Pure pleasure (for voyeurism) and danger (for critical thinking)

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March 26, 2017 by Memes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Dreamworld_of_a_Shopaholic

Teenage fictions have great distinction from classic fiction or literary fiction.
One example would be the famous series of novel “Shopaholic” (by Sophie Kinsella).
This series of novel is culturally pre-digested and for pure pleasure.
Though lots of novels would share its similar qualities and that Shopaholics may not stand out for a reason, it is difficult to talk about all other similar works at once.
Yet, what may make Shopaholic a bit different than other selections is that it is especially situated in modern life setting customized by the down-to-earth quotidian problem: the ‘buying-too-much’ problem, which makes it all the way different than classic novels.

The novels emphasize the plot yet not literary device like other teenage literature (or not really literature). They share similar style of content like soap opera since it merely focuses how the protagonist Becky tackles her financial problem. It foregrounds the obstacles and tension like how she is hindered from purchasing a scarf (citing The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic as an example), instead of giving hints or symbolic implication/revelation to reflect on commodity fetishism or Marxism from an analytical perspective.

When a work is too easy to decode or does not need to be decoded to be understood, it does not require critical thinking (for that its target audience can be open to all, contributing to its revenue). It is the mere and constant tension and resolution without meaningful insight that the novels are focusing on. The only reasonable ground for pleasure I can deduce is voyeurism. When a lot of literature does not require critical thinking and is shallow but cater to voyeurism, it becomes the danger to our minds. In addition, the novel is pre-digested on the grounds that what readers read is already read for them, for easier understanding, better memory for everything in the plot, etc.

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