Literary Snobbery...

Literary Snobbery is when people who read literature think that there is a ‘right’ kind of literature to read. Normally these are people who think that if you read then you should read the ‘classics’. These ‘classics’ are the sort of old-world literature that is normally found in the ‘great western canon’ by Harold Bloom or something like that. Now, there is nothing wrong with reading the classics. I love to read classics and mostly, that is what I read. However, telling people that this is what they should be reading and using that to gate-keep the literature community is just downright wrong. Not everyone is going to enjoy reading classic literature and to say that someone is lesser of a bookworm that you because they like to read something else is a form of bullying.

I have seen this appear sometimes on GoodReads, sometimes on social media and many times at university whilst studying for my postgraduate degree. Now, on social media there are numerous amounts of keyboard warriors and you can push a button and have them removed. However, in real life, it is something else entirely. For example, take this anecdote from me: in my spare time, when I’m not reading theories, classic literature and all that, I like to read comic books. Yes, you read that correctly, I like to read comic books. Amongst my favourites are the new-age Batman comics that are normally available in the Spar Supermarket.

When I was seen reading them in the university bar, nobody really had a problem because they knew I also read classic literature. Now, I know that because they directly had an issues with another person reading a different type of comic - a graphic novel. The same group of people walked up to him, whom I won’t name though he was on the same course as me, and told him that what he was reading was not ‘real literature’ and looked ‘a bit silly’ for someone of his age. Now, this was a shy guy, not many people knew him and he was not as intimidating as I look when I’m sitting there reading my comic apparently. When I saw this, I did not actually do anything at the time and I think that I should have. He put the graphic novel away, left the table and walked out of the bar. I am not going to lie to you, immediately afterwards, I felt really, really bad because I did not say anything. I felt complicit. But more importantly, I felt like this was a direct act of literary snobbery.

Literary snobbery is not okay in any way, shape or form. You should not be imposing what you think people ‘should’ be reading upon anyone else and tell them that they are silly for reading anything else. I had seen this most when I was on Instagram. People were basically trying to show that they were reading the biggest classics ever and then telling other people that they should be reading these things - so that was usual. But then there were people who would tell others who were reading Young Adult Fiction that these books were ‘silly’ and ‘cliche’ and ‘were not real literature’ and these are quoted from some comments I found on the site before I shut down my account. I got physically sick from the negativity. Do I read classics? Yes. But, can I also appreciate a YA Novel? Yes I can. Do I like Sci-Fi? No. Will I tell people who do like Sci-Fi that they are ‘silly’ and ‘stupid’? No I won’t. Why? Well because Sci-Fi is a real genre, it has an audience because if even one person is reading it, the author has done their job.

What I am trying to say is never let anyone tell you what you should and should not be reading in order to ‘look cultured’ or stick their noses up at you when you decide to read a YA, a Graphic Novel, a Comic or even Teen Horror Flicks. All literature is valid and you should be reading for your own enjoyment. If you don’t enjoy “War and Peace”, don’t read it. If you do enjoy “War and Peace” then get ready for a wild ride. It is a medium of entertainment. The first thing you should do is enjoy it. Everything else comes afterwards and none of them include snobbery.