Alternative literature

Alternative literature (or alt-lit) is a literary movement strongly influenced by internet culture and online publishing. It includes various forms of prose, poetry, and new media. Alt-lit is characterized by self-publication and a presence on social media networks.[1] Alternative literature brings together people with a common interest in the online publishing world.[2]

Origins

The term was first used to refer to this community of writers in the summer of 2011, when Tumblr and Twitter accounts named "Alt Lit Gossip" emerged, created by Cory Stephens (@outmouth).[3] The accounts covered writers from presses and publications such as Muumuu House, Pop Serial, and HTMLgiant in a style akin to celebrity gossip sources like TMZ.[3] After a few months the original accounts were deleted; they were revived by Frank Hinton in the fall of 2011, and began to gain popularity.[2]

Shared traits across Alt Lit

Alt Lit is often characterized by self-publication, self-promotion, and the maintenance of a presence on social media networks.[1] Josh Soilker has said that Alt Lit is "in blog posts, videos, gchats and Facebook status updates. In PDFs and folded papers..."[4] and that the movement's principal figures were Tao Lin, Noah Cicero and Brandon Scott Gorrell.[5]

Alt Lit writers share Gmail chat logs, image macros, screenshots, and tweets, which are then self-published as poetry books and/or novels.[6]

Writing for the New Yorker, Kenneth Goldsmith characterized Alt Lit writing as "marked by direct speech, expressions of aching desire, and wide-eyed sincerity".[6] He also noted that Alt Lit is "usually written in the Internet vernacular of lowercase letters, inverted punctuation, abundant typos, and bad grammar".[6]

Authors and works

Literary magazines and blogs

Online and print Alt Lit magazines include SWAY Press, Illuminati Girl Gang, New Wave Vomit, Pop Serial, Shabby Doll House, Have U Seen My Whale, The Bushwick Review, The Mall, Keep This Bag Away From Children, Everyday Genius, Metazen, Housefire, UP Literature, Parlor, Sadcore Dadwave, Red Lightbulbs, In Parentheses and Unsure if i will allow my beard to grow for much longer.[3][7]

Alt Lit news and creative blogs include Alt Lit Gossip, I Am Alt Lit, Internet Poetry, HTMLGiant, Beach Sloth, Allthemacchs, Heartcloud, FRXTL, Cutty Spot, and Alt Lit Press.[3][7]

Presses and books

Presses publishing Alt Lit writing include Muumuu House, Civil Coping Mechanisms, Sorry House, Habitat, Boost House, Lazy Fascist, Macro, Nap, Scrambler Books, Publishing Genius, and Plain Wrap Press.[7]

Two anthologies of Alt Lit writing are The Yolo Pages (2014, Boost House)[8] and 40 Likely To Die Before 40: An Introduction to Alt Lit (2014, Civil Coping Mechanisms).[7]

More than 150 books, e-books, and zines of Alt Lit writing, mostly self-published, have been catalogued on the Tumblr blog Alt Lit Library.[3][7][9] Mellow Pages Library in Bushwick, Brooklyn, offers a wide selection of Alt Lit titles and hosts Alt Lit readings and book releases.[7]

Authors

Alt Lit authors include Jacob M. Appel, Gabby Bess, Megan Boyle, Melissa Broder, Ben Brooks, Blake Butler, Marie Calloway, Richard Chiem, Brendan Connell, Cecilia Corrigan, Heiko Julien, Noah Cicero, Claire Donato, Horse eBooks, Elizabeth Ellen, Aiden Elliot, Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, Mira Gonzalez, Jamie Iredell, Tao Lin, Scott McClanahan, Spencer Madsen, Guillaume Morissette, Steve Roggenbuck, Beach Sloth, Tim Sanders,[3][6][7][10][11][12][13] Lauren Oyler, and Patricia Lockwood.

Many writers and critics in and around the Alt Lit community have proposed different labels to be used in conjunction with or in place of "Alt Lit."

New Sincerity

Some critics have linked Alt Lit writers with New Sincerity,[14] to the point of using the terms interchangeably. Notable Alt Lit writers such as Steve Roggenbuck, Spencer Madsen and Tao Lin have also been grouped under the label "New Sincerity",[15][16] but many Alt Lit writers reject the influence of David Foster Wallace and prominent mainstream exponents of a "New Sincerity" such as Jonathan Franzen.[2]

The New Sincerity connection entails the use of an array of literary techniques intended to create the impression of "sincere" communication, ranging from autobiography, self-revision and a conversational tone to minimal punctuation and sans-serif fonts.[16]

Autofiction

Many Alt Lit writers, including Megan Boyle and Tao Lin, write autobiographical fiction or autofiction.[17][18]

References
  1. "Contemporary Literature's Nouvelle Vague: Interview with Frank Hinton". The Oxford Student. 2012-12-26. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  2. "Lexicon Devils: What Exactly is Alt Lit? A Conversation With Frank Hinton, Noah Cicero and Stephen Tully Dierks – Vol. 1 Brooklyn". vol1brooklyn.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  3. Roggenbuck, Steve, E.E. Scott, and Rachel Younghans, eds. "Introduction." The Yolo Pages. Boost House, 2014. Print.
  4. "Lexicon Devils: What Exactly is Alt Lit? A Conversation with Frank Hinton, Noah Cicero and Stephen Tully Dierks – Vol. 1 Brooklyn".
  5. "Lexicon Devils: What Exactly is Alt Lit? A Conversation With Frank Hinton, Noah Cicero and Stephen Tully Dierks – Vol. 1 Brooklyn". vol1brooklyn.com. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  6. "If Walt Whitman Vlogged". The New Yorker. 2014-05-07. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  7. Dazed (2013-11-11). "The dA-Zed guide to Alt Lit". Dazed. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  8. Bridle, James (2014-06-28). "Meet the 'alt lit' writers giving literature a boost | Ebooks". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  9. "alt lit library". links to buy all your fav alt lit chapbooks and zines. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  10. "Looking for a great self-published book? Here's where to find it". the Guardian. 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  11. Dazed (2013-06-10). "Read the best Alt-Lit on the net". Dazed. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  12. Pierce, Cameron, and Michael Seidlinger, eds. 40 Likely to Die Before 40. Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2014. Print.
  13. Allie Jones, Hip Alt-Lit Editor Quits Public Writing Career After Rape Accusations, Gawker, 30 Sept 2014
  14. "Daniel Bailey on 'The New Sincerity/Alt-Lit' | HTMLGIANT". htmlgiant.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  15. "What we talk about when we talk about the New Sincerity, part 1 | HTMLGIANT". htmlgiant.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  16. "Theory of Prose & better writing (ctd): The New Sincerity, Tao Lin, & "differential perceptions" | HTMLGIANT". htmlgiant.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  17. "Sheila Heti, Ben Lerner, Tao Lin: How 'Auto' is 'Autofiction'?". 11 May 2018.
  18. "Self Fare".
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