TRAVIS HOMENUK

This summer there was significant pop culture buzz around E.L. James’ erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey. I was skeptical at first about reading the novel, but I’ve since realized it is an important cultural artifact and representation of sexuality in the 21st century.

Contrary to popular belief, Fifty Shades is not the end of literature, but rather the expansion of a particular kind of literature. Erotic novels aren’t a new concept — this one just happens to include BDSM, a type of eroticism encompassing bondage, domination and sado-masochism.

I’d never read erotica before but was convinced to read Fifty Shades by a friend who couldn’t put it down. I’ll try anything once and I’m not at all ashamed to say that I enjoyed the novel. In fact, I loved it.

While I’ll admit the writing is academically lacklustre and completely incomparable to that of literary titans like Atwood, Twain and Dickens, I found myself captivated by the plot.

And what I really mean by “plot” is “sex.”

Oh, goodness. What sex, indeed! Apparently the sex in this novel isn’t even that good in comparison to other erotica, but because I’m an erotica virgin, I didn’t know what to expect. Like the protagonist, Ana, I often found myself thinking, “This is wrong, but holy hell is it erotic.”

There seems to be a debate over the legitimacy of the novel as a piece of fiction. Critical readers are quick to call it “smut” or “trash” without actually reading James’ unique take on a love story.

Through gentle persuasion I managed to convince members of the English Undergraduate Society to read the novel, with the intention of having an academic discussion afterwards. I wanted to know whether my peers in academia could support the study of this novel — or ones like it — in a university setting. After all, the University of Saskatchewan doesn’t offer English classes in erotica. If they did, I’d be first to sign up!

Everyone will interpret the novel differently, and that is the beauty of literature.

Sex and sexuality are treated as taboo, subjects we prefer to keep to ourselves. It’s mostly okay to talk about sex when it’s vanilla, or “normal.” But as soon as sex becomes out-of-the ordinary — fisting, dominants, choking and the like — no one really knows what to say. More specifically, few want to talk about it or, in the case of Fifty Shades, read about it as serious literature.

With the aforementioned prejudices in mind, I was thoroughly delighted that members of the EUS were inclined to take part in my project. I wasn’t at all surprised by the conclusions we reached.

The consensus was that this novel is completely relevant to cultural, as opposed to literary, study.

It is, however, important to recognize — even begrudgingly — that this novel is literature, regardless of its descriptive sex scenes that cause readers to take cold showers or head for nunneries. The novel is also highly romantic, even if this romance is often expressed through BDSM. The most important, and perhaps the most poignant, point that was brought up has to do with open discussions about sexuality in general.

Even though the writing is weak and repetitive, and the characters are underdeveloped and stereotypical, Fifty Shades of Grey — whether you want to accept it or not — encourages its readers to talk about sex and sexuality openly.

Society needs this exposure to sexuality just to get conversations going. Hell, it made me more comfortable with my sexuality. This isn’t to say that other erotic novels can’t serve the same purpose but, because Fifty Shades began as Twilight fan fiction, its publicity has been astounding and it is now a bestseller.

I would politely ask skeptics of Fifty Shades (or erotica in general) to think about what these kinds of novels offer society. As far as I’m concerned, erotica maintains a valuable niche in literature that writers of academically recognized fiction will never be able to fill.

The ultimate question becomes: what belongs in a public space? Each individual will answer this question differently, depending on morals, religion and beliefs. It does, however, seem pertinent to acknowledge and state that novels are one of the most important forms of public discourse. Fifty Shades of Grey is just one more branch of novel-based discourse that requires and deserves cultural attention just like any other work of fiction.

So if you’re uncomfortable with writing that includes blowjobs and fucking hard as well as panty stealing and kinky foreplay, this novel probably isn’t for you. If you want a new take on romantic fiction, this novel is totally worth your time. You might find the novel anti-feminist, as some claim it is, or you might get some exciting ideas for your own romantic life.

Everyone will interpret the novel differently, and that is the beauty of literature.

The trick to reading a novel such as this is to be light and breezy about it. Don’t get offended by Christian’s controlling nature or Ana’s nonexistent personality. Accept it for what it is and move on. As I’ve alluded to, there’s not a lot of depth to James’ writing style. If Ana is blowing Christian in a bathtub, she’s blowing Christian in a bathtub. There’s no metaphor to be found here.

And yes, I do plan to read the entire trilogy — but only because my mom bought me the sequels. After all, I did invest a week of my summer vacation into reading this novel. I might as well find out if Ana changes Christian for the better. That’s all the justification I need.

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Illustration: Samantha Braun/The Sheaf