Genre Fiction: Autonomic Pharmacology
“Readers respond to every genre intensely, if it’s a genre that appeals to them.” – Laurell K. Hamilton
The public might not know art, but it knows what it likes. In Genre Fiction: Introduction and Genre Fiction: Categorizing Generally Popular Pulp, we looked at how genres can be categorized. This week I want to look at what specifically sets the autonomic category — Action/Adventure, Suspense, Thriller, Erotica, and Religious/Inspirational — apart.
An autonomic response is the body’s reaction to stimuli, and is for the most part unrelated to the conscious mind. Neurotransmitters and hormones control the most basic drives and needs, and they function as emergency systems in the background. Thoughts of danger provoke adrenaline surges and the heartbeat and breathing rush to allow for fight or flight responses; thoughts allied to reproduction in the deepest depths of the psyche trigger sexual arousal; peaceful images provide a cocktail to help relax the reader.
Autonomic responses are not associated with deep meditative considerations.
If an author is able to provide an environment with just enough color and detail to bring the reader in, they need only concentrate on creating stimulating images and situations. The storyline can be thin, the characters can be superficial and their surroundings sketchy, as long as the words used to convey the trigger images are well selected or well known. Avid readers who are familiar with these genres can be relied upon to fill in the details as they go. There is often a solid body of information already understood within the community of dedicated genre readers.
Because the autonomic responses are closely linked to strong emotion, vivid descriptions of autonomic changes are often written into stories in the Emotional category. Dilated pupils, salivation, sweat, trembling, rapid heartbeat; all describe the outward signs of an emotional reaction, but the stories which are read primarily for the enjoyment of straight, induced autonomic response rarely bother to delve into the emotion itself.
For readers who are not willing to cede some reading values for the sake of the promised reward, or who do not enjoy the kind of journey offered, this category might not be recommended. For those who do concede and enjoy, the reward is well worth the read.
Human physiology provides its own pharmacology, and the set of genres represented here quite literally give their dedicated readers a charge. Some people jump out of a plane to get an adrenaline rush. Others read a Thriller, Action/Adventure, or Suspense drama for the same effect.
The sub-genres below are vague at best. I stopped trying to categorize because there are simply too many combinations of theme and subject — they are nigh on infinite. One writer classified 30 sub-genres for Action alone and each can be divided or recombined.
- Action/Adventure
- Superhero
- Action hero
- Military
- Quest
- Suspense
- Above plus:
- Fear
- Thriller
- Above plus:
- Politics/espionage
On the flipside, Religious, Spiritual and Inspirational stories have the opposite effect. Intended to be calming, reassuring and uplifting, well written Inspirational stories provide their fans with a rush of dopamine for that slight euphoria; a slurp of acetylcholine to relax skeletal muscle and slow the heart rate; and a dose of MAO inhibitors (anti-depressants). A whole pharmacy of feel-good in one story.
People who love these books do so for good reason, but the results are not as easy as popping a pill. Lovers of spiritually-centred fiction generally have a deep conviction which precedes the reading. As with any other category of Pulp fiction, if you do not enjoy the concepts; if you do not want to accept the moral strictures; and if you are not willing to go with the author toward a predictable goal, you will not access the intended reward. This category may not be for you.
- Religious/Inspirational
- Gentle/family
- Cults/alternative spirituality
- High moral values
- Fables/cautionary tales
- Young adult
And then there is Erotica. Sexual arousal is one of the easiest autonomic responses to trigger, but as with any genre, some are better written than others. Erotica spans the leagues between a bit of suggestive spice in a short story over coffee, and seriously hardcore pornography. Where any one piece of fiction lies can often only be judged by the reader.
Of all the formulaic genres in Pulp fiction, Erotica is least judged for its shortcomings.
Right or wrong, it has become ingrained in the collective consciousness that ‘women do not like pornography because it has no story’, while their men have no questions at all about the thoughts, feelings or motivations of any character involved. Or the lack, for that matter. A house, a pub, a garden — the surroundings are white noise. The same people who read strongly themed Erotica cannot understand another’s obsession with Romance. Horses for courses. Drugs of choice.
Depending on personal preference, Erotica might be:
- Erotica
- LGBT
- Straight
- Fetish
- Mild/Medium/Hot
One person’s erotic fantasy might set someone else bowing to the porcelain, which in itself says a lot for the power of suggestion, but as with all fiction, if you like it, reading has its rewards.
People choose a particular genre because they know what they will get. The complaint against formulaic fiction becomes self-defeating when you realise the reader has chosen that genre precisely because they know exactly what it will entail. It might not be complexities of plot, or characterizations, or world-building they are looking for. As long as the reward they seek is where they expect to find it, the rest becomes inconsequential.
All of the various genres covered are well represented in webfiction. Are there authors you read who can, in a few words, create images which move or excite you? Is there a fast-paced action sequence that comes to mind, or an erotic image you have recalled long after you finished reading?
Next week we’ll look at the Emotional category, where the best and worst can be found.