Babel Clash

Despite the popularity of urban fantasy as a genre, people are always asking me what it is. Usually, after explaining the whole paranormal fantasy, modern world stuff I go on to tell them that urban fantasy is also a melting pot of genre — a multi-genre, if you will.

It’s true: There’s something for everyone in urban fantasy. That’s why I started reading the genre and also why I write it. Playing with genre conventions and combining elements in new ways is part of what makes writing UF so fun.

You know what else makes it fun? The humor.

Hi! I’m Jaye Wells. I like a little sarcasm with my blood. I like making fun of the things that scare me. And there’s nothing I love better than a some seriously twisted humor.

But while I aspire to the love child of threesome between Janet Evanovich, Chuck Palahniuk and Christopher Moore, I get that not everyone laughs at the same things I do. Remember how I said Urban Fantasy has something for everyone? Well, whether you like your humor subtle, sarcastic or slapstick, there’s an urban fantasy author out there writing it. So I thought I’d kick off our two weeks together by talking about one of my favorite kinds of humor in urban fantasy: Snark.

First, can we agree the term is overused? These days, pretty much anything anyone says that’s the least bit sarcastic is labeled snark. But, in my opinion, true snark is an art form. In fact, I prefer the term “sardonica” but so far no one else is biting on that term. So snark it is. Now, what the heck is it?

At its best, snark is witty cynicism with a heavy dose of sarcasm. At its worst, snark comes off as snotty and, well, let’s face it, douche-y. Especially when wielded by blog trolls, obnoxious radio personalities and pseudo-intellectuals.

It’s also often confused for other common comedic devices: repartee, satire, gallows humor, farce, irony, parody. The confusion often comes from the fact that snark blends so well with these other devices and is even combined with them to great effect by skilled comedic writers. But in my opinion, snark is really just a preemptive offensive defense.

Bear with me while I get a little deep for a moment. Often the most effective wielders of snark are highly intelligent people who spent at least part of their childhoods being punched by metaphorical or literal bullies. In other words, they developed verbal weapons where they did not have physical ones. In addition, these same people probably spent a large part of their teen years observing their peers to try and figure out why everyone else seemed to fit in while they did not. Thus, a snarkist was born: a keen observer of human nature that wields words like weapons to cut down opponents before they themselves can be cut down.

I should also point out that these same breeding grounds can also give birth to writers and serial killers, but that’s another blog post altogether.

In fiction, snark is often used by characters who have built thick walls around themselves. That’s probably why so many urban fantasy heroines (and Sabina Kane is no exception) wield both snark and literal weapons. The guns kill enemies and the words keep potential allies at bay, but both types of weapons are meant to disguise vulnerabilities.

But given snark’s somewhat regrettable reasons for existing, why do we find it so freaking funny? Again, this is only my opinion, but I think we all have an inner snarkist. It’s just that snarky characters in books actually say what they’re thinking. They flaunt the polite rules of society that demand that if we don’t have anything nice to say, we don’t say it at all. And how many of us haven’t wanted to speak our minds more often? To be able to say just the right cut down at the exact right moment (instead of thinking of it two hours later when you’re halfway into a gallon of Chunky Monkey).

As an author, writing snark can be incredibly cathartic. First of all, I get to say things in print I might never say in public. If you read my twitter feed it might surprise you to know I actually do censor myself. But Giguhl, the hairless cat demon from my Sabina Kane series, says all sorts of things I’d be embarrassed to say in polite company. Second, it’s really fun to see how a character’s use of snark changes as they grow through a series. As a character becomes more open to relationships with other characters, their humor tends to get less caustic and defensive and more driven by camaraderie and good-natured ribbing.

I could probably talk about snark all week, but I’m more interested in knowing your opinions on this subject. Do you agree with my definition of snark? What urban fantasy authors do you think use it well? But most of all, inquiring minds want to know: Do you like your urban fantasy dark, light or somewhere in between?

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