Fictocriticism may also take alternative forms, such as art work. Artists such as

Patricia Piccinini Patricia Piccinini (born 1965 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is an Australian artist who works in a variety of media, including painting, video, sound, installation, digital prints, and sculpture. Her works focus on "unexpected consequences", conv ...

has been described as operating in a fictocritical dialogue, creating fictional futuristic creatures and companion species of a possible future. A prominent practitioner of fictocriticism today is

Michael Taussig Michael T. Taussig (born 3 April 1940 in Sydney) is an Australian anthropologist and professor at Columbia University. He is best known for his engagement with Karl Marx, Marx's idea of commodity fetishism, especially in terms of the work of Walt ...

, an anthropologist currently working at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, who lectures on the subject of fictocriticism extensively.

In popular culture

The 2015 romantic comedy film ''

Maggie's Plan ''Maggie's Plan'' is a 2015 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and written by Rebecca Miller, based on the original story by Karen Rinaldi (later published as the 2017 novel ''The End of Men''). The film stars Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke ...

'' features two university professors, portrayed by Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore, who produce fictocritical essays and books.

References

* * * * Somerville, Margaret (1999) ''Body/Landscape Journals''
Spinifex Press
* Bartlett, Alison (Summer 2006) 'Dear Regina: formative conversations about feminist writing'

'1. *Anna, Gibbs (April 2005) ''Fictocriticism, Affect, Mimesis: Engendering Differences.'' The University of Wester

External links

WRT and Fictocriticism

Literary criticism Postmodernism {{lit-criticism-stub