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Genre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the concept of genres. For a list of genres, see List of genres. For genre studies or genre
theory, see Genre studies. For other uses, see Genre (disambiguation).
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Genre (/r/, /nr/ or /dnr/; from French genre [()], "kind" or "sort", from Latin genus (stem gener-),
Greek , gs) is any category of literature, music, or other forms of art or entertainment, whether written or
spoken, audio or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres form by conventions that change over time as
new genres are invented and the use of old ones is discontinued. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of
borrowing and recombining these conventions.
Genre began as an absolute classification system for ancient Greek literature. Poetry, prose, and performance each
had a specific and calculated style that related to the theme of the story. Speech patterns for comedy would not be
appropriate for tragedy, and even actors were restricted to their genre under the assumption that a type of person
could tell one type of story best. In later periods genres proliferated and developed in response to changes in
audiences and creators. Genre became a dynamic tool to help the public make sense out of unpredictable art.
Because art is often a response to a social state, in that people write/paint/sing/dance about what they know about, the
use of genre as a tool must be able to adapt to changing meanings.
Genre suffers from the same ills of any classification system. Genre is to be reassessed and scrutinized, and to weigh
works on their unique merit. It has been suggested that genres resonate with people because of the familiarity, the
shorthand communication, as well as the tendency of genres to shift with public mores and to reflect the zeitgeist. While
the genre of storytelling has been relegated as lesser form of art because of the heavily borrowed nature of the
conventions, admiration has grown. Proponents argue that the genius of an effective genre piece is in the variation,
recombination, and evolution of the codes.
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Visual arts
Literature
Film
Music
Popular culture and other media
Linguistics
Rhetoric
History
8.1 Classical and Romance genre theory
9 Culture
10 Audiences
11 Subgenre
12 See also
13 References
14 Further reading
15 External links
Visual arts
[ edit ]
Kiswahili
Latvieu
Ltzebuergesch
Lietuvi
The term "genre" is much used in the history and criticism of visual art, but in art history has meanings that overlap
rather confusingly. Genre painting is a term for paintings where the main subject features human figures to whom no
specific identity attaches in other words, figures are not portraits, characters from a story, or allegorical
personifications. These are distinguished from staffage: incidental figures in what is primarily a landscape or
architectural painting. Genre painting may also be used as a wider term covering genre painting proper, and other
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Magyar
Bahasa Melayu
Nederlands
The concept of the "hierarchy of genres" was a powerful one in artistic theory,
especially between the 17th and 19th centuries. It was strongest in France,
where it was associated with the Acadmie franaise which held a central role in
academic art. The genres in hierarchical order are:
Norsk bokml
Norsk nynorsk
Ozbekcha/
Shqip
Simple English
Slovenina
/ srpski
Srpskohrvatski /
Suomi
Svenska
Literature
[ edit ]
Ting Vit
emaitka
Edit links
Literature
Major forms
Novel Poem Drama Short story Novella
Genres
Comedy Drama Epic Erotic Nonsense
Lyric Mythopoeia Romance Satire
Tragedy Tragicomedy
Media
Performance (play) Book
Techniques
Prose Poetry
History and lists
History (modern)
Outline Glossary of terms
Books Writers Literary awards (poetry)
Discussion
Criticism Theory (critical theory) Sociology
Magazines
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Film
[ edit ]
Music
[ edit ]
[ edit ]
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The concept of genre is often applied, sometimes rather loosely, to other media with an artistic element, such as video
game genres. Genre, and numerous minutely divided subgenres, affect popular culture very significantly, not least as
they are used to classify it for publicity purposes. The vastly increased output of popular culture in the age of electronic
media encourages dividing cultural products by genre to simplify the search for products by consumers, a trend the
Internet has only intensified.
Linguistics
[ edit ]
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 Lukcs also touches on the nature of literary genres, appearing
separately but around the same time (1920s1930s) as Bakhtin. Norman Fairclough has a similar concept of genre
that emphasizes the social context of the text: Genres are "different ways of (inter)acting discoursally" (Fairclough,
2003: 26).
A text's genre may be determined by its:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Linguistic function.
Formal traits.
Textual organization.
Relation of communicative situation to formal and organizational traits of the text (Charaudeau and
Maingueneau, 2002:278280).
Rhetoric
[ edit ]
In the field of rhetoric, genre theorists usually understand genres as types of actions rather than types or forms of
texts.[7] On this perspective, texts are channels through which genres are enacted. Carolyn Miller's[8] work has been
especially important for this perspective. Drawing on Lloyd Bitzer's concept of rhetorical situation,[9] Miller reasons that
recurring rhetorical problems tend to elicit recurring responses; drawing on Alfred Schtz,[10] she reasons that these
recurring responses become "typified" that is, socially constructed as recognizable types. Miller argues that these
"typified rhetorical actions" (p. 151) are properly understood as genres.
Building off of Miller, Charles Bazerman and Clay Spinuzzi have argued that genres understood as actions derive their
meaning from other genres that is, other actions. Bazerman therefore proposes that we analyze genres in terms of
"genre systems,"[11] while Spinuzzi prefers the closely related concept of "genre ecologies."[12]
This tradition has had implications for the teaching of writing in American colleges and universities. Combining
rhetorical genre theory with activity theory, David Russell has proposed that standard English composition courses are
ill suited to teach the genres that students will write in other contexts across the university and beyond.[13] Elizabeth
Wardle contends that standard composition courses do teach genres, but that these are inauthentic "mutt genres" that
are often of little use outside of composition courses.[14]
History
[ edit ]
This concept of genre originated from the classification systems created by Plato. Plato divided literature into the three
classic genres accepted in Ancient Greece: poetry, drama, and prose. Poetry is further subdivided into epic, lyric, and
drama. The divisions are recognized as being set by Aristotle and Plato; however, they were not the only ones. Many
genre theorists added to these accepted forms of poetry.
Culture
[ edit ]
Genre is embedded in culture, but may clash with it at times. There are occasions in which a cultural group may not be
inclined to keep within the set structures of a genre. Anthony Pare's studied Inuit social workers in "Genre and Identity:
Individuals, Institutions and Ideology". In this study, Pare described the conflict between the genre of Inuit social
workers' record keeping forms and the cultural values that prohibited them from fully being able to fulfill the
expectations of this genre. Amy Devitt further expands on the concept of culture in her 2004 essay, "A Theory of
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Genre" by adding "culture defines what situations and genres are likely or possible" (Devitt 24).
Genre not only coexists with culture, but also defines its very components. Genres abound in daily life and people often
work within them unconsciously; people often take for granted their prominence and ever present residence in society.
Devitt touches on Miller's idea of situation, but expands on it and adds that the relationship with genre and situation is
reciprocal. Individuals may find themselves shaping the rhetorical situations, which in turn affect the rhetorical
responses that arise out of the situation. Because the social workers worked closely with different families, they did not
want to disclose many of the details that are standard in the genre of record keeping related to this field. Giving out
such information would violate close cultural ties with the members of their community.
Audiences
[ edit ]
Although genres are not always precisely definable, genre considerations are one of the most important factors in
determining what a person will see or read. The classification properties of genre can attract or repel potential users
depending on the individual's understanding of a genre.
Genre creates an expectation in that expectation is met or not. Many genres have built-in audiences and
corresponding publications that support them, such as magazines and websites. Inversely, audiences may call out for
change in an antecedent genre and create an entirely new genre.
The term may be used in categorizing web pages, like "news page" and "fan page", with both very different layout,
audience, and intention (Rosso, 2008). Some search engines like Vivsimo try to group found web pages into
automated categories in an attempt to show various genres the search hits might fit.
Subgenre
[ edit ]
A subgenre is a subordinate within a genre.[15][16] Two stories being the same genre can still sometimes differ in
subgenre.
For example, if a fantasy story has darker and more frightening elements of fantasy, it would belong in the subgenre of
dark fantasy; whereas another fantasy story that features magic swords and wizards would belong to the subgenre of
sword and sorcery.
See also
[ edit ]
List of genres
References
[ edit ]
Bakhtin, Mikhail M. (1983). "Epic and Novel". In Holquist, Michael. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays . Austin:
University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-71527-7.
Charaudeau, P.; Maingueneau, D. and Adam, J. Dictionnaire d'analyse du discours Seuil, 2002.
Devitt, Amy J. "A Theory of Genre". Writing Genres. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004. 132.
Fairclough, Norman. Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research Routledge, 2003.
Genette, Grard. The Architext: An Introduction. 1979. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
Jamieson, Kathleen M. "Antecedent Genre as Rhetorical Constraint". Quarterly Journal of Speech 61 (1975): 406
415.
Killoran, John B. "The Gnome In The Front Yard and Other Public Figurations: Genres of Self-Presentation on
Personal Home Pages". Biography 26.1 (2003): 6683.
.. : . : .
, 2007
LaCapra, Dominick. "History and Genre: Comment". New Literary History 17.2 (1986): 219221.
Miller, Carolyn. "Genre as Social Action". Quarterly Journal of Speech. 70 (1984): 15167.
Rosso, Mark. "User-based Identification of Web Genres". Journal of the American Society for Information Science
and Technology 59 (2008): 10531072.
1. ^ Bakhtin 1983, p. 3.
2. ^ Samson, Jim. "Genre" . In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Accessed March 4, 2012.
3. ^ a b Laurie, Timothy (2014). "Music Genre As Method" . Cultural Studies Review. 20 (2), pp. 283-292.
4. ^ Green, Douglass M. (1965). Form in Tonal Music. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc. p. 1. ISBN 0-03-020286-8.
5. ^ van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford:
Clarendon Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-19-316121-4.
6. ^ Moore, Allan F. "Categorical Conventions in Music Discourse: Style and Genre" . Music & Letters, Vol. 82, No. 3 (Aug.
2001), pp. 432442.
7. ^ Bawarshi, A. S., & Mary Jo Reiff. (2010). Genre: An Introduction to History, Theory, Research, and Pedagogy. chs. 5
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8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
and 6
^ Miller, C. R. (1984). Genre as social action. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70(2), 151167.
^ Bitzer, L. F. (1968). The Rhetorical Situation. Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1(1), 114.
^ Schutz, A., & Luckmann, T. (1973). The Structures of the Life-World. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
^ Bazerman, C. (1994). Systems of Genre and the Enactment of Social Intentions. In Genre and the New Rhetoric (pp. 79
101). London/Bristol: Taylor & Francis.
^ Spinuzzi, C., & Zachry, M. (2000). Genre Ecologies: An Open-System Approach to Understanding and Constructing
Documentation. ACM Journal of Computer Documentation, 24(3), 169181.
^ Russell, D. R. (1995). Activity theory and its implications for writing instruction. In J. Petraglia (Ed.), Reconceiving writing,
rethinking writing instruction (pp. 5178). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
^ Wardle, E. (2009). "Mutt Genres" and the Goal of FYC: Can we Help Students Write the Genres of the University?
College Composition and Communication, 60(4), 765789.
^ "subgenre" . dictionary.com.
^ "Subgenre" . The Free Dictionary. Farlex.
Further reading
[ edit ]
Pare, Anthony. "Genre and Identity". The Rhetoric and Ideology of Genre: Strategies for Stability and Change. Eds.
Richard M. Coe, Lorelei Lingard, and Tatiana Teslenko. Creskill, N.J. Hampton Press, 2002.
Sullivan, Ceri (2007) "Disposable elements? Indications of genre in early modern titles", Modern Language Review
102.3, pp. 64153
External links
[ edit ]
v t e
Film genres
By style
By theme
Action (Arthouse Heroic bloodshed Hong Kong action) Adventure (Survival) Art Biographical Comedy (Black
Commedia all'italiana Commedia sexy all'italiana Bromantic Dramedy Gross out Horror Parody Mo lei tau
Thriller Remarriage Romantic Sex Screwball Silent Slapstick) Documentary (Animated Docudrama
Mockumentary Mondo Pseudo Semi Travel) Drama (Dramedy Historical Legal Melodrama (Korean) )
Erotic (Commedia sexy all'italiana Pink Sexploitation Thriller) Educational Social guidance Epic
(Sword-and-sandal) Experimental Exploitation Fantasy (Comic Contemporary Dark Fairy tale Fantastique
High Historical Magic realism Science) Film noir (Bad girl Neo-noir Occult detective Pulp noir Tech noir)
Horror (Body Cannibal Comedy Eco Fantastique Found footage German underground Ghost Giallo
Hixploitation Japanese Korean Mumblegore Natural New French Extremity Occult detective Psycho-biddy
Psychological Religious Science Fiction Slasher Splatter Satanic) Musical (Backstage Jukebox
Musicarello Operetta Sceneggiata) Mystery (Giallo Occult detective) Pornographic Propaganda Reality
Romantic (Comedy (Bromantic) Gothic Paranormal Thriller) Science fiction (Comic Cyberpunk Fantastique
Fantasy Gothic Horror Military Mundane New Wave Parallel universe Planetary romance Space opera
Steampunk) Thriller (Comedy Conspiracy Erotic Financial Giallo Legal New French Extremity Political
Psychological Romantic Techno) Transgressive (Cinema of Transgression New French Extremity) Trick
Animals Beach party Blaxploitation Body swap Bourekas Buddy (Buddy cop Female) Cannibal Chicano
Colonial Coming-of-age Concert Crime (Gentleman thief Gong'an Heist Hood Mob Poliziotteschi Yakuza)
Dance Disaster (Apocalyptic) Drug (Psychedelic Stoner) Dystopian Ethnographic Extraterrestrial
Food and drink Funny animal Gendai-geki Ghost Goona-goona epic Gothic (Romance Southern Space
Suburban Urban) Hentai Homeland Hip hop Jidaigeki LGBT Luchador Martial arts (Bruceploitation
Chopsocky Girls with guns Gun fu Kung fu Wuxia) Mecha Mexploitation Mob film (Mafia comedy Yakuza
Gokud) Monster (Giant monster Jiangshi Kaiju Vampire Werewolf Zombie) Mountain Mouth of Garbage
Muslim social Nature (Environmental issues) Opera Outlaw biker Ozploitation Pirate Prison (Women) Race
Rape and revenge Road Rubble Rumberas Samurai Sexploitation (Bavarian porn Mexican sex comedy
Nazi exploitation Pornochanchada Nunsploitation Sex report) Shomin-geki Slavery Slice of life Snuff (Crush)
South Seas Sports Spy (Eurospy) Superhero Surfing Swashbuckler Sword-and-sandal Sword and sorcery
Travel Trial Vigilante War (Anti-war Macaroni / Euro Submarine) Western (Acid Epic Florida Meat pie
Northern Ostern revisionist Space Spaghetti Weird Zapata) Zombie (Zombie comedy)
Absolute Australian New Wave Auteur films Berlin School Bourekas Brighton School British New Wave
(Kitchen sink realism) Budapest school Cannibal boom Cinma du look Cinema Novo
Cinema of Transgression Cinma pur Commedia all'italiana Documentary Film Movement Dogme 95
Erra Cinema European art cinema Film gris Free Cinema French New Wave German Expressionist
German underground horror Nigerian Golden Age Grupo Cine Liberacin Heimatfilm Hollywood on the Tiber
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By movement
or period
By audience
By format,
technique,
approach,
or production
Hong Kong New Wave Iranian New Wave Italian futurist Italian neorealist Japanese New Wave
Kammerspielfilm L.A. Rebellion Letterist Mumblecore (Mumblegore) Neorealist New French Extremity
New German New Generation New Hollywood New Nigerian New Queer No wave Nuevo Cine Mexicano
Parallel Cinema Persian Film Poetic realist Polish Film School Poliziotteschi Praka filmska kola
Prussian film Pure Film Movement Remodernist Romanian New Wave Spaghetti Western Socialist realist
Social realist (Kitchen sink realism) Soviet Parallel Structural Surrealist Sword-and-sandal Telefoni Bianchi
Third Cinema Yugoslav Black Wave
Chick flick Children's Guy-cry Teen Woman's
3D Actuality Animation (Anime computer Stop motion traditional) Anthology Art B movie Black-and-white
Blockbuster Bollywood Cinma vrit Classical Hollywood cinema Collage Color Compilation Composite
Cult (Midnight movie) Database cinema Docufiction Ethnofiction Experimental (Abstract) Feature Featurette
Film clef Film noir Film-poem Found footage Grindhouse Hyperlink cinema Independent
(Guerrilla filmmaking) Interstitial art Live action (Animation) Low-budget Major studio Making-of Masala
Message picture Meta-film Mockbuster Musical short Mythopoeia Neorealist No budget Paracinema
Participatory Poetry Postmodernist Sceneggiata Semidocumentary Serial Shinpa Short Silent
Socialist realist Sound Underground
v t e
Music styles
Genres and
movements
Brass & Military Children's Classical and art music traditions (European classical music Opera) Electronic
(Ambient Breakbeat Drum and bass Electro Electroacoustic Electronica (EDM) Eurodance Hardcore
(Hardstyle Mkina) Hi-NRG House (Chicago Electro (Moombahton) Ghetto Hard Microhouse) Industrial
Rock (Alternative dance) Synthpop Techno Trance (Goa Hard Psychedelic Uplifting) Trip hop UK garage
(Dubstep Grime) ) Folk (Traditional) Religious Stage & Screen (Cabaret Music Hall Musical Soundtrack)
Popular (Blues Country (Bluegrass Rock) Dance Disco Electronic Funk Hip hop (East Coast Midwest
Southern West Coast) Jazz (Afro-Cuban Dixieland Fusion (Acid jazz Jazz rap Smooth jazz) Modal
West Coast) Latin Pop (C-pop Europop) Reggae R&B Rock (Alternative (Britpop (Post-Britpop) Grunge
(Post-grunge) Indie rock (Indie pop (Dunedin Sound) Post-punk revival) ) Metal (Extreme (Black Death Doom
Thrash) Glam Grindcore Industrial Metalcore Nu Power Progressive) Progressive Psychedelic Punk
(Anarcho Folk Hardcore Post-hardcore Emo Screamo) ) Ska) Soul
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