THE NEOPULP MANIFESTO (v.2)
(revised 21/12/2006)
Contents
1. To Begin With
2. Concerning Etymology
3. Furthermore
4. Some Attempts at Definition
5. Serving Suggestions
6. Fine Tuning
7. In Conclusion
8. NeoPulp salutes those who have paved the way
1. To Begin With:
NeoPulp is not a new style of writing.
It is a fusion of several well-tenured styles of writing.
NeoPulp draws liberally from the fantastic stories
of this and previous centuries, a melange of mythology and popular
culture (take a bit of Godzilla, a bit of Paradise Lost, some
giant robots, the sexual tension of a romance novel and the Bhagavad-Gita
and mix them all together), and adds to this a “literary” understanding
of characters’ motivations and emotional needs.
NeoPulp embraces the clichés of pulp
writing: the naïve superscience of B-movies, the nefarious
underworld criminal mastermind, the lone sheriff against a town
of outlaws, the young woman torn between love for a mysterious
stranger and respect for her fiancée, and the mad god
bent on destruction, and examines them closely in an attempt
to find - or try - something novel: a subversion, an inversion,
a juxtaposition, a statement about the human condition.
NeoPulp is born of a love and admiration for
the flawed nature of pulp culture; it is not an exercise in poking
fun at the plot and character shortcomings that are endemic to
pulp. Such things are obvious and have been done to death. Rather,
NeoPulp attempts to create a real and sympathetic portrait of
these bizarre and self-contradictory characters and situations.
NeoPulp fuses the legacy of romantic, realist,
post-modern and modernist writing with popular culture entities
such as B-movies, comics, television, pop music and airport novels.
NeoPulp places realistically-defined characters
into fantastic situations. It avoids the two-dimensional characterisation
of pulp fiction while embracing every aspect of its subject material.
NeoPulp takes what is great about pulp fiction
- the action, the sense of adventure and danger, the exploration
of strange and fascinating ideas - and combines it with what
is great about contemporary fiction - sophisticated understanding
of characterisation and an awareness of and a willingness to
draw upon literary history.
NeoPulp stands opposed to the tendency to pigeonhole
writing as one or another kind of genre or sub-genre.
NeoPulp is not restricted to one medium. NeoPulp occurs
in poetry, short stories and novels alike. It occurs in comics,
song lyrics, movies and television. NeoPulp transcends
genre boundaries; it likewise transcends boundaries of medium.
NeoPulp lacks the po-faced portentousness of
contemporary genre fiction.
NeoPulp is fun without being stupid.
NeoPulp is not aimed at a specific demographic.
NeoPulp is for anyone who enjoys reading.
2. Concerning Etymology:
The “Neo” of NeoPulp refers to NeoPulp’s
tendency to use distinctive elements of contemporary popular culture. This
is not to say that NeoPulp can only be set in the present.
It is merely to imply that the sensibilities of NeoPulp tend
toward the contemporary.
The “Pulp” of NeoPulp acknowledges the progenitors
of this kind of writing: the authors who have worked within various genre fields
and gone largely unacknowledged by people other than highly specialised groups
of fans.
3. Furthermore:
It is a widely acknowledged
fact that all manifestoes contain within them a series of outrageous
and dubious claims. Here then is such a claim that may be freely
associated with NeoPulp:
"The current trend toward 'realist' fiction has created a reading public
who simply look for the most accurate reflection of themselves in what they
read. They hold a mirror to themselves with the books that they choose. This
is an intolerably narrow standpoint. NeoPulp challenges the
idea that this is all that people want. It stimulates the imagination and the
sense of adventure, the sense of humour, the sense of fun, the sense of amazement
in a way that is beyond the capabilities of 'realist' fiction."
Another requisite element of manifestoes is a somewhat pompous
and slightly incoherent rant about the purpose and future of the
movement:
“NEOPULP IS NOT REALISM. IT IS UNREALISM, OVER-REALISM,
COUNTER-REALISM. NO LONGER SHALL THERE BE ONE BOX FOR ACCURATE REALISM AND
ANOTHER FOR UNREAL DEPICTIONS - THE LIKES OF FANTASY, SCIENCE FICTION, ROMANCE
AND REALISM ALL COME TOGETHER UNDER THE NEOPULP BANNER.”
4. Some Attempts at Definition:
The most important clarification is to point
out what NeoPulp isn't. This will allow an understanding
of what NeoPulp is.
• NeoPulp is
not horror, although elements of horror are present in NeoPulp,
such as zombies, vampires, serial killers and haunted houses.
• NeoPulp is not fantasy, although elements of fantasy
are present in NeoPulp, such as magic, Gods, mythological characters
and certain character archetypes such as the warrior and the wise man.
• NeoPulp is not science fiction, although elements of
science fiction are present in NeoPulp, such as advanced technologies
(eg robots, cloning, teleportation devices) and alien races.
• NeoPulp is not realism, although elements of realism
are present in NeoPulp, such as sophisticated portrayals of
the psychological profiles of characters depicted, and aspects of the mundane
world (eg the need for employment, desire to be entertained, governmental restrictions,
a narrative understanding of the consequences of actions…)
• Most importantly, NeoPulp is not satire. The subject
matter which NeoPulp draws from is undeniably flawed in many
ways. To point out these flaws would be an easy and redundant matter. Instead NeoPulp attempts
to respond to these flaws in a different way, utilising them as the underpinning
of a re-interpretation of pulp fiction conventions that is sympathetic to its
protagonists, rather than cynical, critical or dismissive.
5. Serving Suggestions:
NeoPulp draws on various sources
for its iconography and archetypes, including (but not restricted
to) comics, pop-songs, mythology, B-movies, epic poetry, cartoons,
romance novels, westerns, television and fairytales. The following
are examples of NeoPulp archetypes.
a) The goddess suffering an existential crisis.
b) Philosophical musings of the radioactive dinosaur.
c) The robot in love with the evil robot it was designed to destroy.
d) The internal politics of a superhero team.
e) The childhood reminiscences of the astronaut monkey.
f) The broken-hearted ex-sheriff with a time machine.
g) Frankenstein runs for President.
h) Vishnu joins the space program.
i) The ex-commando private eye is diagnosed with cancer.
These are not held up as proscriptive examples, merely a taste of what is possible
within the ambit of NeoPulp (see point 8, "NeoPulp salutes
those who have paved the way" for more examples).
6. Fine Tuning
Since its inception, NeoPulp has
encountered several well-meaning misinterpretations of its fundamental
characteristics. The following are intended to correct common misconceptions
regarding whether or not a piece of writing is truly NeoPulp:
• NeoPulp always contains
a significant amount of recognisable, tangible elements drawn directly
from the contemporary culture of the authors of NeoPulp stories.
• NeoPulp is more than the simple name-dropping of obvious
popular culture icons for the sake of humour or nostalgia. A key element of NeoPulp is
a considered and creative approach to the consequences of the structural inadequacies
of pulp writing.
• NeoPulp is not deliberately constructed as an allegorical
story-telling form. Thinly-disguised concepts that "stand in" for contemporary
social situations are unnecessary in NeoPulp. The social situations themselves
can be used in NeoPulp stories.
• It is acknowledged that NeoPulp bears a striking resemblance
to postmodernism, but its dialectic is more concerned with the interplay between "high" and "low" culture
than it is with the interplay between the past and the present.
7. In Conclusion:
It should be pointed out at this time that, as
with most manifestoes, the use-by date on the NeoPulp Manifesto
is rather close. By the time the reader reaches this point of the NeoPulp Manifesto,
the manifesto itself will have become obsolete.
8. NeoPulp salutes those who have paved the way.
The writers of the
following texts are presently unaware of the existence of the NeoPulp
manifesto. Many of these texts predate the manifesto's existence.
Regardless, the following is a list of exemplary NeoPulp writing,
to be used as a benchmark indicating the form's potential.
books
• Steven
Sherrill - The
Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break
• Michael Moorcock - The
Cornelius Quartet
• Kirstin Bakis - Lives
of the Monster Dogs
• Earl Mac Raunch - Buckaroo
Banzai
• Jan Lars Jensen - Shiva
3000
• Stephen Dobyns - Heat
Death comics
• Ben Kooyman - Hamlet vs. Faustus (new
addition)
• Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba - Casanova (new
addition)
• Alan Moore – League
of Extraordinary Gentlemen
• Elizabeth Watasin – Charm
School
• Warren Ellis – Planetary
• Grant Morrison - The
Invisibles
• Ann Nocenti - Longshot
• Jill Thompson - Scary
Godmother
• Benjamin Birdie - Genre
City
music
• The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi
Battles the Pink Robots
• The Buggles - The
Age of Plastic
• Devo - Duty
Now for the Future (esp. "Secret Agent Man" & "Smart
Patrol")
• Laurie Anderson - Mister
Heartbreak
• Batboy
the Musical
film and television
• The
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (film) (new
addition)
• Firefly/Serenity (TV/movie) (new
addition)
• Bubba-Ho-Tep (film)
• Heat
Vision and Jack (television pilot)
• Amateur (film)
• Buffy
the Vampire Slayer (TV)
• Evil
Dead III: Army of Darkness (film)
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