Non-fiction. Such a negative name for a genre. It seems to say that non-fiction is just those pieces of writing for which nobody could be bothered to make up anything interesting to pit into it. Maybe analogous to calling fiction ‘untrue stories’.
Worst of all, the name seems to imply that non-fiction is the ‘little brother’ of fiction, that it’s less-than fiction. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Non-fiction tells us what’s happening in the world, what people think and feel and dream. Many of our unpublished writings are non-fiction – think of letter-writing, study notes and journalling. Non-fiction also conveys opinions, news of the world, and the great stories of our culture.
How did the genre come by its unflattering name? Before library science went from an art to a science, it never had a name at all. Fiction was named, as were things like theology, history, art, natural history, and others. Then, when library science became a science, there was a need to categorize together all those things that were not fiction – thus the term ‘non-fiction’.
Lets give non-fiction a better name. Call it ‘truth-telling’ or ‘written life’. Call it ‘real stories’ and call fiction ‘invented stories’. Call it what you will, just don’t let it become a second-class citizen!
