Genre
Plato divided literature into three classic genres accepted in Ancient Greece: poetry, drama, and prose. Poetry is further subdivided into epic, lyric, and drama. The divisions are recognized as being set by Aristotle and Plato; however, they were not the only ones. Many genre theorists added to these accepted forms of poetry. Plato created three imitational, mimetic genres distinguished by mode of imitation rather than content. These three imitational genres include dramatic dialogue, the drama; pure narrative, the dithyramb; and a mixture of the two, the epic. Plato excluded lyric poetry as a non-mimetic, imitational mode. Aristotle later revised Plato's system by first eliminating the pure narrative as a viable mode. He then uses two additional criteria to distinguish the system. The first of the criteria is the object to be imitated, whether superior or inferior. The second criterion is the medium of presentation: words, gestures, or verse. Essentially, the three categories of mode, object, and medium can be visualized along an XYZ axis. Excluding the criteria of medium, Aristotle's system distinguished four types of classical genres: tragedy, epic, comedy, and parody.
The term genre is often used in the history and criticism of visual art, but in art history has meanings that overlap rather confusingly. Genre painting is a term for paintings where the main subject features human figures to whom no specific identity attachesin other words, figures are not portraits, characters from a story, or allegorical personifications. They usually deal with subjects drawn from everyday life. These are distinguished from staffage: incidental figures in what is primarily a landscape or architectural painting. The concept of the hierarchy of genres was a powerful one in artistic theory, especially between the 17th and 19th centuries. It was strongest in France, where it was associated with the Académie which held a central role in academic art. The genres, which were mainly applied to painting, in hierarchical order are: History painting, including narrative, religious, mythological and allegorical subjects; Portrait painting; Genre painting or scenes of everyday life; Landscape painting (landscapists were the common footmen in the Army of Art according to the Dutch theorist Samuel van Hoogstraten) and cityscape; Animal painting; Still life. The hierarchy was based on a distinction between art that made an intellectual effort to render visible the universal essence of things (imitare in Italian) and that which merely consisted of mechanical copying of particular appearances (ritrarre). Idealism was privileged over realism in line with Renaissance Neo-Platonist philosophy.
Gérard Genette, a French literary theorist and author of The Architext, describes Plato as creating three Imitational genres: dramatic dialogue, pure narrative, and epic (a mixture of dialogue and narrative). Lyric poetry, the fourth and final type of Greek literature, was excluded by Plato as a non-mimetic mode. Aristotle later revised Plato's system by eliminating the pure narrative as a viable mode and distinguishing by two additional criteria: the object to be imitated, as objects could be either superior or inferior, and the medium of presentation such as words, gestures or verse. Essentially, the three categories of mode, object, and medium dialogue, epic (superior-mixed narrative), comedy (inferior-dramatic dialogue), and parody (inferior-mixed narrative). Genette continues by explaining the later integration of lyric poetry into the classical system during the romantic period, replacing the now removed pure narrative mode. Lyric poetry, once considered non-mimetic, was deemed to imitate feelings, becoming the third leg of a new tripartite system: lyrical, epical, and dramatic dialogue. This system, which came to dominate all the literary theory of German romanticism (and therefore well beyond) has seen numerous attempts at expansion or revision. However, more ambitious efforts to expand the tripartite system resulted in new taxonomic systems of increasing scope and complexity.
The basic genres of film can be regarded as drama, in the feature film and most cartoons, and documentary. Most dramatic feature films, especially from Hollywood fall fairly comfortably into one of a long list of film genres such as the Western, war film, horror film, romantic comedy film, musical, crime film, and many others. Many of these genres have a number of subgenres, for example by setting or subject, or a distinctive national style, for example in the Indian Bollywood musical. A music genre is a conventional category that identifies pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. There are numerous genres in Western classical music and popular music, as well as musical theatre and the music of non-Western cultures. The term is now perhaps over-used to describe relatively small differences in musical style in modern rock music, that also may reflect sociological differences in their audiences. Douglass M. Green lists madrigal, motet, canzona, ricercar, and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. Beethoven's Op. 61 and Mendelssohn's Op. 64 are identical in genre , both are violin concertos , but different in form. However, Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, and the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317 are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form.
In philosophy of language, genre figures prominently in the works of philosopher and literary scholar Mikhail Bakhtin. Bakhtin's basic observations were of speech genres (the idea of heteroglossia), modes of speaking or writing that people learn to mimic, weave together, and manipulate such as formal letter and grocery list, or university lecture and personal anecdote. In this sense, genres are socially specified: recognized and defined often informally by a particular culture or community. The work of Georg Lukács also touches on the nature of literary genres, appearing separately but around the same time 1920s, 1930s as Bakhtin. Norman Fairclough has a similar concept of genre that emphasizes the social context of the text: Genres are different ways of interacting discoursally. Carolyn Miller's work has been especially important for this perspective. Drawing on Lloyd Bitzer's concept of rhetorical situation, Miller reasons that recurring rhetorical problems tend to elicit recurring responses; drawing on Alfred Schütz she reasons that these recurring responses become typified , that is, socially constructed as recognizable types. Miller argues that these typified rhetorical actions are properly understood as genres. Building off of Miller, Charles Bazerman and Clay Spinuzzi have argued that genres understood as actions derive their meaning from other genres , that is, other actions.
The vastly increased output of popular culture in the age of electronic media encourages dividing cultural products by genre to simplify the search for products by consumers, a trend the Internet has only intensified. Genre, and numerous minutely divided subgenres, affect popular culture very significantly, not least as they are used to classify it for publicity purposes. A microgenre is a highly specialized, narrow classification of a cultural practice. The term has come into usage in the 21st century, and most commonly refers to music. It is also associated with the hyper-specific categories used in recommendations for television shows and movies on digital streaming platforms such as Netflix, and is sometimes used more broadly by scholars analyzing niche forms in other periods and other media. Some search engines like Vivísimo try to group found web pages into automated categories in an attempt to show various genres the search hits might fit. The concept of genre is often applied, sometimes rather loosely, to other media with an artistic element, such as video game genres. Although genres are not always precisely definable, genre considerations are one of the most important factors in determining what a person will see or read.
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Common questions
What three classic genres did Plato divide literature into in Ancient Greece?
Plato divided literature into poetry, drama, and prose. These three imitational genres include dramatic dialogue, pure narrative, and a mixture of the two known as epic.
How did Aristotle revise Plato's system of literary genres?
Aristotle eliminated pure narrative as a viable mode and distinguished four types of classical genres: tragedy, epic, comedy, and parody. He used the object to be imitated and the medium of presentation as additional criteria for this revision.
When was the hierarchy of genres strongest in France during art history?
The concept of the hierarchy of genres was strongest between the 17th and 19th centuries. It was associated with the Académie which held a central role in academic art during that period.
Who described Plato creating three Imitational genres in The Architext?
Gérard Genette is the French literary theorist who describes Plato as creating three Imitational genres in his work The Architext. He explains how lyric poetry later integrated into the classical system during the romantic period.
What are examples of music genres from the Renaissance period listed by Douglass M. Green?
Douglass M. Green lists madrigal, motet, canzona, ricercar, and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. These categories identify pieces of music belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions.
How did the Internet affect the division of cultural products by genre in the 21st century?
The Internet has intensified the trend of dividing cultural products by genre to simplify search for consumers. This era saw the rise of microgenres used in recommendations for television shows and movies on digital streaming platforms such as Netflix.