Source: Teal Swan.
A significant segment of young-adult (YA) fiction is written by Mormon writers, although the growth of LGBTQ themes within the genre is causing strain among these authors and their readers, reports the New York Times (September 3). Although it is difficult to quantify, the article by Abby Aguirre reports that “Latter-day Saints are some of the most enthusiastic readers of Y.A. and genre fiction in the country. And many become fiction writers themselves, aided by a tight network of writing programs, conferences, workshops and publishers in the Latter-day Saints community.” The LDS’s Brigham Young University (BYU) and its writing classes are an important incubator of YA authors and books. Aguirre adds that the LDS-infused culture of Utah “fosters a workaday approach to fiction writing, akin to that of the songwriting rooms of Nashville, and it has produced some juggernauts.” She cites best-selling “Twilight” series author Stephenie Meyer, but also the sci-fi and fantasy author Brandon Sanderson (sci-fi and fantasy being another genre with a large proportion of Mormon writers), Ally Condie, author of the “Matched” trilogy, and Shannon Hale, author of the “Princess Academy” series. Sanderson, who also teaches at BYU and runs his own publishing company, attributes the vital fiction publishing scene among Mormons to the emphasis LDS families place on reading. Many LDS people grow up with their parents reading them passages of scripture. But the history of Mormon fiction writing is long. A “home literature” movement was spurred in the 1880s when church leaders urged members to write their own fiction in the face of the growing popularity of novels.
While the strong fantasy element in these works may seem contradictory to outsiders, imagination and romance are not incongruous with the theological speculation and faith lives of many LDS believers, according to authors interviewed in the article. They also said that a key reason Latter-day Saints members tend to write for teenagers and children is a church-inspired distaste for the explicit material that is commonly found in adult fiction. Although the LDS church has no official policy regarding the reading or writing of fiction, members tend to prefer writing “clean” books. But the LDS and Utah’s writing and reading culture have felt the reverberations as YA literature has become more explicit on sex and violence as well as gender identity. LDS-raised writers are struggling with the greater openness of LDS and ex-LDS young adults on gender and sexual issues, with surveys finding that LGBTQ issues are one factor in youth leaving the church. Aguirre notes that six of the authors contacted for the Times article responded that they were no longer active in the church, largely because they dissented from the church’s positions on sexual and gender issues. Writing teachers have also resigned from BYU because of clashes over teaching and writing on these issues, though most of the authors said that self-censorship is more common to avoid objections from conservative readers. Prominent book outlets in Utah like Deseret Books have refused to carry some of these books addressing LGBTQ issues in a progressive way.
Meanwhile, disproportionate LDS influence can also be seen in the startup culture of multilevel marketing companies (MLMs), according to Deborah Whitehead in the Mormon Studies Review (Vol. 10, 2023). The LDS involvement has been portrayed in the 2021 Amazon Prime series LuLaRich, which chronicled the meteoric rise and fall of the company LuLaRoe, a billion-dollar women’s clothing enterprise that was founded in 2013 by DeAnne and Mark Stidham. The show depicted the couple’s strong Mormon faith and attributed much of their success to the convergence of several factors related to LDS culture. Whitehead notes that Utah is the world capital of MLMs and direct sales companies, which represent the second largest industry in the state, generating $8.5 billion in annual revenue. She adds that many factors relating to the LDS can explain Mormons’ predominance in MLMs, especially the strong connections formed in their faith communities and the language skills of their members. The many returned missionaries in the state (a year of missionary service being required of active members) represent a supply of foreign language speakers that can easily create international sales forces.
But more importantly it is the faith’s evangelistic drive, calling members to actively recruit new members and share their “testimony,” that translates into MLMs’ method of person-to-person sales among one’s neighbors and friends. The LDS’s positive attitude to social media, encouraging members to use the medium to spread their faith, has given them a facility with blogging (especially among women and mothers) that can be channeled toward work in MLMs. The prominence of women as customers and salespeople in MLMs also lends itself to the value of motherhood and the need for flexible work among LDS women. Ultimately, the LDS emphasis on self-reliance complements the entrepreneurial nature of MLMs while adding a sense of mission and service to the community. But Whitehead reports that this same drive for prosperity has also led to failure and fraud in MLMs, as shown in the higher rate of distributors losing rather than making money and in the multiple lawsuits against LuLaRoe alleging that it made false promises and engaged in a pyramid scheme.
(Mormon Studies Review, https://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/?id=msr)
