Why isn't the fantasy genre of writing considered to be ';true'; literature? Doesn't fantasy examine humanness?

A student posed this question to me. She wondered why most teachers and ';academia'; don't consider fantasy novels as ';literature';.Why isn't the fantasy genre of writing considered to be ';true'; literature? Doesn't fantasy examine humanness?
I have asked that question myself. Someone once told me that genre fiction like fantasy, western, romance, mystery all follow strict patterns and molds and that was why it isn't considered ';literature'; ... well I say that is just bogus. If you read a well written fantasy you will find all the same cultural discourses as you will find in 'regular' lit but it is simply disguised and wrapped differently. I can tell you that she won't be reading any fantasy in her college lit courses unless she takes a genre class. Sad but true.Why isn't the fantasy genre of writing considered to be ';true'; literature? Doesn't fantasy examine humanness?
When people mention ';Fantasy novels'; they are probably refering to the pulp fiction variety you can buy at the grocery store. While some of those titles may not qualify as ';literature';, it would be pretty hard to argue that Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia would not qualify as literature.





The same can be said of ';Romance Novels';. Why are Harlequin romances considered pulp, whil Dr. Zhivago is considered literature?





A good question to put to your student would be, '; What makes a piece of writing ';literature'; as opposed to just another book?';





I'm not 100% sure of the answer myself, but it would make an interesting assignment.
';literature'; is one of those vacuous buzzwords, much like ';modernism'; ';post-modernism'; etc. i just earned my ba in english literature, and throughout my entire academic career, someone asked that question in at least one course per semester. i agree, Dune is much better than something along the lines of ';Lady Audley's Secret'; but that might just be personal taste.


anyway, the point is, the label literature is always challenged, always will be challenged, and the canon will always change because publishers make money when they add another author to the canon and have to sell another norton anthology of literature for $100.