genre theory

The term genre refers to socially recognized categories of communication, whether written, spoken, musical, visual, or digital, characterized by recurring conventions, purposes, and audience expectations. Genre is a dynamic and semiotic construct through which form, content, and social context become organized and recognizable. Genre theory, or genre studies, is a collective term referring to theoretical approaches that study how genres share specific conventions. Generic conventions can create an understanding of similar situations based on shared expectations as well as shape social context.

Media genres or journalism genres refer to various journalistic styles of writing about events and topics such as news reporting and feature articles. Feature articles, such as travel writing, tend to focus on style rather than directly reporting the news. Feature articles not only tell stories but also often include photographs, drawings, and special typographic effects. Similar to reporting news, writing feature articles requires journalists to correctly gather and report facts. However, journalists need to be creative and find interesting ways of writing feature articles so as to attract and sustain their readers’ attention. The interaction between genres and mass media is considered to be a driving force that contributes to changes in genres.

Genre defined in various disciplines

Genre is often viewed as a means of classification based solely on formal characteristics. For example, the science fiction film genre often depicts a world that could be altered by time and advances in technology, whereas the musical film genre is full of songs and dances, spontaneity, exuberance, and romantic love. Traditional approaches to genre theory often focus on identifying formal and structural characteristics of genres and the methods used in specific examples to satisfy the requirements of the genre. Although genre is defined differently in various disciplines, rhetorical genre studies (RGS) posit a more refined definition in which genre is viewed as social action. The idea originated with Carolyn Miller’s 1984 essay Genre as Social Action, which describes genres as typified rhetorical actions based on recurrent situations. This definition not only highlights the importance of understanding how genres are categorized based on common characteristics of similar situations (e.g., the goals, the organization, the people involved, and the broader society) but also considers how genres can be adapted to new situations with slightly different characteristics. Catherine Schryer suggests the “stabilized-for-now” feature in genre not only illustrates the conventionalized form of similar situations but also adapts its structures and ways of expression to be applicable in different or new situations. Charles Bazerman envisions genre as a sociopsychological category that allows individuals to recognize and construct typified actions within typified situations. This approach emphasizes the role of genre in creating an understanding of situations.

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Similarly, the philosopher and linguistics scholar Mikhail Bakhtin highlights the changeable and flexible features in speech genres. Bakhtin posits that speech genres need to retain certain characteristics for participants to recognize a specific situation; meanwhile, genres still fulfill the requirements of any new situation. More specifically, genres, whether spoken or written, reflect the changeability of their formal characteristics in connection to changes in the situation and the actions relevant to these genres. For example, workplace genres (e.g., reports, proposals, letters, memos, emails) are used with some adjustment in consideration of factors such as the purpose of the writing and whether the example is for external or internal use.

History of genre theory

Genre theory has its origin in the study of literary genres. Formal theories of genre classification emerged prominently in ancient Greek literary criticism, which formulated specific styles for poetry, prose, and performance. Scholars of the Greeks’ literary tradition criticized the ambiguity and inconsistency in the classification system. For example, the Iliad—an ancient Greek poem—is fundamentally an epic, but it also contains elements of tragedy. In 15th-century Europe, the printing press sparked significant cultural changes by bringing texts to a much larger audience. By the 18th century, literacy in Europe had greatly increased as a result. New art forms also emerged, such as the tragicomedy—a play or novel consisting of both comedic and tragic elements.

Perhaps the biggest challenge in genre studies is to find a theory of genre commensurate with different types of texts within genres. The French philosopher and literary scholar Jacques Derrida’s The Law of Genre, as translated by Avital Ronell in 1980, posits two new modes of thought: (1) individual texts should be seen as participating in, rather than belonging to, certain genres, and (2) there is a need to identify the characteristics that signify genre classification. Around the same period, rhetorical genre studies (RGS) also emerged. RGS scholars argued that genres are not stable. Instead, genres are dynamic and should be considered both the product and the process that create them.

Generic conventions of genre

Generic conventions refer to indicators such as phrases, themes, quotations, or explanations that enable individuals to identify a certain genre. Stereotypes can occur because audiences expect to find their expectations satisfied. For instance, the horror film genre should contain a story about sociopaths or dangerous figures threatening individuals who have little external help. These conventions predictably trigger emotions such as fear, anxiety, shock, disgust, surprise, repulsion, and relief.

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Genres are not static; instead, they are described as social institutions that persist through the constant renovation of their conventions by individuals. The practice of generic conventions shared by many writers allows them the flexibility to preserve certain aspects of a genre and transform others. This practice offers writers a choice either to follow generic conventions or manipulate them for various aesthetic and thematic reasons.

Genre in various traditions

Genre theory developed across disciplines such as literature, linguistics, rhetoric, composition studies, critical discourse analysis, sociology, and education. Over time it expanded to include a wide range of genres in daily life (e.g., recipes) as well as workplace writing genres (e.g., proposals, medical records).

Literary approaches to genre study often treat genres as either exclusively aesthetic objects or impositions on artistic freedom. A key research area in the literary genre is to examine how literary and cultural studies’ approaches expand the scope of genre studies that could align with linguistic and sociorhetorical traditions. Five major approaches in the literary genre include neoclassical, structural, Romantic and post-Romantic, reader response, and cultural studies.

Linguistic traditions focus on two major schools of thought: genre within systemic functional linguistics and genre as a significant variable in historical and corpus linguistics. Scholars in systemic functional linguistics view language structure as an integral part of texts, social context, and function, and focus on the uses of genre in pedagogy.

Rhetorical and sociological traditions extend genre study beyond communication actions to the social actions that genres perform. As noted earlier, research in rhetorical criticism and social phenomenology provided a basis for Carolyn Miller’s groundbreaking work in Genre as Social Action, which created new approaches for the study and teaching of genre.

RGS, also known as North American Genre Theory, is a branch of genre theory that uses rhetorical and sociocultural approaches to examine genres as inherent components of recurrent social and rhetorical action. For example, according to RGS, the genre of proposals in typical workplace situations is an indispensable element that frequently occurs in business activities. Significant contributions of RGS are the identification and explanation of major concepts such as genre sets and systems, uptake, meta-genres, distributed cognition, genre chronotope, and activity systems.

Genre and mass media

Media content creators (e.g., television producers, journalists) use media genres differently in consideration of their target audiences’ characteristics (age group, ethnicity, gender, levels of education), as well as changes in the target audiences and their relative status. For instance, celebrity or people journalism—a reporting type that is associated with the tabloid press—focuses on famous entertainers, athletes, and members of royal families. Another example is science journalism—a reporting type that requires journalists to have knowledge in certain areas in order to interpret jargon-laden information accurately and then distill it into media products that are understandable to their readers or viewers.

Mass media genres embody the values and ideological concerns of the different eras in which they are created. Genres develop according to social conditions. However, changes in genres can influence and reinforce social conditions. In other words, mass media genres have a reciprocal relationship with social and cultural values in which genres may help to shape them. Genres are typically not ideologically neutral. Some Marxist commentators view genres as a means to reinforce the dominant ideology of the society. Mass media genres play a part in constructing differences and identity in society, such as gender stereotypes in film and television genres. While western films tend to be a masculine genre, soap operas tend to be regarded as feminine. However, audiences do not always passively accept gender depiction in texts or visual media products. They may instead oppose or even reject gender stereotypes outright.

The choices of mass media genres tend to target different market sectors. Differences between genres and the relative stability of genres enable producers to identify and predict audiences’ expectations regarding media products. As a result, media content producers can use specific genres consistently and efficiently to meet audiences’ expectations. Mass media genres are developed and legitimized to voice particular concerns and provide pleasures that align with audiences’ interests.

The original version of this article was published by SAGE Publications in The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society.