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Genre studies is a structuralist approach to literary theory, film theory, and other cultural theories. The study of a genre in this way examines the structural elements that combine in the telling of a story and finds patterns in collections of stories. When these elements (or codes) begin to carry inherent information, a genre emerges.

Conventions of a genre[link]

Conventions are usual indicators such as phrases, themes, quotes, or explanations that we expect to find in a certain genre. They could be considered "stereotypes" of that genre. For example, Science fiction is expected to be set in the future, and has futuristic events, technological advances and futuristic ideas. Realistic fiction is expected to contain a story about people who could pass as real, struggling through real-life situations and/or real world events, etc.

History of genre theory[link]

Genre theory or genre studies got underway with the Greeks. The Greeks felt that the type of person an author was would be directly responsible for the type of poetry they wrote. The Greeks also believed that certain metrical forms were suited only to certain genres. Aristotle said,

We have, then, a natural instinct for representation and for tune and rhythm—and starting with these instincts men very gradually developed them until they produced poetry out of their improvisations. Poetry then split into two kinds according to the poet's nature. For the more serious poets represented the noble deeds of noble men, while those of a less exalted nature represented the actions of inferior men, at first writing satire just as the others wrote hymns and eulogies.

This is all based on Plato's mimetic principle. Exalted people will, in imitation of exaltation, write about exalted people doing exalted things, and vice versa with the "lower" types (Farrell, 383). Genre was not a black-and-white issue even for Aristotle, who recognized that though the "Iliad" is an epic it can be considered a tragedy as well, both because of its tone as well as the nobility of its characters. However, most of the Greek critics were less acutely aware—if aware at all—of the inconsistencies in this system. For these critics, there was no room for ambiguity in their literary taxonomy because these categories were thought to have innate qualities that could not be disregarded.

The Romans carried on the Greek tradition of literary criticism. The Roman critics were quite happy to continue on in the assumption that there were essential differences between the types of poetry and drama. There is much evidence in their works that Roman writers themselves saw through these ideas and understood genres and how they function on a more advanced level. However, it was the critics who left their mark on Roman literary criticism, and they were not innovators.

After the fall of Rome, when the scholastic system took over literary criticism, genre theory was still based on the essential nature of genres. This is most likely because of Christianity's affinity for Platonic concepts. This state of affairs persisted until the 18th century.

Enlightenment age[link]

At the end of the 18th century, the theory of genre based on classical thought began to unravel beneath the intellectual chafing of the Enlightenment. The introduction of the printing press brought texts to a larger audience. Then pamphlets and broadsides began to diffuse information even farther, and a greater number of less privileged members of society became literate and began to express their views. Suddenly authors of both "high" and "low" culture were now competing for the same audience. This worked to destabilize the classical notions of genre, while still drawing attention to genre because new genres like the novel were being generated (Prince, 455).

Locke, in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), had reduced data to its smallest part: the simple idea derived from sense. However, as the science of cognition became more precise it was shown that even this simple idea derived from sense was itself divisible. This new information prompted David Hartley to write in his Observation on Man (1749),

How far the Number of Orders may go is impossible to say. I see no Contradiction in supposing it infinite, and a great Difficulty in stopping at any particular Size. (Prince, 456).

The possibility of an infinite number of types alarmed theologians of the time because their assumption was that rigorously applied empiricism would uncover the underlying divine nature of creation, and now it appeared that rigorously applied empiricism would only uncover an ever-growing number of types and subsequent sub-types.

In order to re-establish the divine in categorization, the new taxonomical system of aesthetics arose. This system offered first beauty, and then the sublime as the taxonomical device. The problem with Aesthetics was that it assumed the divine and thus the sublime must underlie all these categories, and thus, the ugly would become beautiful at some point. The paradox is glaring.

Evolution[link]

Ever since the late 18th century literary critics have been trying to find a theory of genre that would be more commensurate with the realities of individual texts within genres. The evolution of genre took many twists and turns through the 19th and 20th centuries. It was heavily influenced by the deconstructionist thought and the concept of relativity. In 1980, the instability engendered by these two new modes of thought came to a head in a paper written by Jacques Derrida titled, "The Law of Genre." In the article Derrida first articulates the idea that individual texts participate in rather than belong to certain genres. He does this by demonstrating that the "mark of genre" is not itself a member of a genre or type. Thus, the very characteristic that signifies genre defies classification. However, at the end of this essay, Derrida hints at what might be a more fruitful direction for genre theory. "There, that is the whole of it, it is only what 'I,' so that say, here kneeling at the edge of literature, can see. In sum, the law. The law summoning: what 'I' can sight and what 'I' can say that I sight in this site of a recitation where I/we is" (Derrida, 81). By which Derrida means that not only is taxonomy a subjective sport, but due to this very fact, the place and time the taxonomical act takes place deserves further study.

Then, in 1986, Ralph Cohen published a paper in response to Derrida's thoughts titled "History and Genre." In this article Cohen argued that

genre concepts in theory and in practice arise, change, and decline for historical reasons. And since each genre is composed of texts that accrue, the grouping is a process, not a determinate category. Genres are open categories. Each member alters the genre by adding, contradicting, or changing constituents, especially those of members most closely related to it. The process by which genres are established always involves the human need for distinction and interrelation. Since the purposes of critics who establish genres vary, it is self-evident that the same texts can belong to different groupings of genres and serve different generic purposes. (Cohen, 204)

This approach to genre theory is the one most widely practiced today.

Current state of genre theory[link]

The definition of genre from dictionary.com is "a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, context, technique, or the like." Although it seems that genre should be easy to define, the finer points of textual categorization are not yet established.

Genres, according to Daniel Chandler, create order to simplify the mass of available information. Creating categories promotes organization instead of chaos. Jane Feuer has divided ways to categorize genres into three different groups. The first is aesthetic. By using this method one can organize according to certain sets of characteristics, and so the overall work of the artist is not disparaged by generalization. The second classification method is ritual. Ritual uses its own culture to help classify. If one performs a ritual associated with a system of ritual, one can be said to be practicing as a member of that system. The common taxonomical method is ideological. This occurs most often in the marketing of texts, music, and movies. The effectiveness of this type of categorization can be measured by how well the public accepts these categories as valid.

Amy J. Devitt focuses on rhetorical genre. Scholars generally recognize the restrictions placed on works that have been classified as a certain genre. However, viewing genre as a rhetorical device gives the author and the reader more freedom and "allows for choices." Genres are not free-standing entities, but are actually intimately connected and interactive amongst themselves. Rhetorical genre recognizes that genres are generated by authors, readers, publishers, and the entire array of social forces that act upon a work at every stage of its production.

This recognition does not make the taxonomy of texts easy. Chandler points out that very few works have all the characteristics of the genre in which they participate. Also, due to the interrelatedness of genres, none of them is clearly defined at the edges, but rather fade into one another. Genre works to promote organization, but there is no absolute way to classify works, and thus genre is still problematic and its theory still evolving.

Moreover, the metagenre as a concept has been an importaint point to study. According to Giltrow, metagenre is "situated language about situated language". Metagenres such as institutional guidelines can be "ruling out certain kinds of expression, endorsing others", constraining and enabling. The concept of metagenre also provides a valuable way to understand the dynamics of institutional interrelations between genres. In the mental health discourse, for example, has been demonstrated the metageneric function of the American Psychiatric Association's (DSM) for standardizing and mediating the localized epistemological communicative practices of psychiatrists.

Functions and limits[link]

Genre began as an absolute classification system in ancient Greece. Poetry, prose and performance had a specific and calculated style that related to the theme of the story. Speech patterns for comedy would not be appropriate for tragedy, and even actors were restricted to their genre under the assumption that a type of person could tell one type of story best. This classical system worked well as long as the arts were largely directed by nobility and rich patrons. A common understanding of meaning was handy in knowing what the employer expected, and the crowds understood it.

During the Enlightenment period in 18th century Europe, this system of patronage began to change. A merchant middle class began to emerge with money to spend and time to spend it. Artists could venture away from classical genres and try new ways to attract paying patrons. “Comedy” could now mean Greek metered comedy, or physical camp, or some other type of experience. Artists were also free to use their mediums to express the human condition in a way that was not possible under single patronage, or at least not profitable. Art could be used to reflect and comment on the lives of ordinary people. Genre became a dynamic tool to help the public make sense out of unpredictable art. Because art is often a response to a social state, in that people write/paint/sing/dance about what they know about, the use of genre as a tool must be able to adapt to changing meanings. In fact as far back as ancient Greece, new art forms were emerging that called for the evolution of genre, for example the “tragicomedy.”

Unfortunately, genre does have its limitations. Our world has grown so much that it is difficult to absolutely classify something. Information overlaps, and a single book can encompass elements of several genres. For example, a book might be classified as fiction, mystery, science fiction and African American literature all at once.

Genre suffers from the same ills of any classification system. Humans are pattern-seeking beings; we like to create order out of the chaos of the universe. However, when we forget that our order is imposed, often arbitrarily, over a universe of unique experiences, the merit of the individual gets lost. If a system of classification, like genre, is then used to assign value judgments, we allow our preconceptions about the whole to influence our opinion of the individual. Genre is useful as long as we remember that it is a helpful tool, to be reassessed and scrutinized, and to weigh works on their unique merit as well as their place within the genre.

A simple example of the inherent meaning in an art form is that of a western movie where two men face each other on a dusty and empty road; one wears a black hat, the other white. Independent of any external meaning, there is no way to tell what the situation might mean, but due to the long development of the "western" genre, it is clear to the informed audience that they are watching a gunfight showdown between a bad guy and a good guy.

It has been suggested that genres resonate with people because of the familiarity, the short-hand communication, as well as the tendency of genres to shift with public mores and to reflect the zeitgeist. While the genre of storytelling has been relegated as lesser form of art because of the heavily borrowed nature of the conventions, admiration has grown. Proponents argue that the genius of an effective genre piece is in the variation, recombination, and evolution of the codes.

Genre studies have perhaps gained the most recognition in film theory, where the study of genre directly contrasts with auteur theory, which privileges the director's role in crafting a movie.

In social communities[link]

There is something more about genre theory, and to that effect it is necessary to propose Kristen H. Perry’s definition. Written (textual) genres are social constructions that represent specific purposes for reading and writing within different social activities, created by social groups who need them to perform certain things. They change over time, reflecting essential shifts in social function performed by that text. Genres also represent constellations of textual attributes: some attributes are necessary and other attributes are optional.

Another definition which shows the different aspects of genre theory is Miller who defines genres as “typified rhetorical actions” that respond to recurring situations and become instantiated in groups’ behaviors. Genre evolves as “a form of social knowledge—a mutual construing of objects, events, interests and purposes that not only links them but makes them what they are: an objectified social need”. This view sees genres not as static forms but, rather, as “forms of ways of being … frames for social action … environments for learning … locations within which meaning is constructed” (Bazerman), suggesting that different communities use different means of communication to accomplish their objectives.

To try to show the importance of the context in genre an example is used about a particular part of the genre theory—speech genres; but it is important to stress that context is really important in all situations. Context plays an important role in shaping genres (Holquist, 1986). Genre theory does not conceptualize context as simply the space outside of text or the container surrounding texts, but as dynamic environments that simultaneously structure and are structured by the communicative practices of social agents. Speech genres are recognizable patterns of language-in-context (Bakhtin, 1986): speech genres include both oral and written forms of language.

Researchers have also shown that the rhetorical moves people must make within accepted genres to communicate successfully in particular contexts operate to reinforce communities’ identities and to legitimate particular communication practices. Thus, the genres that communities enact help structure their members’ ways of creating, interpreting, and using knowledge (Myers; Winsor, Ordering, Writing; Bazerman, Shaping, Constructing; Berkenkotter and Huckin; Smart). Genres are very important in our every day life and we do not realize how much we use them, how much they affect us, how much they determine the way we act and understand the others.

See also[link]

• Computer and video game genres
• Film genre
• Formula fiction
• Genre fiction
• Literary genre
• Music genre
• Plot device
• Stock character
• Genre criticism

References[link]

• Michael B. Prince. "Mauvais Genres." ‘’New Literary History’’. Summer, 2003, vol. 34, no. 3, pg. 452.
• Hayden White. "Anomalies of Genre: The Utility of Theory and History for the Study of Literary Genres." ‘’New Literary History’’. Summer, 2003, vol. 34, no. 3, pg. 597.
• Jacques Derrida. "The Law of Genre." ‘’Critical Inquiry’’. Autumn, 1980, vol. 7, no. 1, pg. 55.
• Joseph Farrell. "Classical Genre in Theory and Practice." ‘’New Literary History’’. Summer, 2003, vol. 34, no. 3, pg. 383.
• Monika Fludernik. "Genres, Text Types, or Discourse Modes? Narrative Modalities and Generic Categorization." ‘’Style’’. Summer, 2000, vol. 34, no. 2, pg. 274.
• Carolyn Williams. "Genre Matters: Response. (Analysis of Literary Genres)." ‘’Victorian Studies’’. Winter, 2006, vol. 48, no. 2, pg. 295.
• F.W. Dobbs-Allsopp. "Darwinism, Genre Theory, and City Laments." ‘’The Journal of American Oriental Society’’. Oct-Dec, 2000, vol. 120, no. 4, pg. 625.
• Victoria Pineda. "Speaking About Genre: the Case of Concrete Poetry." ‘’New Literary History’’. Spring, 1995, vol. 26, no. 2, pg. 379.
• Amy J. Devitt. “Writing Genres.” Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004.

External links[link]

• An Introduction to Genre Theory by Daniel Chandler

Alain Finkielkraut (b. June 30, 1949, Paris) is a French essayist, and son of a Jewish-Polish manufacturer of fine leather goods who had been deported to Auschwitz and survived. He currently teaches at the École polytechnique as professor of the "history of ideas and modernity" in the department of humanities and social sciences. Author of a number of books, Finkielkraut is among some of France's "public intellectuals" who often appear on talk shows and publish columns in the French media. Finkielkraut advocates what in France is known as a humanist standpoint; although his supposed (self-declared) humanism has been challenged at many times during his career and frequently deemed quite the opposite of humanism, especially by anti-conservative and liberal activists.^[1] Sixty researchers and professors at the École polytechnique are known to have signed a petition to protest his alleged colonial views,^[2] although others have come to his defense and accused his protestors of attacking Finkielkraut because of his Jewish heritage.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, he was involved in founding JCall, advocacy group based in Europe to lobby the European parliament on foreign policy issues concerning the Middle East. He is a strong supporter of Israel.

Philosophy[link]

Alain Finkielkraut studied modern literature at the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud. Broadly speaking, his ideas may be described as being in the same vein as those of Emmanuel Levinas and Hannah Arendt, a filiation he has repeatedly pointed out.

Finkielkraut first came to public attention when he and Pascal Bruckner co-authored a number of short but controversial essays intended to question the idea that a new emancipation was underway; these included The New Love Disorder (1977) (Le Nouveau Désordre amoureux) and At The Corner Of The Street (1978) (Au Coin de la rue), as well as The Adventure (1979) (L'aventure).

Finkielkraut then began publishing singly authored works on the public's betrayal of memory and our intransigence in the presence of events which, he argued, should move the public. This reflection led Finkielkraut to address post-Holocaust Jewish identity in Europe (The Imaginary Jew) (1983) (le Juif imaginaire). Seeking to promote what he calls a duty of memory, Finkielkraut also published The Future Of A Negation: Reflexion On The Genocide Issue (1982) (Avenir d'une négation : réflexion sur la question du génocide) and later his comments on the Klaus Barbie trial, Remembering in Vain (La Mémoire vaine).

Finkielkraut feels particularly indebted to Emmanuel Levinas. In The Wisdom Of Love (La Sagesse de l'amour), Finkielkraut discusses this debt in terms of modernity and its mirages. Finkielkraut continues his reflection on the matter in The Defeat Of The Mind (1987) (La Défaite de la pensée), The Ingratitude: Talks About Our Times (1999) (Ingratitude : conversation sur notre temps).

Essayist on society[link]

In recent years, Alain Finkielkraut has given his opinion on a variety of topics regarding society, for instance the Internet in The Internet, The Troubling Ecstasy (2001) (Internet, l'inquiétante extase. In the book Present Imperfect (2002) (L'Imparfait du présent), akin to a personal diary, he expresses his thoughts about different events in the world (especially the events of September 11, 2001).

During the wars resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia, he was one of the first to strongly condemn Serbian ethnic cleansing. However, he has been criticised for his close friendship with Croatian nationalist leader Franjo Tuđman, and was accused by David Bruce MacDonald of supporting "a nation whose leader was a Holocaust denier, at the helm of an authoritarian government."^[3]

Controversies[link]

His interview published in the Haaretz magazine in November 2005 in which he gave his opinion about the 2005 civil unrest in France stirred up much controversy. Finkielkraut's remarks that the French Soccer Team was "Black, Black, Black" (as opposed to the expression "Black, Blanc, Beur"—meaning "Black, White, Arab"—coined after the 1998 World Cup victory to honor the African and Afro Caribbean, European and North African origins of the players) were seen as "racially insensitive".

Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan took legal action against Finkielkraut in response to the accusation that Sivan “is, if you will, one of the actors in this particularly painful, particularly alarming reality, the Jewish anti-Semitism that rages today."^[4]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• The Religion of Humanity and the Sin of the Jews, essay in Azure magazine.
• Reflections on the Coming Anti-Semitism, essay in Azure magazine.
• Ralentir, mots-valises !, Seuil (1979)
• Le Nouveau Désordre amoureux, Seuil (1977)
• Au coin de la rue, l'aventure, Seuil (1979)
• Petit fictionnaire illustré : les mots qui manquent au dico, Seuil (1981)
• Le Juif imaginaire, Seuil (1981)
• L'Avenir d'une négation, Seuil (1982)
• La Sagesse de l'amour, Gallimard (1984)
• La Défaite de la pensée, Gallimard (1987)
• La Mémoire vaine, du Crime contre l'humanité, Gallimard (1989)
• Comment peut-on être Croate ?, Gallimard (1992)
• L'Humanité perdue, Seuil (1996)
• Le Mécontemporain. Charles Péguy, lecteur du monde moderne, Gallimard (1992)
• L'Ingratitude. Conversation sur notre temps avec Antoine Robitaille, Gallimard (1999)
• Une Voix vient de l'autre rive, Gallimard (2000)
• Internet, l’inquiétante extase, Mille et une nuits (2001)
• Penser le XXe siècle, École Polytechnique (2000)
• Des hommes et des bêtes, Tricorne (2000)
• L'imparfait du présent. Pièces brèves, Gallimard (2002)
• Enseigner les lettres aujourd'hui, Tricorne (2003)
• Les Battements du monde, Pauvert (2003)
• Au nom de l'Autre. Réflexions sur l'antisémitisme qui vient, Gallimard (2003)
• Nous autres, modernes : Quatre leçons, Ellipses (2005)
• Ce que peut la littérature Stock (2006)
• Entretiens sur la laïcité, Verdier (2006)
• Qu'est-ce que la France Stock (2007)
• La Querelle de l'école, Stock (2007)
• Philosophie et modernité, École Polytechnique (2008)
• Un cœur intelligent, Stock/Flammarion (2009)
• Pour une décence commune Éditions Hermann (2010)
• L’Explication, conversation avec Aude Lancelin, Nouvelles Éditions Lignes (2010)

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alain Finkielkraut

• Official web site of the Institute for Levinassian Studies, co-founded by Alain Finkielkraut, Bernard-Henri Lévy and Benny Lévy
• “Voices on Antisemitism” Interview with Alain Finkielkraut from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum