Systems novel is a literary genre named by Tom LeClair in his 1987 book In the Loop: Don DeLillo and the Systems Novel, and explored further in LeClair's 1989 book, The Art of Excess: Mastery in Contemporary American Fiction.[1] LeClair used systems theory to critique novels by authors including Thomas Pynchon, William Gaddis and Ursula Le Guin. Citing Fritjof Capra's description of systems theory as a "new vision of reality"[1]: 6 LeClair invoked ideas from thinkers such as James Lovelock, Gregory Bateson and Douglas Hofstadter to analyse how the novels in question depicted processes and relationships within social, cultural, economic and political systems. LeClair's systems novels were all "long, large and dense"[1]: 6 and all in some way striving for "mastery", showing similarity to Moby-Dick and Absalom, Absalom! in "range of reference, artistic sophistication, and desire for profound effect."[1]: 6
Subsequent critics widened the geographical range but mostly adhered to the notion that systems novels were typically large and dense, making the concept overlap with other critical terms such as encyclopedic novel and maximalism. This weakened its usefulness as a genre definition, but with the rise of the internet, the systems novel has come to be seen as reflecting the conditions of network culture. The term is now used in at least two different ways, stemming from LeClair's thesis though with different emphases. One highlights bulk, broadness of scope, range of content and greatness of ambition. The other highlights engagement with scientific and technological concepts such as information theory, complexity and emergence. Some systems novels fit both categories, though not all.
^ abcdLeClair, Tom, The Art of Excess: Mastery in Contemporary American Fiction University of Illinois Press, 1989.
how the novels in question depicted processes and relationships within social, cultural, economic and political systems. LeClair's systemsnovels were all...
coining the related terms systemsnovel and maximalist novel. Mendelson describes numerous qualities of the encyclopedic novel: they include "the full account...
LeClair had previously coined the term systemsnovel in his 1987 book In the Loop: Don DeLillo and the SystemsNovel, exploring the concept further in his...
System of systems is a collection of task-oriented or dedicated systems that pool their resources and capabilities together to create a new, more complex...
known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive, are set. Outside...
All Systems Down is a 2018 techno-thriller novel by American writer Sam Boush. The novel deals with a cyberwarfare attack on Western countries, focusing...
personnel, and other care providers; systems for lab technologists, pharmacists, and radiologists; and billing systems for insurers. MyChart is used in the...
characters. Six novels set in the Spelljammer universe were published by TSR, before TSR was incorporated into Wizards of the Coast. The novels were interconnected...
'systemsnovel', the key 'systems' of Strong Motion according to Franzen are "... the systems of science and religion—two violently opposing systems of...
Dynamical systems theory is an area of mathematics used to describe the behavior of complex dynamical systems, usually by employing differential equations...
The Broom of the System is the first novel by the American writer David Foster Wallace, published in 1987. Wallace submitted the novel as one of two undergraduate...
is a 2019 science fiction novel by British author Adrian Tchaikovsky, the second in his Children of Time series. The novel was well received, winning...
of a prequel episode, Dysfunctional Systems: Orientation on July 24, 2017. Dysfunctional Systems is a visual novel series, where the player reads text...
systems such as the Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, PlayStation Portable, or Xbox 360. The more famous visual novels are also often adapted into light novels...
The novel of manners is a work of fiction that re-creates a social world, conveying with detailed observation the complex of customs, values, and mores...
An early warning system is a warning system that can be implemented as a chain of information communication systems and comprises sensors, event detection...
Global Information