I think I basically agree: it's the difference between 'actually upset' and 'wrung out but exhilarated.' There's a certain... I don't know how to say this without sounding critical (which I manifestly am not; I enjoy angst, but don't like depressing) -- but there's a certain over-the-top element in angst, an exuberance.
I'm having trouble coming up with examples, because most of my angst-diet comes from fan fiction. I think it's kind of... okay: depressing books focus on the horrible things that happen, and the characters' emotional reactions underline the horribleness. So in Bridge to Terabithia, Leslie's death is an exemplar and emphasizer of Jesse's isolation; it's the pain of misunderstanding and isolation that is frontlined. Or in The Yearling, the necessity of Flag's death seems, to me, to be used as an example of the pain of growing up and the loss of innocence. The pain is serious business; it's not a pleasure. I'm perfectly well aware that if either of those things happened to me, I'd be genuinely miserable, not ecstatic with grief.
In an angsty fanfic story, though, both physical pain and emotional anguish are means to explore (and wallow in, and even enjoy) emotional heights and depths. It's a safe way to feel that you love someone so much you want to die, or to have a sort of private empathetic pity-party for someone for whom nothing ever goes right. The point isn't a message or a theme -- there's no point except 'it feels good to feel these things, but at a safe remove.' I don't actually want to die, nor has everything gone wrong for me, but I can wade around in the feeling a bit, and then leave... and then come back if I want to, or not. (I'm sure I've read things that aren't fanfic that push this button, but I'm having trouble thinking of them off the top of my head. Probably the closest in terms of YA-fiction-of-my-youth are the Vampire Diaries-type novels, where it's not so much 'my boyfriend died' as 'my boyfriend is a tormented vampire soul who is torn between keeping me forever, but as a damned soul, and leaving me to be whole but alone.' Again, that sounds very dismissive -- but I really don't mean it dismissively.)
I've heard the term 'emo porn' tossed around, the vicarious pleasure got from reading about or witnessing extremes of emotion that most of us don't feel day-to-day (and usually, that it's a good thing that we don't feel). I think that's part of it. It's fun to feel strongly, within safe boundaries. But a truly depressing book isn't safe; it's scary. It says 'this really could happen to you, and you know perfectly well that, if it did, you wouldn't enjoy it at all.'
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Date: 2008-02-19 07:43 pm (UTC)I think I basically agree: it's the difference between 'actually upset' and 'wrung out but exhilarated.' There's a certain... I don't know how to say this without sounding critical (which I manifestly am not; I enjoy angst, but don't like depressing) -- but there's a certain over-the-top element in angst, an exuberance.
I'm having trouble coming up with examples, because most of my angst-diet comes from fan fiction. I think it's kind of... okay: depressing books focus on the horrible things that happen, and the characters' emotional reactions underline the horribleness. So in Bridge to Terabithia, Leslie's death is an exemplar and emphasizer of Jesse's isolation; it's the pain of misunderstanding and isolation that is frontlined. Or in The Yearling, the necessity of Flag's death seems, to me, to be used as an example of the pain of growing up and the loss of innocence. The pain is serious business; it's not a pleasure. I'm perfectly well aware that if either of those things happened to me, I'd be genuinely miserable, not ecstatic with grief.
In an angsty fanfic story, though, both physical pain and emotional anguish are means to explore (and wallow in, and even enjoy) emotional heights and depths. It's a safe way to feel that you love someone so much you want to die, or to have a sort of private empathetic pity-party for someone for whom nothing ever goes right. The point isn't a message or a theme -- there's no point except 'it feels good to feel these things, but at a safe remove.' I don't actually want to die, nor has everything gone wrong for me, but I can wade around in the feeling a bit, and then leave... and then come back if I want to, or not. (I'm sure I've read things that aren't fanfic that push this button, but I'm having trouble thinking of them off the top of my head. Probably the closest in terms of YA-fiction-of-my-youth are the Vampire Diaries-type novels, where it's not so much 'my boyfriend died' as 'my boyfriend is a tormented vampire soul who is torn between keeping me forever, but as a damned soul, and leaving me to be whole but alone.' Again, that sounds very dismissive -- but I really don't mean it dismissively.)
I've heard the term 'emo porn' tossed around, the vicarious pleasure got from reading about or witnessing extremes of emotion that most of us don't feel day-to-day (and usually, that it's a good thing that we don't feel). I think that's part of it. It's fun to feel strongly, within safe boundaries. But a truly depressing book isn't safe; it's scary. It says 'this really could happen to you, and you know perfectly well that, if it did, you wouldn't enjoy it at all.'