Genre

The term genre refers to a particular category of literature, music, film, or other forms of art or entertainment; a genre or category is defined by various conventions that have developed over time. Conventions refer to typical stylistic criteria, characteristics, or standards that are socially agreed upon, that is, that the artists and the public have come to agree upon, in terms of the various techniques and characteristics that they expect or typically use for audiences of a particular genre. The concept of genre and conventions can apply to any kind of written, spoken, audio, or visual products, whether they are more entertainment driven and commercially motivated, or more serious, aesthetic, or artistic. The word derives from the French genre /ʒɑn.ɹə/, meaning 'kind, sort'); in English is often pronounced /dʒɑn.ɹə/ more informally, or /ʒɑn.ɹə/ among more academic or formal speakers.

The first to define genre in the Western tradition was Aristotle, in his book The Poetics, in which he specified features that were characteristic of and appropriate for each genre, such as poetry (including odes and epic poems), prose, comedy, drama, and tragedy. Some genre categories today may be fairly rigid, while others may be more flexible. Genres can change over time, and new ones may emerge, as genres are created, and old ones fall out of use. Major genres may be divided into subcategores (see examples below). Some works may fall into multiple genre or subgenre categories by borrowing and recombining their stylistic conventions. The term genre generally applies to larger works, as opposed to the individual styles of shorter stand-alone texts or pieces.

A well developed and popular genre of, say, music or film, can have subtypes, or subgenres. For example, within the genre of science fiction, various subgenres exist, often blending elements of other major genres with science fiction, such as sci-fi horror, sci-fi comedy, sci-fi fantasy, and sci-fi drama, as well as subgenres defined by the presence of other unique elements, such as apocalyptic sci-fi and dystopican sci-fi. Whether one speaks of a major style as a genre or subgenre can depend on context. For example, in the overall context of music, one could refer to rock/pop, jazz, classical, and others as genres. But within the context of rock/pop, where very well developed and distinct subtypes exist, then within a strictly rock/pop context, one could speak of ballads, metal, punk, new wave, alternative, R&B, and others as genres.

1 Literature

Literary genres are often distinguished by the following stylistic characteristics.

• literary techniques
• tone
• content
• length
• intended audience

Common literary genres include various prose and poetry forms, such as:

1. epic poem
2. tragedy
3. comedy
4. novel
5. novella
6. parody
7. short story
8. poems

More specific genre categories include the following fictional varieties. Each of these can consist of multiple subgenres.

1. Literary fiction, dealing with characters and their inner lives and perspectives
2. Romance
3. Action adventure, which involves a protagonist in danger and action (which is often fast-paced)
4. Suspense/Thriller, which involves a protagonist in danger
5. Science fiction
6. Fantasy, which has mythical or magical elements, such as Lord of the Rings
7. Fairy tale
8. Legend
9. Play
10. Musical
11. Satire
12. Horror
13. Speculative fiction, which is set in a somewhat different world or timeline; this may overlap with some types of science fiction or alternative histories.
14. Young adult fiction, with teenagers or very young adults as major characters, and aimed at teenage and young adult audiences
15. New adults fiction, with college-age major characters, aimed at young adult audiences
16. Mystery, in which a protagonist solves a crime
17. Police procedurals, in which a police officer or detective solves a crime
18. Westerns: stories that are set in the old American West. Plots and characters include cowboys, settlers, outlaws, native Americans ("Indians"), miners, and stories of survival, romance, or adventure.
19. Family saga, involving two or more generations of families
20. Women's fiction, involving female characters and typical situations of women
21. Magical realism, in which characters' lives involve magical events, which they don't find unusual; a good example is Cien Anos de Soledad (100 Years of Solitude) by Gabriel Marquez.

There are also some nonfiction genres, such as these.

1. Memoir
2. Biography
3. Essay
4. Personal narrative
5. Reference works
6. Textbook

More serious non-fiction, rhetorical (i.e., persuasive) and academic writing can include the following. See also the page on academic writing genres.

1. Rhetorical, persuasive, or argumentative essay
2. Problem-solution essay
3. Research essay or paper
4. Thesis: a major work involving original research for an advanced university degree
5. Conference paper
6. Monograph: a research-based academic book

2 Film & TV genres

Films might be classified as full-length feature films, short films, and documentaries. Many genres and subgenres exist, and various techniques can be used such as tropes and literary techniques. Basic film and TV genres include many of the literary genres, plus a few more that are more unique to visual media, such as the following.

1. Drama
2. Documentary
3. Musical
4. Western
5. War film
6. Horror
7. Romance
8. Romantic comedy
9. Crime film
10. Film noir
11. Science fiction

The visual medium allows for numerous subtypes and combinations. For example, the documentary format can be combined with drama, called a docudrama, in which real events are dramatized by actors. It can be combined with satire and humor for mockumentary, or a fictional, documentary-style humor film (such as This is Spinal Tap, a famous American mockumentary from the 1980s). Science fiction can include the following subtypes and crossover forms.

1. Hard science fiction: science and technology, rather than other genre elements, are central to the plot; science concepts and terms are explained in detail.
2. Soft sci-fi: science is secondary to character-driven plots
3. Apocalyptic sci-fi: Plots center around an earth-shattering or catastropic event, such as an alien invasion (like Independence Day)
4. Post-apocalyptic sci-fi: events after an apocalyptic catastrophe
5. Dystopian sci-fi: e.g., stories taking place in a fictional society that exists as a police state
6. Sci-fi horror (e.g., the film Event Horizon)
7. Sci-fi humor (e.g., the UK TV series Red Dwarf)
8. Sci-fi fantasy
9. Military sci-fi
10. Robot fiction
11. Social science fiction: This explores future societies, sometimes for purposes of social satire
12. Steampunk: More modern or futuristic elements are introduced to or combined with an earlier historical setting; famous examples include Metropolis (Germany, 1927)
13. Cyberpunk: Based on cybernetics scenarios and plots, often in dystopian futuristic settings
14. Alternate history
15. Speculative fiction: This may be on the periphery of science fiction, as it includes elements of fantasy, supernatural fiction, alternate histories, or other scenarios that differ from known history. Good examples would be the British TV series Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, which blend elements of time travel, cop drama, alternate history, and psychological thriller.

3 Genre & narrative elements

The following elements might be used in certain genres. Different narrative elements and plot elements might be more commonly used in different genres. See also narrative techniques in film.

3.1 Literary and narrative techniques

The following are techniques that are commonly used in literature and in film. Literary and film techniques can first be considered by the following general literary and film elements that often define their genre. See also narrative techniques in film.

1. Setting
2. Plot
3. Perspective
4. Style elements or devices
5. Character
6. Theme

Common plot techniques include the following.

1. backstories
2. cliffhangers
3. flashback
4. narrator or voiceover
5. framing device (an important scene at the beginning or end of a work that is out of chronological order, but sets the tone or theme of the work
6. frame story (a story within a story; the outer story is the frame story)
7. foreshadoing (scenes or events that suggest what is to happen later in a story)
8. narrative hook (an opening that gets the readers' attention)
9. plot twist (an unexpected change in the plotline)
10. poetic justice (bad characters get what they deserve, or good characters get what they deserve)
11. unreliable narrator (the narrator is not sincere, impartial, or accurate in telling the story)
12. deus ex machina (a magical solution to a problem appears out of nowhere, in a way that is unrelated to the story)

Perspective can include first person narration, second person narration, or third person narration. Narration can also be multiperspective, or told from the viewpoints of multiple characters. Perspective can be told from the standpoint of the protagonist, or another character who serves as an audience surrogate—a person with whom the audience identifies and helps the audience to understand plots and characters (such as Dr Watson in the Sherlock Holmes mysteries). An author surrogate is another character based on the author and author's views. At times, characters may break the fourth wall; breaking the fourth wall refers to the invisible "wall" between the actors on a stage and the audience. This occurs when a character addresses the audience directly, as if the character is aware that s/he is a character in a story. This is sometimes used effectively in some comedy films or shows.

Numerous stylistic devices exist in literature and other media, such as:

1. allegory
2. alliterateion
3. imagery (e.g., very visual descriptions)
4. metaphors (including specific types like metonomy and synecdoche)
5. overstatement (exaggeration, for emphasis)
6. onomatopoeia (words that imitate sounds, e.g., "crash", "boom", "bang", "meow", "woof woof")
7. oxymoron (contradictory expressions, like "pretty ugly")
8. paradox
9. parody
10. pathos (emotional appeal, e.g., by creating deep sympathy for a character)
11. satire
12. rhetorical amplification (sentences embellished with unusually formal or complex language)
13. euphemism (indirect language for something that might be inappropriate to say, e.g., saying that someone "passed away" instead of "died")
14. sound symbolism: Sounds that imitate non-auditory sensations, such as using /i/ vowel sounds for things that are cute or childlike (teeny weeny), as in baby talk. Better and more direct examples exist in Korean and Japanese, which have many sound symbolic words, such as the Korean 쨍쨍, which represents a blazing, glaring sun.
15. sensory detail (like imagery, but with descriptions that invoke physical sensations)
16. understatement (deliberately understating something for descriptive, dramatic, or humorous effect)

A common narrative and thematic device includes motifs, or recurring elements that have a symbolic or narrative significance (for example, the repeated occurrences of the phrase "bad wolf" in the first two seasons of the revived Dr Who series). Other common narrative and thematic devices include different types of irony, or a discrepancy between expectation and reality.

1. Situational irony: A discrepancy between what is expected and what actually happens.
2. Dramatic irony: A character is unaware of important information that has been revealed to the audience.
3. Verbal irony: A person states one thing, which means something different than what others understand. This is not the same as sarcasm, where a person intentionally plays with two interpretations of what s/he says in order to, e.g., criticize someone.

Some character development techniques can include personification (assigning human traits to non-living things or abstract ideas), hamartia or a fatal moral flaw (one that leads to the downfall of a hero), and pathos or projection, in which a main character's mood is projected onto the atmosphere or inanimate objects (e.g., in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven," the narrator's depression is projected onto the ambience of the whole story, including the stormy, cold weather).

3.2 Tropes

TV shows, films, and novels of certain genres often employ tropes, or common plot elements, devices, or events. Certain tropes are associated with certain genres, and may contribute to the theme of the work. Sometimes they are overused, or used unnecessarily, and become cliché. Some examples include:

Science fiction tropes

1. Time travel
2. Characters travel back in time and return to find that they have altered their contemporary history and reality
3. Characters encounter a parallel universe, where there exist evil alternate versions of themselves (e.g., Star Trek: Discovery, season 1)
4. Killer aliens, e.g., evil aliens come to earth
5. Evil AI technology, or AI uprisings (like the Terminator movies)
6. Wormholes allowing for instant travel between distant parts of the galaxy
7. Interspecies romance, e.g., between a human and an alien
8. Faster-than-light (FTL) travel: A necessary trope because space is just too big
9. Dystopian governments or societies (dystopian sci-fi): society and government have collapsed, or have undergone a disaster such as ecological / climate collapse, nuclear war, plague, or some other major apocalypse
10. God-like aliens, as they are so advanced that they have seeminly god-like powers and intelligence

Horror or action movie tropes

1. Characters realize that a killer is pursuing them, so the split up, which makes it easier for the killer to catch all of them.
2. A villain is a supernatural reincarnation of a person who died a horrible and unfair death
3. Killer whatever — often an animal, person, or natural substance that has mutated (e.g., the film Arachnophobia)
4. Characters running from a killer, who run into places that are difficult to escape
5. Jump scares: a sudden scare, often when something scary suddenly appears or happens, causing viewers to experience a jump of fright
6. Vengeful spirit or ghost
7. The final survivor—one last person has survived a killer, often a female last survivor; she often outsmarts the killer and escapes.

See also: The page on tropes with more examples.

3.3 Mise-en-scène

Mise-en-scène (French: [mi.z‿ɑ̃.sɛn]) literally means "placing on stage" or what is placed in the scene. This refers to the overall visual design of scense, or is the stage design and arrangement of actors and objects in scenes, whether for theater performances, film, or TV. The term can also refer to individual scenes that are representative of the mood or style of a film. Mise-en-scène can include the following elements.

Set design

The setting of a scene and the placement of objects (props) in a scene can set the mood, draw attention to the mood of characters, and influence the action on set. Whether a film is shot on location or on a constructed set or stage can also affect the mood and feel.

Lighting

The lighting of the set can influence how the audience understands or interprets events, characters, themes, and mood.

Space

The placement, size and shapes of objects on a set, their proximity, can be manipulated through lighting, set design, camera placement, and camera use, and the use of spacing can affect the mood, scene, characters, or actions. For example, a lot of empty space might convey peacefulness or emptiness, while close placement of objects and actors might convey opposite moods.

Composition

This refers to the organization of objects, actors and space within the frame, including the balance and symmetry. This can affect what viewers focus on or pay more attention to. Intentional use of misaligned objects or an imbalanced scene, for example, might emphasize certain parts of the scene, or distract the viewers from the background.

Costume

The clothing worn by actors can make clear distinctions between characters or indicate the role, mood, nature, or status of a particular character. Certain colors might enhance certain emotions, or convey something about the character's personality.

Makeup and hairstyles

These can also affect how viewers interpret characters, and their personality or mood, and changes in these can signal changes within a character. This also includes prosthetics, masks or full-body makeup.

Acting style

In early Hollywood films, film acting was influenced by the more melodramatic style of theater and stage acting. Acting later became more naturalistic and realistic. Different approaches to acting may be used. For example, an actor may engage in method acting, where they fully immerse themselves in the role and train extensively for the role to deliver a very convincing and naturalistic performance.

Film type

The use of differen types of filming can affect the mood, feel, and interpretation of a film, for example, black-and-white versus color, fine-grain or grainy film, and different video aspect ratios.

Actor blocking

The terms 'blocking' and 'blocks' come from stage acting, and refers to the the specific placement or staging of actors on the stage to enhance and facilitate the performance and dramatic effect.

4 Music

Many musical genres and subgenres exist, and the terms genre, style and form may be used interchangeably, as they can be difficult to distinguish.

1. "Classical" music includes classical proper (from the classical period of the 18th century), baroque, romanticism, impressionism, minimalism, experimentalism, and others.
2. Renaissance styles include dance, madrigal, motet, canzona, and ricercar
3. Jazz includes vocal jazz, big band, swing, progressive jazz, acid jazz, fusion, lounge, Latin jazz, rhythm & blues / blues, and soft jazz.
4. Rock includes classic rock / pop, rockabilly, blues rock, heavy metal, rap / hip-hop, punk / new wave / alternative.

5 Painting & visual arts

Examples include:

1. Genre painting, which involve scenes of everyday life, and/or people who are not identified, and are not specific individuals, but general, unnamed people in a scene
2. History painting, including narrative, religious, mythological, and allegorical subjects or characters
3. Portrait painting
4. Landscape, or a landscape scene, and cityscape
5. Animal painting
6. Still life

6 See also

Other pages

1. Academic writing genres on English Wiki
2. List of writing genres at Wikipedia
3. Humor genres
4. Narrative techniques
5. Music genres
6. Paragraph styles
7. Plot elements
8. Trope