In
popular culture, formula fiction is
literature in which the storylines and
plot
Plot or Plotting may refer to:
Art, media and entertainment
* Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction
Music
* ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava
* The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003
Other
* ''Plot ...
s have been reused to the extent that the
narratives are predictable. It is similar to
genre fiction, which identifies a number of specific settings that are frequently reused. The label of ''formula fiction'' is used in
literary criticism
Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...
as a mild
pejorative to imply lack of originality.
Varieties
The ''formula'' is defined specifically by predictable
narrative structure. Formulaic tales incorporate plots that have been reused so often as to be easily recognizable. Perhaps the most clearly formulaic plots characterize the
romantic comedy genre; in a book or film labeled as such, viewers already know its most basic central plot, including to some extent the ending. This does not always prove to be detrimental to a given work's reception however, as the popularity of the aforementioned genre demonstrates.
Formula fiction is often stereotypically associated with early
pulp magazine
Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
markets, though some works published in that medium, such as "
The Cold Equations
"The Cold Equations" is a science fiction short story by American writer Tom Godwin, first published in '' Astounding Magazine'' in August 1954. In 1970, the Science Fiction Writers of America selected it as one of the best science-fiction sho ...
", subvert the supposed expectations of the common narrative formula of that time.
Distinct from genre conventions
The ''formula'' is limited to structure of the plot itself. It does not include conventional, stereotypical elements of the genre used for the story background.
Genres like
high fantasy,
westerns, and
space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...
(an
adventure story
Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction.
History
In the Introduction to the ''Encyclopedi ...
in a
science fiction setting) often have specific settings, such as a pseudo-
Medieval European setting, the
Old West, or
outer space.
For any given genre, certain assumed background information covers the nature and purpose of predictable elements of the story, such as the appearance of
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
s and
wizards in
high fantasy,
warp drives and
rayguns in
science fiction, or
shootouts at high noon in
Westerns. These are taken as conventional in the genre and do not need to be explained anew to the reader, they may be included implicitly as part of the genre's formula, but they do not constitute the plot structure that makes a story formulaic.
Note however that stereotypical elements can also easily be treated subversively, to contradict some of the expectations inherent in the genre's formula.
Distinct from ''pastiche'' fiction
''Formula fiction'' should not be confused with ''
pastiche
A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...
'': Fiction mimicking another work or author's style.
Comedy as a whole – including
parody,
satire, and
subgenres such as
romantic comedy – often relies on either formulaic elements, or mocking contradiction of such elements.
Though pastiche may naturally include formulaic elements, the same holds true of
parody and
satire. All may well include formulaic elements such as common
stereotype
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
s or
caricature
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...
s, or which may use formulaic elements in order to mock them or point out their supposedly
cliché
A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...
or
unrealistic natures.
See also
*
Film genre
*
Literary fiction
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Formula Fiction
Fiction
Plot (narrative)
Literary genres
Narratology
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