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Critical Analysis S2010 S05

Mini-lecture: Genre Theory

Genre Theory

Genre is the French Word for type
- A lot of what we've done so far has been concerned with types
- So it can be assumed that we mean something special when we talk about genre theory
  - Types of Content
  - there is no single "genre theory"
- Hope to move towards a synthesis today
  - To use genre to answer the question why audiences watch the same narrative over and over
Three methodological elements common to all variants of genre analysis
1. Identification of types of content within a medium
2. Identification of the characteristics common to content of a given type
3. An attempt to understand why those characteristics recur within the type
There should be others
1. What audiences are associated with the genre
2. What needs the genre fills for those audiences and other participants
Genre theory has generally been systematically applied within a small number of media (GenreAndMedia)
In theory, genre analysis can be applied to any medium
- Identifying types of content within that medium
- Identifying a body of content that exemplifies that type
- Finding patterns that occur across content within the genre
- Finding reasons why those patterns occur within the genre
In practice, genre theory has been applied to very few media
- But it’s easy to identify genres of:
  - mail (business letters, personal letters, love letters, bills, advertising, solicitations)
  - e-mail (personal, SPAM)
  - instant messaging (conversation, coordination, question and answer)
  - computer conferencing (see my Ph.D. dissertation or Baym's "Tune In, Log On")
  - Speech Acts (see Bakhtin's "The Problem with Speech Genres"

Jane Feuer, in the Allen text, identifies several different approaches to genre analysis that share this general model:
1. Theoretical
  - Types are deduced from a preexisting theory of content within the medium
  - For example, attempting to overlay television content with the literary categories established by Aristotle or Frye
2. Aesthetic
  - Focus on finding recurring conventions that characterize a genre
  - often issues of language choices
    - semantics and syntax
  - Syntagm (Syntactic Choices)
    - Narrative structure
    - Character types
    - Episode length
    - Episode frequency
  - Paradigm (Semantic Choices)
    - Languages used
    - Genre specific jargons
      - Sign selections
        Shots
        Use of Time
        Lighting
        Iconography
  - Focus on the patterns with the genre
  - More focal to our examination of Genre than the "Theoretical" approach
3. Ritual
  - like Aesthetic approach, draws on semiotic/structural methods
  - Focus on cultural themes that are specific to genre
    - references to mythic archetypes
      - caring mother
      - bumbling father
      - inflexible boss
      - intrusive in-laws
      - insensitive sons
      - insecure daughters
    - attention to cultural tensions
      - dualities and dialectics
    - rules of behavior
    - role-driven behavior
  - Associated with the Cultural approach to media criticism, which we will cover later in the semester.
4. Ideological
  - like Aesthetic and ritual approach, draws on semiotic/structural methods
  - Focus on ways in which content supports status quo
    - inequities in economic, social, and/or political power
    - Inequitable distribution of resources
  - Explore how texts celebrates existing social, political, economic, and cultural status quo
  - Explore how texts advocate a desired status quo
  - Associated with the ideological approach to media criticism, which we will cover later in the semester
5. Evolutionary
  - initially associated with the Russian Formalist school
    - Tynianov
  - views genre as dynamic
    - an emergent phenomenon
    - as evolving under principles of Darwinian evolution
  - as the construction of an interpretive community
    - tacit agreements between author and reader
    - the product negotiation between content providers and consumers
      - consumers have an interest in predictability
        they want to be entertained
        they know what they do and do not like
      - the content industry has an interest in predictability
        their revenue depends on matching advertisers to viewers
        large numbers of viewers
        in specific target demographics
    - consumers negotiate with their viewing habits
      - sometimes cards, letters, and telephone calls work too
    - the content industry negotiates by trying out new series
      - building new series based on "what works"
        the formulas associated with old series that have done big numbers
        the writers, producers, and other talent who have done big numbers
      - most often testing them before committing to broadcast
    - critics vote with their reviews
    - advertisers vote with their ad placements
    - third parties sometimes vote with advertiser or regulator focused campaigns
6. The Ecological approach
  - See MediumAsAnEcologyOfGenre
  - Genre emerges in the intersection of three "spheres of invention"
    1. Practices
      - The patterns of use associated with a medium
      - Often the focus of the Aesthetic and Ritual approaches
    2. Effects
      - The effects that the content within a medium has on participants in the medium
      - Often the focus of the Ideological Approach
    3. Uses
      - A critical, but often ignored, element of genre
        But the focus of the Theoretical Approaches of Aristotle and Frye
        Comedy and Tragedy are explained in terms of purpose
        Tragedy stirs fear and awe and results in "catharsis"
        Comedy stirs amusement and results in happiness
        
        And an important part of the Russian Formalist approach
        Propp's "functions" reflect this orientation
  - Uses, Effects, and Practices influence each other in a circular manner, as depicted in the "cycle of genre":

Bottom line, we use media, including television and radio, for particular purposes
- Genre is an emergent expression of such use
- Or, more appropriately, the intersection of the uses of:
  - Creators
  - Consumers
  - Producers
  - Directors
  - Distributors
  - Advertisers
  - Critics
  - And other participants in and "victims of" media
- Those uses, an the audiences associated with them, form a niche
One cannot use a medium for any purpose without having effects
- In terms of use
  - Consumers, content providers, advertisers, and critics all have different purposes
- In terms of effects
  - All these groups and the wider community are affected by any use of a medium
  - Some effects will be considered good by a subset of participants
  - Some of those effects will be considered bad
  - The same effect may be considered good in one community and bad in another
Practices emerge as a way of controlling effects
- Preserving and optimizing the "good" effects
  - The conventions of various genres
- Controlling the "bad" effects
  - Viewing habits
  - Parental controls
  - Informal rules of behavior
  - Laws, regulation, and censorship
Examples
- Romance Novels
- Telemarketing
- Spam
- Reality Shows

Genre theory cannot and should not deny the importance of uniqueness
- All interesting texts have considerable unique content
- New genres can't happen without experimentation
- Genre theory simply note patterns that recur
  - Because they work
  - In satisfying a set of needs
  - And optimizing a medium to a particular use
- Television creates so much content, it may be useful to think of every series as a "micro-genre"

-- Last edited March 17, 2010

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Unless otherwise noted, the contents of this page were written by participants on the Media Space Wiki, operated by Davis Foulger, and should be cited accordingly. For example (APA):
Foulger, D. and other participants. (March 17, 2010). Critical Analysis S2010 S05. MediaSpaceWiki. Retrieved on from http://evolutionarymedia.com/wiki.htm?CriticalAnalysisS2010S05.