Pop culture fiction

Pop culture fiction is a genre of fiction where stories are written intentionally to be filled with references from other works and media.^[1][2] Stories in this genre are focused solely on using popular culture references.^[3]

Criteria

Some works in the genre use pop culture references to elicit nostalgia among its consumers, while other examples have the whole setting and universe themselves built upon and revolves around pop cultural references.^[2][4] Pop culture fiction doesn't just reference one or two titles, but works under this genre reference several titles across different genres and media.^[3][5]

Many types of postmodern works and modern-day homage, metafiction, satires and parodies fall under this category.^[2][3] But unlike more typically comedic satires and parodies, pop culture fiction contains depth, complexities and serious themes, with many even garnering critical acclaim.^[6][7] Many such stories have also been inspired by video games, horror, and geek culture.^[8][9]

Examples

Notable pop culture fiction books

• Bret Easton Ellis' novel American Psycho (both the book and film) became one of the earliest examples of this genre with its endless use of brands and criticism on business and mindless consumerism.^[1][6]
• Ernest Cline's Ready Player One and Ready Player Two which extensively use 1980s pop culture as its themes.^[2][4]
• Louis Bulaong's Escapist Dream and its sequel Otaku Girl are novels that genre-busts popular geek culture and topics into one virtual reality story.^[2]
• Chris Fox's The Dark Lord Bert is a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired gamelit filled with pop culture references.^[3]

List of pop culture fiction in comic format

• Scott Pilgrim which used various 1980s gaming references.^[2][6]
• Warren Ellis's Planetary.^[2]
• Outside of Western media, works such as Hayate The Combat Butler and Gin Tama have also become famous examples.^[2]

See also

• Pop art
• Postmodernist literature
  • Postmodernist film
  • Postmodern television
• Parody film
• Satire (film and television)
• Retro style
• Crossover fiction

References

1. Pickard, Kevin (19 January 2016). "Should Fiction Be Timeless? Pop Culture References in Contemporary Novels". Electric Lit. (NOTE: The term used for the genre in the article is "Pop-Culture-Referencing Fiction")
2. Kidd, Dustin. Pop Culture Freaks: Identity, Mass Media, and Society. Routledge; 2nd Edition (Updated: August 2020). pp. 143–145. ISBN 978-0813350875. Excerpt
3. Sweden, Stephen R. (12 November 2022). "Pop Culture in Literature: Styles, Themes, and Genres". New York University.
4. Alexander, Jonathan. The Uses and Abuses of Pop Culture in Ready Player One and Grandmother's Gold (July 7, 2020)
5. Żukiewicz, Przemysław (8 June 2023). "Poland as Gilead. Pop culture fiction and performative protests in the era of the pandemic". Sage Journals.
6. Renault, Henry Percy (15 October 2022). "A Guide to Writing Pop Culture Fiction". Literary Hub.
7. Kelly, Michael (10 February 2021). "Pop Culture (Encyclopedia of Aesthetics 2nd Edition)". Oxford University Press.
8. Stein, Daniel. From Comic Strips to Graphic Novels: Contributions to the Theory and History of Graphic Narrative (Narratologia, 37). De Gruyter; 1st edition (June 18, 2013). ISBN 978-3110281811. p. 286-287
9. Maberry, Jonathan. They Bite: Endless Cravings of Supernatural Predators. Citadel (August 31, 2021). ISBN 978-0806541433. p. 54, 78