Genre refers to categories used to classify creative works such as art, music, literature and film. It is determined by factors like the type of composition, subject matter, or style. Theorists like Todorov have studied genre and proposed definitions and frameworks for understanding it. Todorov divides genres into historical, which are observed in texts, and theoretical, which come from analysis. He positions the genre of "the fantastic" between the marvelous and uncanny, suggesting it temporarily delays resolving into one until an event can be rationally explained or not. Common genres include sci-fi, romance, adventure, action, comedy, crime, drama, horror and thriller.
Introduction to ArtificiaI Intelligence in Higher Education
What is genre
1. What is genre?
Genre is a set of principle s for the category of composition. The term genre is usually used to
categorize creative writing, speech, any type of form of art or utterance. Genre is just the type
of cinematography. For example, digital, film or black and white, or can be what you are taking
a picture of, such as landscape, portraiture, horror/macabre, ECT. Genre can be used to
determine the difference between the types of music, for example, Punk, Rock, Metal ETC.
There is no such word that can describe Genre as a whole. Many theorists have their very own
definition to Genre. Such as, Todorov. Todorov, is a well known theorist in media studies for his
contribution to narrative theory, know as his structuralist theory of “Equilibrium.”in Todorov’s
book of genre, it provides us with a clear mindful process of studying the concept of genre and
believes that the concept genre deserves more attention.
2. Todorov divides genre into two sections, the historical genres; which results from the
observation of texts, and theoretical genres; which results from analysis. Todorov positions the
genre he calls 'the fantastic' between the closely related genres of 'the marvellous' (the
supernaturally inexplicable) and 'the uncanny' (the rationally explicable) suggesting that 'the
fantastic' always resolves into one or the other and that the 'hesitant' delay in this act of
resolving into one of these related genres is the defining aspect of 'the fantastic' as a genre.
Todorov says that we enter into the genres of uncanny and marvellous. In the fantastic uncanny,
the event that occurs is actually an illusion of some sort. The "laws of reality" remain intact and
also provide a rational explanation for the fantastic event. Todorov gives examples of dreams,
drugs, and illusions of the senses, madness, etc. as things that could explain a
fantastic/supernatural event. In the fantastic marvellous, the supernatural event that occurs has
actually taken place and therefore the "laws of reality" have to be changed to explain the event.
Only if the implied reader cannot opt for one or the other possibility is the text purely fantastic.
3.
4. Well known genres :
• Sci-fi – DR.Who
• Romance – Romeo + Juliet
• Adventure – Pirates of the Carabien
• Action – James bond
• Comedy – yes man
• Crime-Kidulthood
• Drama - Eastenders
• Horror – paranormal activity
• Thriller-Seven