Journal 4: A Genre's Definition and Role

To some scholars, it seems as if everything is a genre. A book, an art gallery, a table, a closet full of clothes. A genre is a compilation of smaller genres. Each genre is considered a specific genre because it meets a set of ever-changing standards. A flat surface with four posts supported by four posts fulfills the standards of a chair or table. Amy Devitt even unpacks the phrase “I’m sorry” as a genre; the components of an apology: sincerity, a promise not to do something again, genuineness, regret, and the literal action of words leaving the mouth. However, genres’ standards can change for many reasons. They are susceptible to reflecting the social context relative to the time they were developed. For example, a stand-up set in the 80’s was a person on stage telling funny stories, hilarious hypothetical situations, and flat-out jokes into a microphone. Today with all the technological innovation, comedians like Bo Burnham and Eugene Mirman have included original computer-programmed music and projections of their ridiculous interactions with celebrities or strangers on social media.

Genre draws an audience, keeps them engaged, communicates with various senses and on different conceptual levels. How the genre is interpreted depends on the reader and the setting -social context and surrounding environment- in which it’s developed and being utilized. What genre your using as a vehicle for your message is important. Some aspects of the genre to be aware of are the piece’s inherent tone, how accessible it is to the intended audience, and the intended audience’s culture and history. You wouldn’t want to aim a digital gallery or an interactive art experience with technological artifacts at an Amish audience.

One thing all genres have in common: their purpose to give receivers an experience, an impression, from communicating a message to a plain old provocation of emotion. There are genres created to fulfill the same purpose, each giving a different experience. A story, for example, can take on the form of a book, an audiobook, a movie, a graphic novel, and more. Hearing a story on an audiobook will not give an audience the same experience as reading the novel. An audiobook may have voice actors for each character or a narrator who moves the story along in a cinematic style, energetically and articulately reading each sentence, verbally painting images. With a text, one might argue that the audience’s imagination works harder, depending on how much thought they put into giving the characters specific voices or how what combination of orange, yellow, and red the autumn forest may take.