As chick lit, where lit is the short form of literature (~ literature), one refers to fiction, which is mainly directed at young women. The term could be translated literally with Tussi literature. The meaning of this is that Chick lit is an unpretentious but humorous and shallow novel, whose target group is women. This term, which appeared for the first time in the 1990s, is quite positive.
The English Chick means in the German chick or even young bird. However, the term is also used as a tussi or girl and can thus be regarded as an abuse for women, or at least as a description of a superficial, vain dummy as well as a young woman.
The term does not refer to the readership, but rather to the protagonists of the work, that is, the figures that appear in it. Chick lit is therefore about young women and their circle of friends, who live a life in the upper or middle class and live through the ups and downs of everyday life.
Note: This is mainly not a matter of sophisticated literature, but very shallow entertainment. Well-known representatives of the genre are, for example, the book “Sex and the City”, based on Candace Bushnell’s column of the same name, or the novel “Chocolate for Breakfast” by Helen Fielding. The genre includes dramas, comedies, vampire romans and mysteries.
Characteristics of Chick lit
Since the genre is quite new and only since chocolate for breakfast or Sex and the City became very popular, there are no clear characteristics. Nevertheless, there are some characteristics that apply to most works of the young genus.
At the heart of the novel are, in principle, young women who have to assert themselves in their job and mostly in the social middle or upper class. Often, the protagonist is a woman who is in both lives, but always in search of love.
The defining motif of the genre is the love and the search for the right partner. Frequently, the main character is turbulent in the circle of friends, with rumors, gossip, gossip and affairs as well as the pursuit of the love affair the greatest conflicts.
As a result, everyday situations determine the action of the novel and usually culminate in comic or ironic moments or a stroke exchange in the circle of friends.
In contrast to the educational romance, the heroine is already at the very beginning in the middle of life and has only to assert itself in this itself. It is not so much about the development of the protagonist or the accomplishment of a great task. Primarily individual (comic) episodes or self-discovery are in the absolute foreground of the story.
Thus, the world of the figures is fundamentally salvific, is thus diminished only by smaller, rather comic, conflicts and corresponds in large part to the expectation of the reader. This is due to the fact that there is usually a clear distinction between good and evil or even right and wrong, whereby the work usually ends happily, thus has a happy ending.
The latter characteristic of Chick lit is also why the genre can be understood as a trivial literatur. This designation must be accepted, since it is usually affirmative. Affirmation means that the existing corporate image is not interrupted or interrogated. In contrast to this, Hochliteratur strives to deal with this image.
A further feature of the chit lit trivial character is that books are genuinely written for a mass audience, and are often produced in band work, especially through the success of the above examples. A beautiful world, which makes a clear distinction between Gut and evil.
Chick flick and Chick lit
In the area of the film there is a linguistic counterpart: the so-called Chick flick. This term is used to describe films that tell of love or focus on emotions. These too are mainly aimed at a female audience.
Flick is in English the colloquial word for film. The characteristics of the film genres are not different from the literary ones. In the film, too, young, self-confident women are at the center of the narrative and move in a healthy world that is fundamentally divided into good and evil.
Traditionally such films come to the cinema around Valentine’s Day, but of course there are exceptions. One example is the classic Dirty Dancing. But also in recent times we will find what the filming of Sex and the City, but of course the Twilight series fabulous illustrated.