Genre
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A genre [ˈʒã:rə], (French: "kind" or "sort" from Greek: γένος (genos)) is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition; the term is often used to categorize literature and speech, but is also used for any other form of art or utterance.
Genres are vague categories with no fixed boundaries. Genres are formed by sets of conventions, and many works cross into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions. The scope of the word "genre" is sometimes confined to art and culture, particularly literature, but it has a long history in rhetoric as well. In genre studies the concept of genre is not compared to originality. Rather, all works are recognized as either reflecting on or participating in the conventions of genre.
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[edit] Literary genres
In literature, the most common classification into genres derives from (but did not originate in) Classical poetics. This is the triad lyric, epic and drama. This triad is based on the theory of imitation: in drama, the poet imitates the speech of others, in lyric, s/he speaks in his/her own voice, while in epic s/he imitates the actions of others. This triad has been an important influence in literary history, both in neo-classical thinking and in the work of the German romantics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Occasionally, it is confused with 'poetry, prose and drama'. This is an error. The forms of the Classically-derived triad were ALL written in verse. It is only since the rise of the novel – the 'epic in prose' – that prose has made a late and misleading entry onto the scene. Evidently, prose itself is not a 'genre'. Nor, for that matter is 'poetry' (an elevated way of referring to verse). Both are oceanic categories from which genres such as lyric, ode, novel emerge. Prose and verse constitute modes of presentation. Note that the idea of verse comes from 'versus', a turning (e.g. the turning of the plough at the end of the furrow) which in the case of written language throws into relief such elements as rhyme and rhythm. Undoubtedly, however, prose too has rhyme and rhythm but chooses not to foreground them.
One way of thinking about literary genres and the sub-genres they generate is in terms of the oppositions Eros (love)/Thanatos (death), and Reality/Unreality. The most obvious example of Eros is comedy; the most obvious example of Thanatos is tragedy. As for the other opposition, Reality is associated with satire and the classic realist tradition of the novel, and Unreality with fantasy, pastoral, science fiction etc. Rarely, however, do these forms exist in a state of purity. Since early in the twentieth century, the manipulation and combination of these oppositions have given rise to new and rich forms of sub-genre (magic realism, science faction, black and absurdist comedy etc.)
Genre also has a rich tradition in speech-making and criticism. Classical rhetoricians in Greece suggested that there were three primary genres of speech: forensic, deliberative, and epideictic. Forensic speeches are informative, aiming to establish something that happened. Deliberative speeches try to persuade an audience. Epideictic speeches praise or blame a person, value, or event. As with literary genres, there are subgenres that exist under each of these over-arching genres: apologia, funeral orations, and the after-dinner speech might be considered three sub-genres of epideictic rhetoric.
Hybrid forms of different terms have been used, like a prose poem or a tragicomedy. Science fiction has many recognized subgenres; a science fiction story may be rooted in real scientific expectations as they are understood at the time of writing (see Hard science fiction). A more general term, coined by Robert A. Heinlein, is "speculative fiction," an umbrella term covering all such genres that depict alternate realities. Even fiction that depicts innovations ruled out by current scientific theory, such as stories about or based on faster-than-light travel, are still science fiction, because science is a main subject in the piece of art.
[edit] Age categories
Most genres of fiction may also be segmented by the age of the intended reader:
[edit] Genre and audiences
Although genres are not precisely definable, genre considerations are one of the most important factors in determining what a person will see or read. Many genres have built-in audiences and corresponding publications that support them, such as magazines and websites. Books and movies that are difficult to categorize into a genre are likely to be less successful commercially.
The term may be used in categorising web pages, like "newspage" and "fanpage", with both very different layout, audience, and intention. Some search engines like Vivísimo try to group found web pages into automated categories in an attempt to show various genres the search hits might fit.
[edit] "Hierarchy of Genres" in painting
In the field of painting, there exists a "hierarchy of genres" associated with the Académie française which once held a central role in academic art. These genres in hierarchical order are:
These categories played an important role between the 17th century and the modern era, when painters and critics began to rebel against the many rules of the Académie française, including the Académie's preference for history painting.
[edit] Genre in linguistics
In philosophy of language, figuring very prominently in the works of philosopher and literary scholar Mikhail Bakhtin. Bakhtin's basic observations were of "speech genres" (the idea of heteroglossia), modes of speaking or writing that people learn to mimic, weave together, and manipulate (such as "formal letter" and "grocery list", or "university lecture" and "personal anecdote"). In this sense genres are socially specified: recognized and defined (often informally) by a particular culture or community. The work of Georg Lukács also touches on the nature of literary genres, appearing separately but around the same time (1920s–1930s) as Bakhtin.
[edit] See also
[edit] Genre articles by field
[edit] Lists of media by genre
[edit] External links
Categories: Genres | Narratology | Fiction | Theme
