- Aga saga
The Aga Saga is a sub-genre of the
family saga of literature. The genre is named for theAGA cooker , a type of stored-heat oven that came to be popular in medium to largecountry house s inEngland after its introduction in 1922. It refers primarily to fictional family sagas set amidst the economic class that might have been expected to own such cookers, but has also been applied to describe such settings within novels of other genres. The nickname "Aga Saga" is sometimes used condescendingly about this type of work. [Kington, Miles. (February 20, 2007) [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20070220/ai_n18622682/pg_1 A sorry saga of disparaging literary labelling] "The Independent " (London). Retrieved on 2008-05-29.] The term was incorporated into the "Oxford Companion to English Literature " in 2000. [Ezard, John. (September 21, 2000.) [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/sep/21/books.booksnews Kathy Acker replaces Walter Scott in reference work] "The Guardian ". Retrieved on 2008-05-29.]Characteristics
While the label has been applied to settings within other genres, [Wilbourne, David. (April 5, 2007) [http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=37064 Reading Groups: Wondering at a rich murder mystery] "Church Times" Issue 7517. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.] it is typically interpreted to refer to "a tale of illicit rumpy-pumpy in the countryside" according to a 2007 article in "
The Observer ". [Stewart, Heather. (August 5, 2007) [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/aug/05/theobserver.observerbusiness3 Aga creditors put on the slow burner] "The Observer", hosted at www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.] In setting, according to an earlier article in that paper, it offers a "gingham-checked world" associated with "thatched English villages" and "ladies in floral dresses". [O'Kelly, Lisa. (February 9, 2003) [http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/generalfiction/0,,891708,00.html Grace under fire: Grief, loss, but no Aga for Marika Cobbold's heroine in Shooting Butterflies] "The Observer" hosted at www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.] "Guardian" book critic Laura Wilson described an Aga Saga setting as "complete with sprawling, untidy farmhouse (flagstones, dogs, Wellington boots, and much nursing of mugs of coffee)". [Wilson, Laura. (June 10, 2006) [http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1793933,00.html New beginnings] "The Guardian" Retrieved on 2008-05-29.]Critical analyses
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The Times ", in a 2004 article, characterized the genre as the "older sister of the sex ’n’ shopping romances". [Howard, Philip. (March 20, 2004) [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1049407.ece An Aga saga: how emblem of gentry won urban chic] "The Times ". Retrieved on 2008-05-28.] According to a critical analysis in "The Independent ", the genre rose to prominence in the 1990s not as a continuance of the celebration of "sex and shopping [that] reflected the materialism of the 1980s", but as a signal of "disillusionment with those values".Clee, Nicholas. (September 15, 2004) [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/can-the-magic-last-forever-546257.html Can the magic last forever?] "The Independent " Retrieved on 2008-05-29.] "Guardian" Arts and Heritage correspondent Maev Kennedy described the genre poetically as encapsulating "the nostalgic yearning for an Arcadian idyll". [Kennedy, Maev. (July 25, 2002) [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/jul/25/arts.artsnews1 Best views in Britain - in the Elizabethan interpretation] "The Guardian". Retrieved on 2008-05-25.]Origin
The term was coined in 1992 by
novelist Terence Blacker to describe specifically the work ofJoanna Trollope ,Gibbons, Fiachra. (May 30, 2003) [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/may/30/books.guardianhayfestival2003 Queens of the bonkbuster and Aga saga defend the art--and heart--of their fiction] "The Guardian" Retrieved on 2008-05-29.] which not only inspired the label but popularized the type of literature typically so labeled. Trollope indicated in 2003 that " [t] he name itself indicates a provincial cosiness, and is patronising of the readers. A lot of what I write into the books is bleak and challenging but I will be the Queen of the Aga saga to my dying day. It's jolly annoying, but it is better than being the Queen of Hearts". In 2003 "The Guardian" reported that Blacker had expressed both his respect for the author and his remorse for contributing the label, indicating that it was applied "early in her career and these tags are rather distorting and unfair", but Blacker later indicated in "The Independent" that " [a] lthough it must be bloody annoying for a writer to have her work reduced to a flip phrase, I have only used it once and in a perfectly respectable context. What happened to the term after that is no more my responsibility than it would be Trollope's if her jokey reference to a certain kind of serious fiction as "grim lit" took hold". [Blacker, Terence. (May 31, 2003) [http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/aga-saga-may-be-my-phrase-but-its-not-my-style-591431.html 'Aga saga' may be my phrase, but it's not my style] "The Independent". Retrieved on 2008-05-29.] In 2005, Trollope indicated that she was "fairly tired of such an inaccurate and patronising tag". [Staff. (February 3, 2005) [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/joanna-trollope-you-ask-the-questions-484828.html Joanna Trollope: you ask the questions] "The Independent". Retrieved on 2008-05-29.] In the "Aga Saga" entry, "Oxford Companion to English Literature" exemplifies the genre by the work of Trollope, but notes that "by no means all her work fits the generally comforting implications of the label". [http://www.enotes.com/oce-encyclopedia/aga-saga Aga Saga] , "Oxford Companion to English Literature ". Hosted at enotes.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-29.]Notes
Further reading
*Janine Liladhar. "From the soap queen to the aga-saga: Different discursive frameworks of familial femininity in contemporary 'women's genres'. " Journal of Gender Studies 9.1 (2000): 5-12. Platinum Periodicals. [http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=53294296&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=9112&RQT=309&VName=PQD ProQuest] . 3 February 2008
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