This trans-disciplinary thesis questions how theories of generification are useful in clarifying misunderstood literature and the role of similar, f¬¬ormulaic narratives in literary business. It attempts to answer the question through four parts: defining generification and related business marketing topics; a literary case study centering on Frankenstein; a second case study on the poem “The Road Not Taken”; and, an application of the demonstrated ideas to Young Adult (YA) publishing trends of 2005-2015. The first section concludes that the presence of a formula, created through the theories of heroic journeys and archetypes, lends itself to generification in literary marketing as publishing houses attempt to find the next virally successful narrative. The first case study, focused on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, establishes the existence of generification throughout the work’s life, attributing the generification to her characterization of both Doctor and Creature as antiheroes, a purposeful overlap leading to centuries of misinterpretation. The second case study centers around Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, concluding that in this situation generification greatly impacted both the legacy of the work and the image of the author. The section examines the role of Americanization in the confabulation of both the poem and the author, proving that the butchered interpretation greatly damages the reading of the poem. Finally, this paper takes the established concept of generification, along with related ideas such as narrative economics and formula fiction, and applies these ideas to an analysis of the YA publishing industry. It concludes that the simple existence of fandom culture creates a paradox: the fandom demands a constant stream of quality narratives, both inciting and rejecting any purposeful generification attempted on the part of the publishers.
Throughout my paper, I will discuss a few individuals from two different marketing industries, print and digital media, who chose to market themselves as ‘bossy’; people who gained momentum from a stand still by asserting themselves into seemingly untouchable opportunities, including RJ Orr, VP of Sales at bluemedia inc, and Jeff Herzog, Founder and CEO of ZOG Digital Media and Founder and former CEO of iCrossing. Through my study of these individuals, I will identify several leadership
qualities that have aided them in their journeys to success, and then discuss the ways I have started to incorporate the characteristics into my own life as I begin my own career path.I will demonstrate that momentum in the marketing world is gained not by being in the right place at the right time, instead, it is ga ined by ensuring you are in the right place, and by making it the right time. Effective leaders in marketing must forge new opportunities for themselves while committing to the things that they are passionate about. They must remain teachable and steer clear of being a prisoner of their own experiences through comfort with status quo. Service and initiative are critical keys to upward mobility, and leaders must harness the ability to connect with the people they
work with and understand that sometimes their “right way” might not be the only right way. In order to reach the optimum level of innovation, the company will always need to be reaching forward, moving its feet, and racing towards success through creating opportunities from places that seem inopportune.