Genre

This article is about the concept of Genre. For a list of genres, see List of Genres.

For genre studies or genre theory, see Genre studies.

"Genre" (Template:PronEng, also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/; from French, genre /ʒɑ̃ʀ/, "kind" or "sort", from Latin: genus (stem gener-), Greek: genos, γένος) is a word with many definitions and many uses. The term is commonly used to categorize literature speech film music and art, however genre is also the study of how people interact with and within their environment. There are many scholar who specialize in the study of genre theory. Aristotle and Plato are generally considered the fathers of genre theory. Some of the more modern genre theorists include Lloyd F. Bitzer, Kathleen Jamieson, Grard Genette, Carolyn Miller, Anis Bawarshi, and Amy Devitt. In “A Theory of Genre,” Amy Devitt lists the following as definitions for genre: • typified rhetorical actions based in recurrent situations • typified way of purposefully interacting in and among some activity system(s) • dynamic rhetorical forms that are developed from actors’ responses to recurrent situations and that serve to stabilize experience and give it coherence and meaning • a dynamic response to and construction of recurring situations A sentence that tries to encompass but include all of these ideas could be summarized into the following: genre is typified action that is created in recurring social contexts

History of Genre as a Concept

From the works of Aristotle and Plato to more contemporary views of theorists Amy Devitt and Carolyn Miller, genre theory has become a well-known study, and an avid discussion covering topics from the definition of its categories to how it interacts in its rhetorical environments.

Plato and Aristotle are widely accepted as the founders of genre categorization. Plato divided Literature genre in the following manner: poetry, drama, and prose, the three classic genres of Ancient Greece. Poetry may then be subdivided into epic, lyric, and drama. This categorization mechanism creates a power of genre that has helped formed genre into the know well known classification system. For centuries, genre and literary theorists built off of this classification system, adding their own opinions to the unchallenged literary building block.

Gerard Genette, a French literary theorist, declared that accepting the first genre theory as true simply because it was the first of its kind was a mistake; he explained that the ancient theories “cause the error…[and are] deeply rooted in our conscious, or unconscious literary minds” (Genette 2). Genette references that, because the Greek theories had been accepted without challenge for such a long period of time, they became, in a sense, socially accepted knowledge, quite similar to the prior belief that the Earth was flat; the idea was accepted for hundreds of years, eventually becoming common knowledge. Using a more archaic approach, Gerard Genette attempts to explain the Plato and Aristotle in The Architext. As these two ancient philosophers construct theories, they have a dissonance between the existence of the purely narrative or dithyramb and how one classifies the characteristics of each. Genette notices that both philosophers desired simple explanations but in reality created something complex that later other philosophers aspired to categorize even more. As Genette learns, placing genre into a hierarchy is complicated because everyone has individual ideas that may or may not have overlapping parts.

Bitzer works from a framework that suggests that a rhetorical situation affects the audience that it is aimed at. He tries to instate to the reader that discourse happens because a certain situation calls for it and that the audience will be more affected by speech than visa versa. Meaning or intention has no part in rhetorical situation. He regards rhetorical situation as “a natural context of persons, events, objects, relations, and an exigence which strongly invites utterance" (5). Following Bitzer, Kathleen Jaimeson presents the idea of the papal encyclical. She utilizes this idea as a way to illustrate that the present always pulls from the past in situations. In this sense, the power of genre is possible because the past is readily available to the general public.

Carolyn Miller builds on previous arguments made, and particularly argues against Bitzer by giving her readers five features to understanding genre (163). She believes that if something is rhetorical there will be action. Not only will there be action, but also this action will be repeated. The repetition of action creates a regularized form of discourse. Whereas Bitzer would state that the result is that situation is the form, Miller would add that the result has more to do with the action the situation accomplished. Miller recognizes that a person chooses to take a certain social action within a defined set of rules – rules set in place by the user. A situation cannot dictate a response. Miller ends her article with the thought that genres are partly rhetorical education: “As a recurrent, significant action, a genre embodies an aspect of cultural rationality” (165). Here, Miller unknowingly encapsulates a future ideology about genre: that genres are created by culture.

Fast-forwarding to a more present approach is that of Bawarshi who introduces genre as ecosystem. Bawarshi applies the biological ecosystem to that of writing. Ecosystems support biological communities for interacting organisms and their environment such as our rhetorical ecosystems support our interaction of language. In language we have created genres that we can function. This alludes to Miller's idea that culture creates genre. Ecosystems suggest a dynamic, changing environment that creates a social and accessible backdrop. As genre is not biological, animals differ from humans in their use and capacity for language so that we can create these rhetorical environments of discourse. There is a sense of the rhetorical versus the physical as Bawarshi attempts to move from the idea of genre as a classification system to an ecological thought as something that is produced through reproduction of action. Action leaves more room for the ones interacting to create as opposed to these set rules for a system. A classification system advocates the intangible –it is merely there to define something – whereas Bawarshi challenges his readers to think of genre as part of society that one can gain a bond or relationship with. That genres define the genres surrounding them. Instead of function inside genre, Bawarshi advises to develop genre.

Amy Devitt introduces her theory of genre after Bawarshi with the concept that genre affects various branches of English studies: rhetoric, literature, and linguistics. Not only does genre affect the content humans study but the way humanity functions and how humanity functions within society. Devitt tries to present the thought that genre as a system is “trivial and dangerous” because it is formulaic and limits creativity or innovation (4). She also refutes Bitzer’s belief that a situation calls for a proper response because of what she calls the “container model of meaning” (5). This is an explanation between words and thoughts and society (from person to person) but because of cultural boundaries one may not always comprehend the same meaning. There has to be a repetition and circulation of the thought to register to both parties. Her theory continues to suggest that culture affects genre by separating people and creating different foundations. This view of culture as a catalyst for genre helps ease the boundaries of the earlier legalistic theory of genres as presented by Genette.

The theory of genre is still be discussed and redefined among many theorists and can change according to each theory and time.

Major Contributors

Classical and Romantic Genre Theory

The earliest recorded systems of genre in Western history can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle. Gérard Genette, in the Architext, describes Plato as creating three imitational genres (imitation referring to the ability to mimic the natural world), distinguished by mode of imitation rather than content: dramatic dialogue, pure narrative (dithyramb), and a mixture of the two (Ex: epic). Lyric poetry was excluded by Plato as a non-mimetic mode. Genette then goes on to state that Aristotle revised Plato’s system by first eliminating the pure narrative as a viable mode, then distinguishing by two additional criterions: the object to be imitated (objects could be either superior or inferior) and the medium of presentation (Ex: in words, in gestures, or in verse). Essentially, the three categories of mode, object, and medium can be visualized along an XYZ axis. Excluding the criteria of medium, Aristotle’s system distinguished four types of classical genres: tragedy (superior-dramatic dialogue), epic (superior-mixed narrative), comedy (inferior-dramatic dialogue), and parody (inferior-mixed narrative). Genette continues by explaining the integration of lyric poetry into the classical system, replacing the now removed pure narrative mode. Lyric poetry, once considered non-mimetic, was deemed to imitate feelings, becoming the third “Architext” (Gennette coins the term) of a new long enduring tripartite system: lyrical, epical (mixed narrative), and dramatic (dialogue). This new system, which came to “dominate all the literary theory of German romanticism (and therefore well beyond)…” (38), has seen numerous attempts at expansion or revision. Simple attempts include Friedrich Schlegel’s triad of subjective form (lyric), objective form (dramatic), and subjective-objective form (epic). However, more ambitious efforts to expand the tripartite system resulted in new taxonomic systems of increasing complexity. Gennette reflects upon these various systems, comparing them to the original tripartite arrangement: “its structure is somewhat superior to (meaning, or course, more effective than) most of those that have come after, fundamentally flawed as they are by their inclusive and hierarchical taxonomy, which each time immediately brings the whole game to a standstill and produces an impasse” (74).

Contemporary Genre Theory and Theorists

In 1968, Lloyd Bitzer claimed that discourse is determined by rhetorical situations in an article called, "The Rhetorical Situation". He looks to understand the nature behind the context that determines discourse. Bitzer states, “it is the situation which calls discourse into existence” (Bitzer 2). He expresses the imperative nature of the situation in creating discourse, because discourse only comes into being as a response to a particular situation. Discourse varies depending upon the meaning-context that is created due to the situation, and because of this, it is “embedded in the situation” (4). Bitzer describes rhetorical situations as requiring three components of exigence, audience, and constraints. Bitzer highlights six characteristics needed from a rhetorical situation that are detrimental to creating discourse. The characteristics are as follows, a situation calls a rhetor to create discourse, it invites a response to fit the situation, the response meets the necessary requirements of the situation, the exigence which creates the discourse is located in reality, rhetorical situations exhibit simple or complex structures, rhetorical situations after coming into creation either decline or persist. Bitzer’s main argument is the concept that rhetoric is used to “effect valuable changes in reality” (14). (Bitzer)

Written in 1975, Kathleen Jamieson's "Antecedent Genre as Rhetorical Constraint" declares that discourse is determined by rhetorical situations, as well as antecedent genres. Through three examples of discourse, the papal encycical, the early state of the union address, and congressional replies, she demonstrates how traces of antecedent genres can be found within each. These examples clarify how a rhetor will tend to draw from past experiences that are similar to the present situation in order to guide them how to act or respond when they are placed in an unprecedented situation. Jamieson explains, by use of these three examples, that choices of antecedent genre may not always be appropriate to the present situation. She discusses how antecedent genres place powerful constraints on the rhetor and may cause them to become “bound by the manacles of the antecedent genre” (Jamieson 414). These “manacles,” she says, may range in level of difficultly to escape. Jamieson urges one to be careful when drawing on the past to respond to the present, because of the consequences that may follow ones choice of antecedent genre. She reiterates the intended outcome through her statement of “choice of an appropriate antecedent genre guides the rhetor toward a response consonant with situational demands” (414). (Jamieson)

In “The Architext,” Genette argues genres are ‘trans-historical’ as they are continuously changing throughout history. In the beginning of his article, he focuses on the evolution of the form dithyramb. He notes, “Today, the dithyramb is not a well known form… but scholars… readily classify it among the “lyric” forms,” (Genette 6). Lyric is a descendent of dithyramb. The Dithyramb was used by Plato but reformed by Aristotle. When Aristotle found this as a dead form of genre, he threw it out. After Aristotle, was the dithyramb revived in the form of lyric. Genette writes, “There is slot to be filled, and it is easy to guess what happens next, especially when we already know the outcome,” which is, lyric will fill the empty slot (Genette 23). As the student of Plato, Aristotle was accepting social norms in his environment. Lyrical poetry was included as a major classification of genre, however, as time and social constrictions changed, so did the characteristics of each genre.

In 1984, Carolyn Miller examined genre in terms of rhetorical situations. She claimed that “situations are social constructs that are the result, not of ‘perception,’ but of ‘definition,’” (Miller 156), or that we essentially define our situations. Miller seems to build from Bitzer’s argument regarding what makes something rhetorical, which is the ability of change to occur. Opposite of Bitzer’s predestined and limited view of the creation of genres, Miller believes genres are created through social constructs. She agrees with Bitzer, in that past responses can indicate what is appropriate as a current response, but Miller holds that, rhetorically, genre should be “centered not on the substance or the form of discourse but on the action it is used to accomplish” (151). Since her view focuses on action, it cannot ignore that humans depend on the “context of the situation” as well as “motives” that drive them to this action (152). Essentially, “we create recurrence,” or similar responses, through our “construal” of types (157). Miller defines “types” as “recognition of relevant similarities” (156-7). Types come about only after we have attempted to interpret the situation by way of social context, which causes us to stick to “tradition” (152). Miller does not want to deem recurrence as a constraint, but rather she views it as insight into the “human condition” (156). The way to bring about a new “type,” (157) though, is to allow for past routines to evolve into new routines, thereby still maintaining a cycle that is always open for change. Either way, Miller’s view is in accordance with the fact that as humans, we are creatures of habit that tightly hold on to a certain “stock of knowledge” (157). However, change is considered innovation and by creating new “types” (157) we can still keep “tradition” (152) and innovation at the same time. (Miller)

More recently, in 2001, Anis Bawarshi’s “Ecology of Genre” argues for the teaching of genre as an ecosystem. He compares to an ecosystem in a sense that writing recreates genres as well as reacting to them. The genre itself serves as an ecosystem, defining our interpretation and creation of genre. The idea of a Doctor’s office as an ecosystem demonstrates a point clearly by defining the Patient Medical History Form as a genre, thus shaping our reaction to it. We recognize this genre, so we treat it and act within it a certain way. This genre is comprised of microenvironments (the doctor, patient, nurse, and so on) which form the ecosystem as a whole. As a result, Bawarshi states we are rhetorical beings that act in these ecosystems. We are shaped by the rhetoric surrounding us and we act accordingly. We gather our impressions from rhetoric presented to us, which shapes our actions and perceptions. He also introduces exigence, motive and intention which operate on the conceptual level, motive, and what shapes our actions, exigence. Bawarshi clarifies his argument through specific examples and guides the reader via thorough genre principles. (Bawarshi)

Finally, Amy Devitt expanded the definition of genre in her 2004 essay, "A Theory of Genre." Devitt adds the ideas of recurring context of situation, context of culture, and context of genres to the definition of genre. She bases her essay on the rhetorical theory of genre and her contribution to the theory by synthesizing past work. She touches on Miller’s idea of situation, but expands on it and adds that the relationship with genre and situation is reciprocal. "Genre writing" and how labeling occurs when form takes over become a prominent aspect to her definition of genre. Genre as classification system she says can help, but it occurs in many ways and under different circumstances. Devitt looks at the work of Bitzer and Burke to expand on the idea of recurring situation and goes on to talk about genre’s rhetorical nature. She builds upon Miller’s ideas of situation and adds the importance of context within situation. By using the example of the grocery store list, Devitt displays the reciprocal nature of genre and situation according to the individual.(Devitt)

Concepts

Genre as Social Action

The concept of genre is not limited to classifications and lists. People interact within in genres everyday. Genre should be looked at based "on the action is is used to accomplish" by the individuals using that particular genre (Miller, 151). The distance between the text or action of genre and its users does not need to be so vast. People respond to the exigences provided by genre every day. "Exigence is a set of particular social patterns and expectations that provides a socially objectified motive for addressing" the recurring situation of a particular genre (Miller, 158). Seeing genre as a social action provides the "keys to understanding how to participate in the actions of a community" (Miller, 165).

Rhetorical Situation

Rhetorical situation refers to the fact that every situation has the potential for a rhetorical response. Thus, the situation controls what type of rhetorical response takes place. Each situation has an appropriate response in which the rhetor can either act upon or not act upon (Bitzer). According to Bitzer, rhetorical situations come into existence, and at that point, they can either mature and go away, or mature and continue to exist. Bitzer also states that the rhetorical situation is “a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as to bring about the significant modification of the exigence” (Bitzer).

The Reciprocity of Genre

“A genre is named because of its formal markers,” (Devitt 10). We recognize genre based on the characteristics of the rhetorical situations which reoccur and, therefore, create genre. However, “the formal markers can be defined because a genre has been named,” (Devitt 10). We recognize the characteristics of the reoccurring rhetorical situations as affirmation of what we already know about the preexisting genre. The rhetorical attributes of the genre act as both objects which define and are defined by genre. Genre and rhetorical situation are reciprocals of one another (Devitt). Genre is a place in which “communicants rhetorically reproduce the very environments to which they in turn respond,” (Bawarshi 71). Our recognition and response to genre is an act which reproduces genre.

Antecedent Genres

Antecedent genres are genres of the past that are used as a basis to shape and form current rhetorical responses. When placed in an unprecedented situation, a rhetor can draw on antecedent genres of similar situations in order to guide their response. However, caution should be taken when drawing on antecedent genres because sometimes antecedent genres are capable of imposing powerful constraints (Jamieson 414). The intent of antecedent genres are to guide the rhetor toward a response consistent with situational demands, and if the situational demands are not the same as when the antecedent genre was created, the response to the situation might be inappropriate (Jamieson 414).

Stabilization, Homogenization & Fixity

Never, is there total stabilization in a set genre, nor instances of complete lack of homogenization. However, because of the relative similarities between said terms, the amount of stabilization or homogenization a certain genre maintains is subjected to opinion or is very relative in itself. The stabilization of necessary discourse is considered perfect because it is always needed. In rhetorical situation or antecedent genres, what is unprecedented, mostly leads to stable and predictable responses. Outside the natural setting with a alternate given form of discourse, one may respond the same but may not appear appropriately because of the lack of homogenization or differing expectations in the given rhetorical situation. (Jamieson)

Fixity is uncontrolled by a given situation and is deliberately utilized by the effected before the rhetorical situation occurs. Fixity almost always directly affects stabilization, and has little to no bearing on homogenization. The choice of discourse will provide a certain value of fixity, dependent on said choice. If a situation calls for more mediated responses, the fixity of the situation is more prevalent, and therefore is attributed with a stable demand of expectations. Stability nor Fixity can be directly affected by the subject at hand. The only option is affecting homogenization which in turn, can positively or negatively affect stability. Directly choosing a fixed arena within genre inversely alters the homogenization of said chooser constituting as a new genre accompanied with modified genre subsets and a newly desired urgency. The same ideological theory can be applied to how one serves different purposes, creating either separate genres or modernized micro-genres. (Fairclough)

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.

Genre in visual arts

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. Many genre paintings are scenes from common life. 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 specialized types of paintings such as still-life, landscapes, marine paintings and animal paintings.

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 Académie française which held a central role in academic art. The genres in hierarchical order are:

• genre painting
• history painting
• landscape painting
• portrait painting
• still life painting

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. Norman Fairclough has a similar concept of genre that emphasises the social context of the text: Genres are "different ways of (inter)acting discoursally" (Fairclough, 2003: 26)

However, this is just one way of conceiving genre. Charaudeau & Maingueneau determine four different analytic conceptualisations of genre.
A text's genre may be determined by its:

1. linguistic function.
2. formal traits.
3. textual organisation.
4. relation of communicative situation to formal and organisational traits of the text (Charaudeau & Maingueneau, 2002:278-280).

List of genres

Literary genre

Main article: Literary genre

Main article: List of literary genres

Action

A story, similar to Adventure, but the protagonist usually takes a risky turn, which leads to desperate situations (including explosions, fight scenes, daring escapes, etc.). Action and Adventure are usually categorized together (sometimes even as "action-adventure") because they have much in common, and many stories fall under both genres simultaneously (for instance, the James Bond series can be classified as both).

• • Die Hard Scenario: The story takes place in limited location - a single building, plane, or vessel - which is seized or under threat by enemy agents, but are opposed by a single hero who fights an extended battle within the location using stealth and cunning to attempt to defeat them. This sub-genre began with the film, Die Hard, but has become popular in Hollywood movie making both because of its crowd appeal and the relative simplicity of building sets for such a constrained piece. Among the many films that have copied this formula are Under Siege (terrorists take over a ship), Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and Derailed (hostages are trapped on a train), Sudden Death (terrorists take over an Ice Hockey stadium), Passenger 57, Executive Decision and Air Force One (hostages are trapped on a plane), Con Air (criminals take over a transport plane), and Half Past Dead and The Rock (criminals or terrorists take over a prison). Mall Cop is a recent spoof of these movies.
  • Heroic bloodshed:
  • Military: A story about a war or battle that can either be historical or fictional. It usually follows the events a certain warrior goes through during the battle's events.
  • Spy fiction: A story about a secret agent (spy) or military personnel member who is sent on a secret espionage mission. Usually, they are equipped with special gadgets that prove useful during the mission, and they have special training in things such as unarmed combat or computer hacking. They may or may not work for a specific government.
  • Samurai fiction
  • Western fiction: A story talking place in the American Old West. Westerns commonly feature gunfighters and/or cowboys.
  • Girls with guns (and swords):

Comedy

A story that tells about a series of funny or comical events, intended to make the audience laugh. It a is very open genre, and thus crosses over with many other genres on a frequent basis.

• • Comedy of manners: A film satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters. The plot of the comedy is often concerned with an illicit love affair or some other scandal, but is generally less important than its witty dialogue. This form of comedy has a long ancestry, dating back at least as far as Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing.
  • Parody: A story that mocks or satirizes other genres, people, fictional characters or works. Such works employ sarcasm, stereotyping, mockery of scenes, symbols or lines from other works, and the obviousness of meaning in a character's actions. Such stories may be "affectionate parodies" which merely mean to entertain those familiar with the source of the parody... or they may well be intended to undercut the respectability of the original inspiration for the parody by pointing out its flaws (the latter being closer to satire).
  • Action comedy: A subgenre with emthasize physically humorous antics, unorthodox body-language and oftentimes exasperating situations. See Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Chan and Lucille Ball.
    • Slapstick: a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence and activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense. These hyperbolic depictions are often found in children's media, and light comedies aimed at younger audiences.
  • Romantic comedy: A subgenre which combines the romance genre with comedy, focusing on two or more individuals as they discover and attempt to deal with their romantic attractions to each other. The stereotypical plot line follows the "boy-gets-girl", "boy-loses-girl", "boy gets girl back again" sequence. Naturally, there are innumerable variants to this plot (as well as new twists, such as reversing the gender roles in the story), and much of the generally lighthearted comedy lies in the social interactions and sexual tension between the characters, who very often either refuse to admit they are attracted to one another, or must deal with others' meddling in their affairs.
  • Comedy horror: See Shawn of the Dead and Jennifer's Body.
    • Black comedy: A parody or satirical story that is based on normally tragic or taboo subjects, including death, murder, suicide, illicit drugs and war. So-called "Dead Baby Comedy" sometimes falls under this genre.
    • Zombie comedy:
  • Comic Fantasy:
  • Comic science fiction: A comedy that uses science fiction elements or settings, often as a lighthearted (or occasionally vicious) parody of the latter genre.

Crime

A story about a crime that is being committed or was committed. It can also be an account of a criminal's life. It often falls into the Action or Adventure genres.

• • Detective story: A story about a detective (or detectives) and/or person, either professional or amateur, who has to solve a crime that was committed. They must figure out who committed the crime and why. Sometimes, the detective must figure out 'how' the criminal committed the crime if it seems impossible.
    • Whodunnit:
  • Courtroom drama:
  • Murder mystery: A mystery story which focuses on one type of criminal case: homicide. Usually, there are one or more murder victims, and the detective must figure out who killed them, the same way he or she solves other crimes. They may or may not find themselves or loved ones in danger because of this investigation; the genre often includes elements of the suspense story genre, or of the action and adventure genres.
  • Hardboiled:
  • Legal thriller:

Documentary

A story that re-tells events rather than create them. Usually, it is about true historic events.

• • Mockumentary: A story that employs the style of the documentary to present fictional, and generally humorous, events or characters. Very common in film and television, both as a full film or series, or as a brief sequence or episode within a larger work. Examples include This Is Spinal Tap, Best In Show and The Office.
  • Docufiction:

Historical

A story about a real person or event. Often, they are written in a text book format, which may or may not focus on solely that person or event.

• • Biography: The details of the life story of a real person, told by someone else.
    • Autobiography: Essentially the same as a biography, with the exception that the story is written by the person who is the subject of the story.
    • Memoir: Similar to autobiography, with the exception that it is told more "from memory", i.e. it is how the person personally remembers and feels about their life or a stage in their life, more than the exact, recorded details of that period. Though memoirs are often more subjective than autobiography works, memoirs are generally still considered to be nonfiction works. There are also some fiction works that purport to be the "memoirs" of fictional characters as well, done in a similar style, however, these are in a separate genre from their nonfiction counterparts.
  • Historical fiction: A story that takes place in the real world, with real world people, but with several fictionalized or dramatized elements. This may or may not crossover with other genres; for example, fantasy fiction or science fiction may play a part, as is the case for instance with the novel George Washington's Socks, which includes time travel elements.
    • Alternate history: A more extreme variant of historical fiction which posits a "what if" scenario in which some historical event occurs differently (or not at all), thus altering the course of history; for instance, "What if Nazi Germany had won World War II?" is an alternate history concept that has had treatment in fiction. Alternate History is sometimes (though not universally) referred to as a subgenre of science fiction or speculative fiction, and like historical fiction, may include more fantastical elements (for instance, the Temeraire series uses the fantasy element of dragons to create an Alternate History plot set during the Napoleonic Era).
    • Counterfactual history: Referred to as virtual history, is a recent form of historiography which attempts to answer "what if" questions known as counterfactuals. It seeks to explore history and historical incidents by means of extrapolating a timeline in which certain key historical events did not happen or had an outcome which was different from that which did in fact occur. The purpose of this exercise is to ascertain the relative importance of the event, incident or person the counterfactual hypothesis is negating. For instance, to the counterfactual claim "What would have happened had Hitler drunk coffee instead of tea on the afternoon he committed suicide?", the timeline would have remained unchanged — Hitler in all likelihood still would have committed suicide on April 30, 1945, regardless of what he had to drink that afternoon. However, to the counterfactual "What would have happened had Hitler died in the July, 1944, assassination attempt?", all sorts of possibilities become readily apparent, starting with the reasonable assumption that the German generals would have in all likelihood sued for peace, bringing an early end to World War II, at least in the European Theater. Thus, the counterfactual brings into sharp relief the importance of Hitler as an individual and how his personal fate shaped the course of the war and, ultimately, of world history.
    • Period piece: This type features historical places, people, or events that may or not be crucial to the story. Because history is merely used as a backdrop, it may be fictionalized to various degrees, but the story itself may be regarded as "outside" history. Genres within this category are often regarded as significant categories in themselves.
    • Costume drama: A type of drama that especially relies on lavish costumes and designs. This type crosses over with many other genres.
    • Jidaigeki: A story usually set in the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868.

Horror

A story that is told to deliberately scare or frighten the audience, through suspense, violence or shock. H. P. Lovecraft distinguishes two primary varieties in the "Introduction" to Supernatural Horror in Literature: 1) Physical Fear or the "mundanely gruesome" and 2) the true Supernatural Horror story or the "Weird Tale." The supernatural variety is occasionally termed "Dark Fantasy," since the laws of nature must be violated in some way, thus qualifying the story as "fantastic."

• • Ghost story: A story about the intrusion of the spirits of the dead into the realm of the living. There are sub-genres: The Traditional Haunting, Poltergeists, The Haunted Place or Object (i.e. the hotel in Stephen King's The Shining), or the etching in M. R. James' "The Mezzotint", etc. Some would include stories of Revenants such as W. W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw."
  • Monster: A story about a monster, creature or mutant that terrorizes people. Usually, it fits into the horror genre, for instance, Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. Although Shelley's Frankenstein is often also considered the first science fiction story (biological science reanimating the dead), it does present a monstrous "creature." Other clear Monster stories are of the creatures of folklore and fable: the Vampire, the Werewolf, the Zombie, etc. Beings such as that depicted in Karloff's The Mummy would also qualify.
  • Giant monster: A story about a giant monster, similar to the monster genre. However, giant monster stories are generally about a monster big enough to destroy buildings. Some such stories are about two giant monsters fighting each other, a genre known as kaiju in Japan, which is famous for such works after the success of such films and franchises as Godzilla.
  • Occult stories: Stories that touch upon the adversaries of Good, especially the "Enemies" of the forces of righteousness as expressed in any given religious philosophy. Hence, stories of devils, demons, demonic possession, dark witchcraft, evil sorcerers or warlocks, and figures like the Antichrist would qualify. The nature of such stories presupposes the existence of the side of Good and the existence of a deity to be opposed to the forces of Evil.
  • Slasher: A story (generally in film) that usually has an antagonist, who is a serial killer or simply insane. The "slasher" stereotypically kills his victims in the movie by slowly creeping up to them, and then quickly killing them with a sharp object, such as a Chef's knife. The genre lead to the creation of the Final girl theory.
  • Survival horror: A horror story about a protagonist who is put in a risky and life threatening situation that he or she must endure, often as a result of things such as zombies or other monsters, and the rest of the plot is how the hero or heroes overcome this.

Mystery

Although normally associated with the crime genre, the term "mystery fiction" may in certain situations refer to a completely different genre, where the focus is on supernatural mystery (even if no crime is involved). This usage was common in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, where titles such as Dime Mystery, Thrilling Mystery and Spicy Mystery offered what at the time were described as "weird menace" stories – supernatural horror in the vein of Grand Guignol. This contrasted with parallel titles of the same names which contained conventional hardboiled crime fiction. The first use of "mystery" in this sense was by Dime Mystery, which started out as an ordinary crime fiction magazine but switched to "weird menace" during the latter part of 1933.

Paranoid

Paranoid fiction is a term sometimes used to describe works of literature that explores the subjective nature of reality and how it can be manipulated by forces in power. These forces can be external, such as a totalitarian government, or they can be internal, such as a character's mental illness or refusal to accept the harshness of the world he is in.

Philosophical

Philosophical fiction refers to works of fiction in which a significant proportion of the work is devoted to a discussion of the sort of questions normally addressed in discursive philosophy. These might include the function and role of society, the purpose of life, ethics or morals, the role of art in human lives, and the role of experience or reason in the development of knowledge. Philosophical fiction works would include the so-called novel of ideas, including a significant proportion of science fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, and Bildungsroman. The modus operandi seems to be to use a normal story to simply explain difficult and/or dark parts of human life.

• • Bildungsroman: A coming-of-age novel presenting the psychological, moral and social shaping of the personality of a character, usually the protagonist. The genre arose during the German Enlightenment.

Political

Political fiction is a subgenre of fiction that deals with political affairs. Political fiction has often used narrative to provide commentary on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction often "directly criticize an existing society or... present an alternative, sometimes fantastic, reality." Prominent pieces of political fiction have included the totalitarian dystopias of the early 20th century such as Jack London's The Iron Heel and Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here. Equally influential, if not more so, however, have been earlier pieces of political fiction such as Gulliver's Travels (1726), Candide (1759) and Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Political fiction frequently employs the literary modes of satire, often in the genres of Utopian and dystopian fiction or social science fiction.

• • Utopian fiction: The creation of an ideal world, or utopia, as the setting for a novel
  • Dystopian fiction: is the creation of an nightmare world, or utopia, as the setting for a novel
  • Survivalism: See The Hunger Games.

Romance

Traditionally, a story involving chivalry and adventure. In modern writing, a story about character's relationships, or engagements (a story about character development and interpersonal relationships rather than adventures).

• • Shōjo manga:
  • Yuri manga:
  • Yoai manga:

Saga

The sagas (from Icelandic saga, plural sögur), are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, about migration to Iceland, and of feuds between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, mainly in Iceland. The texts are epic tales in prose, often with stanzas or whole poems in alliterative verse embedded in the text, of heroic deeds of days long gone, tales of worthy men, who were often Vikings, sometimes Pagan, sometimes Christian. The tales are usually realistic, except legendary sagas, sagas of saints, sagas of bishops and translated or recomposed romances. They are sometimes romanticised and fantastic, but always dealing with human beings one can understand.

• • Family saga: The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels (or sometimes sequences of novels) with a serious intent, this is often a thematic device used to portray particular historical events, changes of social circumstances, or the ebb and flow of fortunes from a multiple of perspectives.

Satire

Often strictly defined as a literary genre or form, although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humour in itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the weapon of wit. A very common, almost defining feature of satire is its strong vein of irony or sarcasm, but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. The essential point, however, is that "in satire, irony is militant." This "militant irony" (or sarcasm) often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist actually wishes to attack.

Science

A story about technology or the future. It generally includes or is centered on the presumed effects or ramifications of computers or machines, travel through space, time or alternate universes, alien life-forms, genetic engineering, or other such things. The science or technology used may or may not be very thoroughly elaborated on; stories whose scientific elements are reasonably detailed, well-researched and considered to be relatively plausible given current knowledge and technology are often referred to as hard science fiction. Owing to the wide breadth of the genre, it very commonly has elements from other genres, such as action, comedy, alternate history, military or spy fiction, and fantasy mixed in, with such combinations often forming new major subgenres in their own right (see below).

• • Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction: Science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization either through nuclear war, plague, or some other general disaster. Post-apocalyptic fiction is set in a world or civilization after such a disaster. The time frame may be immediately after the catastrophe, focusing on the travails or psychology of survivors, or considerably later, often including the theme that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been forgotten (or mythologized). Post-apocalyptic stories often take place in an agrarian, non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of technology remain. There is a considerable degree of blurring between this form of science fiction and that which deals with false utopias or dystopic societies. The genres gained in popularity after World War II, when the possibility of global annihilation by nuclear weapons entered the public consciousness. However, recognizable apocalyptic novels existed at least since the first quarter of the 19th century, when Mary Shelley's The Last Man was published. Additionally, the subgenres draw on a body of apocalyptic literature, tropes, and interpretations that are millennia old.
  • Hard science fiction:
    • Future noir: A hybrid genre of other works of fiction combining the film noir and science fiction or cyberpunk genres such as seen in Blade Runner (1982) and The Terminator (1984). It is a form of Neo-noir concentrating more on science fiction themes. The term was coined in The Terminator as the name of a nightclub, Tech Noir. The director James Cameron wanted a name for the particular style he was invoking.
  • Soft science fiction:
    • Christian science fiction:
    • Comic science fiction:
    • Feminist science fiction: Science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political, economic and personal power of men and women. Some of the most notable feminist science fiction works have illustrated these themes using utopias to explore a society in which gender differences or gender power imbalances do not exist, or dystopias to explore worlds in which gender inequalities are intensified, thus asserting a need for feminist work to continue.
    • Libertarian science fiction: Science fiction that focuses on the politics and social order implied by libertarian philosophies with an emphasis on individualism and a limited state—and in some cases, no state whatsoever. As a genre, it can be seen as growing out of the 1930s and 1940s when the science-fiction pulp magazines were reaching their peak at the same time as fascism and communism. While this environment gave rise to dystopian novels such as George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, in the pulps, this influence more often give rise to speculations about societies (or sub-groups) arising in direct opposition to totalitarianism.
    • Military science fiction: Science fiction told from the point of view of the military, or a main character who is a soldier in the military. It usually has technology far superior to today's, but not necessarily implausible. Military science fiction essentially is the addition of science fiction elements into a military fiction story.
    • Social science fiction: Science fiction concerned less with technology and space opera and more with sociological speculation about human society. In other words, it "absorbs and discusses anthropology", and speculates about human behavior and interactions. Exploration of fictional societies is one of the most interesting aspects of science fiction, allowing it to perform predictive and precautionary functions, to criticize the contemporary world and to present solutions, to portray alternative societies and to examine the implications of ethical principles.
  • Space opera: Science fiction story characterized by the extent of space travel and distinguished by the amount of time that protagonists spend in an active, spacefaring lifestyle. Firefly, Star Trek, Star Blazers and Star Wars have often been categorized as such.
    • Science fiction Western: A work of fiction which has elements of science fiction in a Western setting. It is different from a Space Western, which is a frontier story indicative of American Westerns, except transposed to a backdrop of space exploration and settlement. A science fiction Western occurs in the past, or in a world resembling the past, in which modern or future technology exists. The anachronistic technology of these stories is present because scientific paradigms occurred earlier in history but are implemented via industrial elements present at that time, or because technology is brought from another time or place. The genre often overlaps with Steampunk.
    • Planetary romance: A sub-genre of science fiction in which the bulk of the action consists of adventures on one or more exotic alien planets, characterized by distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds. Some planetary romances take place against the background of a future culture where travel between worlds by spaceship is commonplace; others, particularly the earliest examples of the genre, do not, and invoke flying carpets, astral projection, or other methods of getting between planets. In either case, it is the planetside adventures which are the focus of the story, not the mode of travel.
    • Space Western: A subgenre of science fiction, primarily grounded in film and television, that transposes themes of American Western books and film to a backdrop of futuristic space frontiers; it is the complement of the science fiction Western, which transposes science fiction themes onto an American Western setting.
  • Punk: An umbrella term, and suffix, for several Science Fiction subgenres, normally categorized by distinct technologies and sciences. The themes tend to be cynical or dystopian, and a person, or group of people, fighting the corruption of the government.
    • Cyberpunk: A futuristic storyline dealing with people who have been physically or mentally enhanced with cybernetic components, often featuring cyborgs or the singularity as a major theme, and generally somewhat cynical or dystopian (hence the "punk" portion of the name). This is often confused or placed with Techno-thriller, which is actually a separate and less specialized genre.
      • Postcyberpunk: a subgenre of science fiction which some critics suggest has evolved from cyberpunk. Like its predecessor, postcyberpunk focuses on technological developments in near-future societies, typically examining the social effects of a ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, genetic engineering, modification of the human body, and the continued impact of perpetual technological change. Unlike "pure" cyberpunk, however, the works in this category feature characters who act to improve social conditions or at least protect the status quo from further decay.
      • Nanopunk: The genre is similar bio-punk, but describes the world where the use of biotechnologies are limited or prohibited, so only nanotechnologies in wide use (while in biopunk bio- and nanotechnologies often coexist). Currently the genre is more concerned with the artistic and physiological impact of nanotechnology, than of aspects of the technology itself which is still in its infancy. Unlike the Cyberpunk, a low-life yet technologically advanced character, the personification of a Nanopunk can be set 'hard' or 'soft', depending on your views of the impact Nanotechnology will have on our future.
      • Atompunk: Atompunk relates to the pre-digital, cultural period of 1945-1965, including mid-century Modernism, the "Atomic Age", the "Space Age", Communism and paranoia in the USA along with Soviet styling, underground cinema, Googie architecture, space and the Sputnik, moonlanding, superhero-comics, art & radioactivity, the rise of the US military/industrial complex & the fall-out of Chernobyl.
      • Dieselpunk: Initially proposed as a genre by the creators of the role-playing game Children of the Sun, [12] dieselpunk refers to fiction inspired by mid-century pulp stories and set in a world similar to steampunk though specifically characterized by the rise of petroleum power and technocratic perception, incorporating neo-noir elements and sharing themes more clearly with cyberpunk than steampunk. Though the notability of dieselpunk as a genre is not entirely uncontested, installments ranging from the retro-futuristic film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow to the 2001 Activision video game Return to Castle Wolfenstein have been suggested as quintessential dieselpunk works of fiction.
    • Steampunk: A story that takes place around the time steam power was first coming into use. The industrial revolution is a common time frame which steam punk stories take place in, and the steam technology is often actually more advanced than the real technology of time (for instance, Steam Detectives features steam-powered robots).
      • Clockpunk: It has been occasionally used to refer to a subgenre of speculative fiction which is similar to steampunk, but deviates in its technology. As with steampunk, it portrays advanced technology based on pre-modern designs, but rather than the steam power of the Industrial Age, the technology used is based on springs, clockwork and similar. Clockpunk is based very intensively on the works of Leonardo da Vinci and as such, it is typically set during the Renaissance. It is regarded as being a type of Steampunk.
    • Biopunk: A story that is about genetics and biological research (often falling under the horror category). It focuses on some harmful effects characters have created when they change an animal's code to (unintentionally) create a violent monster.
    • Steamscopes: A kaleidoscope that combines the Aesthetic appeal of Steampunk and the Art of Kaliedoscope Design.

Speculative

Speculative fiction is a fiction genre speculating about worlds that are unlike the real world in various important ways. In these contexts, it generally overlaps one or more of the following: science fiction, fantasy fiction, horror fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history.

• • Slipstream: Fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries between science fiction/fantasy and mainstream literary fiction. The term slipstream was coined by cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling in an article originally published in SF Eye #5, July 1989. He wrote: "...this is a kind of writing which simply makes you feel very strange; the way that living in the twentieth century makes you feel, if you are a person of a certain sensibility." Slipstream fiction has consequently been referred to as "the fiction of strangeness," which is as clear a definition as any others in wide use.
  • Supernatural fiction: Classification of literature used to describe fiction exploiting or requiring as plot devices or themes some contradictions of the commonplace natural world and materialist assumptions about it. It includes the traditional ghost story. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is an example of a work of literary fiction that is also largely concerned with supernatural fiction elements, making play of the possibility that they are psychological at root, but requiring the option that they are not for effect. The newer speculative fiction genres of horror fiction and fantasy fiction, growing out of some of the basic propositions and generic conventions, to a certain extent replaced it.
  • Superhero fiction: Subgenre of fiction that deals with superheroes, supervillains, super-powered humans, aliens, or mutants, and their adventures. Distinct from (but often derived from) comic books, animated films, and graphic novels, these are prose stories and full-length novels. Superhero fiction is a type of speculative fiction. This subgenre is often considered part of the genres of science fiction, fantasy, action, adventure, horror, or detective mystery fiction. Some are stand alone novels, some books in a series, and some are anthologies. Some are individual or unique creations while others are corporate product or promotional tie-ins. Some are also the novelizations of films or television series. The largest and longest running of the corporate series are those associated with the DC Universe and the Marvel Universe.
  • Utopian and dystopian fiction: The utopia and its offshoot, the dystopia, are genres of literature that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction is the creation of an ideal world, or utopia, as the setting for a novel. Dystopian fiction is the opposite: creation of a nightmare world, or dystopia. Many novels combine both, often as a metaphor for the different directions humanity can take in its choices, ending up with one of two possible futures. Both utopias and dystopias are commonly found in science fiction and other speculative fiction genres, and arguably are by definition a type of speculative fiction. More than 400 utopian works were published prior to the year 1900 in the English language alone, with more than a thousand others during the twentieth century.
  • Weird fiction: Speculative literature written in the late 19th and early 20th century. Weird fiction is distinguished from horror and fantasy in that it predates the niche marketing of genre fiction. Because genre or stylistic conventions had not been established, weird tales often blend the supernatural, mythical, and even scientific. British "weird" authors, for example, published their work in mainstream literary magazines even after American pulp magazines became popular. Although "weird fiction" is chiefly a historical description for works through the 1930s, the term has also been used since the 1980s, sometimes to describe slipstream fiction that blends horror, fantasy, and science fiction.

Thriller

A story that is usually a mix of fear and excitement. It has traits from the suspense genre and often from the action, adventure or mystery genres, but the level of terror makes it borderline horror fiction at times as well. It generally has a dark or serious theme, which also makes it similar to drama.

• • Disaster-thriller: A thriller story about mass peril, where the protagonist's job is to both survive, and to save many other people from a grim fate, often a natural disaster such as a storm or volcanic eruption, but which may also be a terrorist attack or epidemic of some sort.
  • Psychological thriller: A thriller that emphasizes the psychological condition of the hero that presents obstacles to his objective, rather than the action. Some psychological thrillers are also about complicated stories that try to deliberately confuse the audience, often by showing them only the same confusing or seemingly nonsensical information that the hero gains.
  • Crime thriller: A thriller story that revolves around the life of detectives, mobs, or other groups associated with criminal events in the story.
  • Techno-thriller: A thriller story whose theme is usually technology, or the danger behind the technology people use, including the threat of cyber terrorism.

Urban

Urban fiction, also known as Street lit, is a literary genre set, as the name implies, in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the race and culture of its characters as the urban setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside. Profanity (all of George Carlin's seven dirty words and urban variations thereof), sex and violence are usually explicit, with the writer not shying away from or watering-down the material. In this respect, urban fiction shares some common threads with dystopian or survivalist fiction. Often statements derogatory to white people (or at least what is perceived as the dominant Eurocentric culture and power structure) are made, usually by the characters. However, in the second wave of urban fiction, some variations of this model have been seen.

TV genres

• Serial: A television show which is one continuous story. Each episode picks up from where the last one left off. The story may shift with a new season.
• Game Show: A television show depicting a real contest, typically a trivia competition or physical challenge, with rewards in prizes or money. The players may include celebrities.
• Reality show: A television show, purportedly unscripted although more evidence points to scripting, featuring non-actors filmed interacting with each other or dealing with invented or contrived challenges, such as surviving on a "deserted" island by finding their own food and shelter, or competing against others for the affections of a certain person. Filmed in a similar fashion as the documentary film genre, but with more emphasis on the showing of interpersonal conflict, emotional reactions, or unusual occurrences.
• Sitcom: Short for Situational Comedy, a generally light-hearted genre which features characters having to deal with odd or uncomfortable situations or misunderstandings.
• Current Affairs: Broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories.
• News show: A television program depicting real, up-to-date events.
• Documentary: A documentary is a feature-length or near-feature length film depicting a real-world event or person, told in a journalistic style (if told in a literary narrative style the result is often a docudrama). Example: Hoop Dreams, The Thin Blue Line (documentary)
• Docudrama: A program depicting some sort of historical or current news event, with specific changes or fabrications for legal, continuity or entertainment reasons. Depending on the quality of the feature and intended audience, these changes can minimally or completely change the story in relation to the actual events. These programs often depict crime or criminals but can also be used to depict heroics or tell a less-explored side of a well-known story. Example: United 93 (film) by Paul Greengrass depicts the events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 via reconstruction from the available evidence. Since the specific words the passengers exchanged while planning their assault on the cockpit will never be known, the filmmakers created the dialogue based on research and evidence. The Onion Field is another example. This genre is often criticized for creating sensationalized programs intended to capitalize on public interest in lurid news stories; in the case of the Scott Peterson murder trial, a docudrama starring Dean Cain was filmed and aired during jury deliberations.
• Soap opera: A television show which is one continuous story. Usually on every day of the week instead of once a week. Can go on for over 20 years. Example: Days of our Lives, Young and the Restless and Coronation street
• Police procedural: A television genre some say was pioneered by the popular show Dragnet. The stories revolve around a crime that has been committed and must be solved by the end of the episode following a very generic and usually unchanging structure of events. The crime is committed, witnesses are questioned, an arrest occurs, and then a judicial conclusion wraps it up. As the name implies, the show communicates everything "by the book," as it would happen in real life. In such modern Police Procedurals such as Law & Order, you see and hear even the officers reading freshly arrested criminals their Miranda Rights. Not quite as dramatic or action-oriented as the Dick Tracy-style of detective shows.
• Medical Drama: A medical drama is based around a team of medics helping patients who have been involved in accidents serious or otherwise. Most commonly, an accident occurs which results in the medics being called to help the injured. Most are usually based around a hospital, however, some are based around a mobile medical team etc. Examples of this genre are Casualty, Holby City and ER.

References

• Bitzer, Lloyd F. “The Rhetorical Situation.” Philosophy and Rhetoric 1:1 (1968): 1‐14.
• Charaudeau, P.; Maingueneau, D. & Adam, J. Dictionnaire d'analyse du discours Seuil, 2002
• Devitt, Amy J. “A Theory of Genre.” Writing Genres. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004. 1-32.
• Fairclough, Norman. Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research Routledge, 2003
• Genette, Gérard. 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.
• Miller, Carolyn. “Genre as Social Action.” Quarterly Journal of Speech. 70 (1984): 151-67.

Further reading

• Sullivan, Ceri (2007) ‘Disposable elements? Indications of genre in early modern titles’, Modern Language Review 102.3, pp. 641–53

External links

• Development of the Genre Concept
• Genres of film at the Internet Movie Database
• Helping Children Understand Literary Genres