THEORY - Genre Theory

GENRE THEORY

GENRE - A class or category of artistic endeavour having a particular form, context, technique.

 Genre is a way of categorising a text through style and form. it is vital to be able to categorise text like this - both from the perspective of production and analysis. 
A text is classified in a genre through the identification of key elements which occur in that text and in others of the same genre. These elements may be referred to as paradigms and range from costume, music, plot and font. Audiences recognises these paradigms and bring a set of expectations to their reading of the text. For example - the criminal will be brought to justice at the end of the police thriller. 

 These paradigms may be grouped into those relating to:
  • iconography - the main signs and symbols that you see/hear
  • structure - the way a text is put together and the shape it takes
  • theme - issues and the ideas it deals with
Genre is important for both readers (audience) and creators of text (producers). 
Audiences
  • select texts on basis of genre, often because texts are arranged at retail outlets by genre (just pop along to HMV). Also, certain genres are considered appropriate to certain ages/genders in society, and choices are made accordingly eg teen movie, 'chick flicks'
  • have systems of expectations about the content and style of a text, according to its genre. This enables them to take particular pleasures in the text, those of repetition, and of predicted resolution. Pleasure may also be drawn from differences.
  • identify with repeated elements in generic texts and may shape their own identity in response (eg fans of a particular genre of music dress in a specific way - metal heads in their band t-shirts, for instance)
Producers
  • market texts according to genre because a niche audience has already been identified as taking pleasure in that type of text
  • standardise production practices according to genre conventions, thus cutting costs
  • subscribe to established conventions of verisimilitude, thus reinforcing genre conventions, but also allowing creativity within a given format eg) it is an accepted convention in science fiction that spaceships make noises, which helps create excitement in battle scenes, but it is a scientific fact that no sound travels through the vacuum that is space.
Classification by genre can be seen positively and negatively by audiences, producers and theorists. On one hand, rigorous conformity to established conventions while giving the audience what they want can actually lead to stagnation (lack of development) and the eventual ossification (a tendency toward or state of being moulded into a rigid, conventional , unimaginative condition) of genre as "they're all the same" judgement is made. This is what happened to traditional Hollywood Western and Musical - once lots of examples of these genres were produced in studios each year the format became pretty repetitive and audiences lost their interest. It  is now only when a new one comes and challenges the conventions and breaks the audiences expectations.  

On the other hand, the genre of reality television has defied criticism that it is stale, boring and predictable and is now the main basis of programming for entire networks. Although all possible variations of the same structure, iconography and theme seem to have run through the space of a decade and is still popular with audiences. 

Genre can provide structure and form which can allow a great deal of creativity and virtuosity, especially when a genuine reworking of generic conventions comes along. genre provides key elements for the audience to recognise and further appreciate the variation and originality surrounding the representation of those elements. When Scream was released (1996), writer Kevin Williamson was praised for his ironic and new take of the conventional teenage slasher movie. He took the conventions (band of promiscuous teenagers picked off one by one by killer unknown) and turned them around with the characters' self-awareness of their own predictability. (Oh please don't kill me, Mr Ghost-face.) On the contrary, when Scary Movie 4 was released, the audience found it "formulaic and predictable." Therefore we can see that most genre paradigms form part of a fluid system - they are constantly changing and adapting to the audiences taste etc. 
Genres create order to simplify the mass of information given to the audience. By creating categories, it promotes organisation instead of chaos. Jane Feuer has divided way to categorise genres into 3 different groups.

 - AESTHETIC - By using this method one can organise according to certain sets of characters and so the overall work of the artist is not disparaged by generalisation. 
- RITUAL - Uses its own culture to help classify. If one performs a ritual associated with a system of ritual then one can be said to be a practising member of the system. 
- IDEOLOGICAL - This occurs most often in the marketing of texts, music and movies. The effectiveness of this type can be measured by how well the public accepts the categories. 

 Amy J. Devitt focuses on rhetorical genre. Scholars generally recognise the restirctions placed on works that have been classified by a certain genre. Viewing genre as a rhertorical devide gives the author and reader more freedom and allow them to make their own opinion. Genres are NOT freestanding entities but are connected andinteractive amongst themselves. Rhetorical genre recognises that genres are generated by authors, publishers, readers and the entire range of social forces that contribute to every stage of production.
Daniel Chandler believes that every genre positions those who participate in a text: as interviewer or interviewee, listener or storyteller, reader or write, someone interested in politics etc. Each of these imply different possibilities for response and for action. Each written text provides a "reading position" for readers and this position was constructed by the writer for the "ideal reader". Embedded in texts are assumptions about the "ideal reader" including their attitudes towards the subject matter and their class (ethnicity,gender, age etc). 
GENRE AND AUDIENCE
Uses and gratifications research has identified many potential pleasures of genre, For example; 

  • One might be simply the recognition of features of a particular genre. Recognition of what is said to be important or what is not, derived from our knowledge of the genre which is essential to be able to follow a plot.
  • Genres may offer many emotional pleasures (empathy/escapism etc) - a feature which some theoretical commentaries seem to lose sight of. 
  • Aristotle acknowledged the special emotional responses which were linked to different genres. 
  • Deborah Knight notes that "the satisfaction is guaranteed with genre; the deferral of the inevitable provides the additional pleasure of prolonged anticipation."
  • Steve Neale argues that pleasure is derived from the "repetition and difference'  and there would be no pleasure without difference. We also may consider getting pleasure from watching how the conventions of the genre are manipulated, the stretching of a genre in new directions and the consequent shifting of our expectations. 
  • Other pleasures can be found in sharing our experience with others in an interpretive community which can be characterised by familiarity. 




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