Gatekeeping literature?

Image source- WildCat Tribune

If you do not live under the rock and are active on Instagram, you would surely have come across many memes on Colleen Hoover (popularly known as CoHo), Chetan Bhagat, and the like. As funny as they are, and a good addition to the reviews, they can sometimes be quite judgemental and dismissive.

After having seen memes on CoHo and her over-hyped books, I surely do not intend to read her books ever and waste my time. But in my early years as a reader, even I have come across and read books which aren't up to the standards and ended up disliking them or finding them just okay-ish. Those books which are considered average by the readers at large, I happened to even like a few of them. 

Gatekeeping in literature can be in the form of not allowing one to be a part of book communities and book clubs, harshly judging and criticizing one's reading taste which can even demotivate one to read, etc.

With time, having read sublime creations in literature, either classics or contemporary, or as a leisure read or part of the college syllabus, I do confess to looking down on some books or genres. It can be in the form of harmless memes (a social service😜) or not recommending anyone to read the particular book. But there are no harsh judgements and let people read whatever they want. 

One of the genres that is gaining momentum is smut fiction, which a lot of cultivated readers may look down to. Or the books featured on booktok (TikTok for books and literature). Back in 2021, having heard a name of a book recommended a lot, I gave it a try. And oh boy, I couldn't just wait to get through it and put it down (regretting that I should have left the book in between). The relationship dynamic between the leads was so awkward and the book's only saving grace seemed to be its representation of how women are treated in STEM. I promised myself to never read BookTok recommendations again (and books of that author).

What I've observed (I can be wrong) is that popular fiction is now written as per what sells, and maybe not what the author really wants to write about. Some authors and publishers go by the market trends.

Some books live up to the hype created on social media. Like Jenny Han's TO All The Boys trilogy (YA fiction), A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Book Thief (my current read) by Markus Zusak, and Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. While many others fail to appease the audience at large.

Though the content and language would not be up to the standard, popular fiction can attract more people to get into reading, and hopefully, with time, turn to sublime literature (either classic or contemporary). As much as we make fun of Chetan Bhagat and his works, his books did attract a lot of Indian audiences to get into reading. 

Not everyone can comprehend William Shakespeare or Shashi Tharoor (running to the dictionary after every line), but with time, we can get there. 

Popular contemporary fiction, even if it may not have much depth or content, can be a stepping stone for newbies to get into the world of literature. So gatekeeping literature can do more harm than good to the reading community. We can surely still continue making harmless memes, but not be judgemental or dismissive. 

Image Source- Know Your Meme