Redefining Literary Genres
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Redefining literary genres
Disclaimer. This is an angry attempt to make sense of literature’s genres and bring some structure into them, as they seem to lack any. This is one person’s opinion. A person who isn’t an academic in the field, and has a different cultural background to a person from an English-speaking country. Did you know that there isn’t a universality in genres around the world? This article shouldn’t be taken as anything but as a trampoline for thoughts.
I’ve been a reader all my life. I was raised on what is now called ‘classics’ and have thoroughly enjoyed them. I’ve read some modern literature, but with the love of rereading books over and over I never really sought out the newest contemporary novels. But lately circumstances made me look into it. And I have found a genre of literature I’ve never heard of before – Literary Fiction. Which puzzled me exceedingly. Surely, any fiction book is, by default, literary.
Apparently, not. Literary fiction seems to be a genre used to juxtapose the ‘genre fiction’ with ‘artistic’, ‘deep’, and all that crap. Actually, here’s the definition from Wikipedia : ‘Literary fiction—also called serious fiction, high literature, artistic literature, or sometimes just literature— encompasses fiction that is more character-driven than plot-driven, examines the human condition, or is considered serious art by critics’. I can summarise – elite genre. What a load of drivel.
What I see here as a problem is the diminution of the multitude of literary experience. The implication that ‘genre fiction’ – also a made-up term to my understanding – is somehow unworthy, second-class. That ‘literary fiction’ is inherently better and different from those that ‘place more value on entertainment’ – not like other girls, you know. What that genre and the definition is telling me is that whoever came up with it wanted to make distinction among books – good and bad – but made it between people. If you read literary fiction – you’re smart, here are your glasses; if genre fiction – you should know your place, take the pink bow.
So, by this definition, Jane Austen’s novels should not be considered as having artistic merit, or insight, or aren’t character–driven? But, ah, no. There’s a loophole. Another made-up genre – Classics. Well, it boiled my blood, to be honest.
And I decided to redefine genres. Note from the future: and subgenres.
Spoiler alert paragraph! Because everyone wants a warning. If you want to see the thought unfold organically, skip this paragraph or not, whatever. But, if you, like me, want to see what the conclusion of a long-ass article is without having time or energy to read through it, stay. Conclusion. I think only four genres exist: drama, hero’s journey, romance, mystery. The type of story told. Everything else is either setting or some sort of style or an aspect of the story. Or subgenre – the effect of the story on the reader.
Now let’s start from the beginning.
Who the hell am I, to try to redefine genres? No one. A person with an opinion, who, apparently, longs to be proven wrong.
Actually, I’m a trying-to-be-writer. They say if you write, you are a writer. Poppycock, in my opinion. You’re a writer when you have books published. My first book will be published in September. For now I’m no one.
So yes, I wrote the first book, miraculously found a traditional publisher to release it and continued writing in the meantime. I wrote two more books. And all the while I was thinking I was writing romance. First book – a romance, second – a lovely and sweet romance.
Third? It struck me, after I’ve finished the book, that it wasn’t romance. But why? There was a romantic interest, and sort-of-maybe a love triangle. But there is no feeling that the romance was the point of the book. How interesting. Then what is? The main character’s story. A Hero’s Journey. Romance is just means to achieve the goal.
So, it made me think what other genres I see in fiction literature. What is a genre? What defines it? So I googled. Boy, was I incensed at the results!
First, of course, there are four major literary genres – Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Play (I’m not calling it drama. Drama is also ballet. We’re talking literature here). I’m unconcerned with the last three, let’s look at the fiction.
Ok, let’s go to Wiki again for definitions. ‘Genre categorizes literary works based on specific shared conventions, including style, mood, length, and organizational features. These genres are in turn divided into subgenres.’ How vague.
Also. ‘Sharing literary conventions, writing genres typically consist of similarities in theme/topic, style, tropes, and storytelling devices; common settings and character types; and/or formulaic patterns of character interactions and events, and an overall predictable form.’ Still no clue here.
Oh, here’s an interesting one. ‘Genre criticism is a method within rhetorical criticism that analyzes texts in terms of their genre: the set of generic expectations, conventions, and constraints that guide their production and interpretation.’ Also vague, but somehow more defined.
Let’s see what the word ‘genre’ means. ‘Genre (/ˈʒɑːnrə/ ZHAHN-rə; French for 'kind, sort') is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other forms of art or entertainment, based on some set of stylistic or thematic criteria, as in literary genres etc.’
So, a form of communicating something; something that has defining characteristics. With the name originating from French ‘kind, sort, style’. A category.
Let’s double back.
There is a clear stylistic difference in literature. A poem differs from a fiction, and even from a play. Nonfiction is different from fiction, though in other ways, not exactly stylistically. So, we shouldn’t lump all of those four together. Fuck.
First hurdle. Division by form. Here we have that length, lines, rhythm, what have you. Style of presentation. This is where we have poetry, play and ... the other one. It’s not ‘fiction’, because all of them are that. It’s prose. Which, basically, means literature without a specifically defined structure. And we’ll be dealing with prose.
Second. This is where the fiction and nonfiction divide must fall. Actually, I’m not convinced that this shouldn’t be the primary distinction. Anyway, nonfiction has its own stylistic forms, such as a glossary, for example. Maybe I’ll come back to that in the end. But either way, the aspect of literature I’m interested in genrefying still remains Fiction Prose.
Finally. Got it. Lovely. Moving on with fiction prose to the meat of things.
What are the genres in fiction prose? How do we define them?
Fuck all that ‘mood, length, and organizational features’, because it's so damn unclear and a non-definition. Also, fuck ‘tropes, and storytelling devices, common settings and character types’, because it is too specific. But let’s look at themes/topic. And generic expectations, conventions, and constraints.
If we divide such a broad type as fiction prose into genres, we need to be structured. We need to be simple. Define basics and build a damn pyramid.
A genre, in my opinion, is defined by what we want to separate into genres. And in this case it’s a work of fiction. Written in a free style. With beginning, middle and end. That tells a story. Because it always, always tells a story. Even if it uses some mind-boggling ways to do it, it still does.
Then, with this understanding, we can come up with a definition. The genre in fiction prose is what the story is about. Because there is no greater distinction, no greater definition. And I’m not talking about plot. Plot has many aspects. It’s not the same. It’s what the point of the story is. The meat of it. Or maybe, even the sauce.
So what are the basic genres?
I’ve found four.
Hero’s Journey. The story follows a hero, or, more correctly, the main character that becomes a hero. Becoming a hero is overcoming something. That something could be within the main character. They change over the course of the story, or they reach something. They don’t need to be conventionally heroic.
Romance. Because it’s such a huge part of a person’s life. The heightened emotions, the adrenaline, the despair, the ecstasy. It has touched almost all people throughout the history. The drive to procreate is one of the strongest, and it warps our lives around it sometimes. Romance is about main characters coming together with romantic intent. This is the thing that changes primarily: relationships. The main characters can change, too, but the soul and centre of the story is a romantic relationship.
Drama. This time the main character, or characters, are exploring the social - or other - difficulties in the realm of all or any aspects of life. Romance can be here too, but it’s not the main subject. Work, friendship, war, social structures, family, exposure, science. Basically, if the hero’s actions affect more than just themselves. It’s tricky to define, but it’s a story where consequences are bigger than one life. And where that aspect – consequences – is the most prominent, highlighted by plot and writing.
Mystery. The story is about solving mystery. As simple as that. Could be consequences to more than main characters, could be not; could be romance in it too. But the story is about a struggle to solve mystery. Character’s struggle, not reader’s. That’s another story, we’ll get there.
And those are all. Because I haven’t yet found a story that didn’t fall into one of those categories.
I know, blasphemy.
Now I’ll go through the list of ‘Fiction genres’ from wiki and comment on what they should really be. Or just comment.
● By age - Starting with bullshit. These are not genres, but age limitations. Follows same four genres.
o Children's – yes, different conventions than adult literature, but not fundamentally different.
o Fratire – made-up and offensive.
o Lad lit – see above.
o Chick lit – made-up and very offensive.
o New adult fiction – is it for adults or is it not?
o Young adult – how limiting to developing personalities to be so restricted and looked down on. Not a genre.
● Battle royal – drama or hero’s journey usually. It’s not even a setting, just an aspect.
● Classic (or literary fiction) – could be any of the four genres. If it’s well done or survived through the ages doesn’t mean it’s something else. A well-fried egg and an overcooked one differs in its taste to the person eating it, but it’s still a fried egg.
● Coming-of-age – hero’s journey.
o Bildungsroman – same.
● Electronic literature – style of form, not genre. Could be another form.
● Encyclopedic – basically size.
● Epic – drama or hero’s journey.
● Fabulation – made-up. How has anyone come to define it as a genre?
● Folklore – any of the four. But with added trimmings.
o Animal tale – all the same genres, but with animals. If it’s allegorical, it doesn’t change the point.
o Fable – hero’s journey usually.
o Fairy tale – any of the four.
o Ghost story – any of the four.
o Legend – hero’s journey mostly.
o Myth – mostly drama. Could be romance. Could be a fucked-up romance.
o Parable – drama or hero’s journey mostly.
o Personal narrative – hero’s journey.
o Urban legend – usually drama. Sometimes romance.
● Generative literature – also not a genre, but style. And is there really a difference with Electronic literature?
● Historical – just a bloody setting! All four genres.
o Alternate history – drama usually.
o Historical fantasy – so what? This doesn’t tell me what the story is about. Any.
o Historical mystery – mystery.
o Historical romance – romance.
▪ Regency romance – Still a romance.
o Nautical fiction – hero’s journey mostly.
▪ Pirate novel – any of the four.
● Metafiction – just a style. Narrative tool.
● Nonsense – How do I define a story genre of something that that has no story. I guess you’ve got me there. Nah. I’ll put it in subgenres. I think I understand what they are now and how they differ from genres. Be patient, we’ll discuss them later.
o Nonsense verse – different form.
● Paranoid – a tool of writing.
● Pastoral – how is this a genre? Drama mostly. Actually, probably all four.
● Philosophical – it’s either nonfiction or subgenre. Depends on if it’s the whole point of the book or just a theme in the narrative.
● Pop culture – a writing device.
● Postmodern – that’s different form, style. Tool. Usually drama.
● Realist – any of the four.
o Hysterical – how is this a genre? A tool.
● Religious or inspirational – either of the four. Is cashgrab a genre?
o Christian – setting.
o Islamic – setting.
o Theological – a subgenre. But I will label it differently. Morality tale.
o Visionary – any of the four. And the previous subgenre.
● Satire – ah. This is interesting. It definitely is a subgenre. And could be any of the four. And should work as a story even without looking at it through the prism of satire to be very good.
o Horatian – not even style. Tools of the trade.
o Juvenalian – same.
o Menippean – same. Who even cares to define this minutia as a genre? Genre should be clearly noticeable, not studied under the microscope.
● Social and political fiction – drama, pure and simple.
o Libertarian sci-fi – morality tale.
o Social sci-fi – drama in different setting.
o Political thriller – drama.
● Theatre-fiction – how conceited one has to be to push this to become a separate literature genre? I hope lumberjacks have their own genre. Though I actually wouldn’t be surprised if they have.
● Thriller – subgenre.
o Conspiracy –so what?
o Erotic – another subgenre. Just erotic, I mean, by itself.
o Legal – setting.
o Financial – who cares?
o Political – setting.
o Psychological – style, probably.
o Romantic suspense – romance.
o Techno-thriller – really?
● Urban – is this a pastoral in reverse? Any?
● Western – setting. Which comes with conventions and familiarities. But it’s not a genre. The whole point of the book can’t be that it’s set in that time period in that land.
o Florida – so?
o Northern – minutia.
o Space – setting with another setting’s conventions.
o Western romance – romance.
o Weird West – setting with a subgenre.
● Action and adventure
● Action fiction and adventure fiction – usually hero’s journey.
● Adventure fantasy - setting
o Heroic fantasy - setting
o Lost world – could be a drama.
o Sword-and-sandal – setting.
o Sword-and-sorcery – ditto.
o Sword-and-soul – who?
o Wuxia – setting? Seriously, don’t borrow genres from different cultures and just put them to the side. Make space for them with understanding.
● Nautical – setting.
o Pirate – boring descriptions of ropes. With different names for each one.
● Robinsonade – setting.
● Spy – could be any of four.
o Spy-Fi – setting.
● Subterranean – How is this a genre?
● Superhero – if it’s a comic, it’s a completely different type of form. If it’s prose, it’s just setting.
● Swashbuckler – setting. Usually hero’s journey.
o Picaresque – hero’s journey, but with little plot.
● Comedy
● Comedy – subgenre.
● Burlesque – same subgenre with trimmings
● Fantasy – Just a setting to comedy subgenre to any of the four. Look at Pratchett’s books, the core of the story varies.
● Comedy horror – omg, I’m getting tired of typing the same all over again. Thinking of giving up. Setting.
● Conte – ooh, this is interesting, as it originated in short stories. Did I mention that what I define is for at least novella-length? And, whatever.
● Parody – the least respected name of satire subgenre.
o Metaparody – going meta doesn’t change anything.
● Sci-fi – setting, though a lovely one.
● Surreal comedy – drugs.
● Tall tale – I thought we were talking literature here, not this.
● Tragicomedy – two subgenres combined. That’s the difference: only one genre, however many subgenres you want.
● Crime and mystery
● Crime fiction – mystery. Or, sometimes, hero’s journey.
● Caper – so, it’s a hero’s journey, right?
● Giallo – why is a film genre in my list of literature genres? It’s a mystery.
● Legal thriller – could be either of the four, to be honest. More of a setting. But mostly, mystery.
● Lesbian crime fiction – had no clue this was considered a genre. Are lesbians so big in crime? Honestly, they are people too, you know, no need to point.
● Mystery – yeah, mystery.
o Cozy mystery – a lovely aspect when done right.
o City mysteries – maybe it used to be a genre, but it’s dead and buried now.
o Detective – still a bleeding mystery.
▪ Gong'an – again, stop stealing other cultures’ genres willy-nilly.
▪ Girl detective – if it appeals to different age, it doesn’t mean it’s fundamentally different from mystery.
▪ Inverted detective story (aka howcatchem) – yeah, usually still a mystery. Even if it’s Columbo.
▪ Occult detective – still solving a mystery plot. Different setting.
▪ Hardboiled – hmmm. I’d say if it’s a standalone it could be any of the four. If it’s serialised, it’s a mystery.
▪ Historical mystery – setting. Next?
▪ Locked-room mystery – never read it, sounds interesting. Also, mystery.
▪ Police procedural – ah, the stories where police is actually doing their job.
▪ Whodunit – yeah.
● Noir – yeah, don’t think slapping French name makes the genre anything else than it is.
o Nordic noir – long winter evenings apparently have birthed many authors.
o Tart Noir – if they are strong and independent, why do you call them tarts? Mystery.
● Speculative fiction
● Fantasy
● Fantasy – oh, I’ll probably be publicly shamed for saying this, but it’s just a setting. Also, I won’t be, because I don’t expect anyone to read this far.
● Action-adventure – setting? Need more information.
o Heroic – take a guess.
o Lost world – description of setting.
o Subterranean – weren’t we here before?
o Sword-and-sandal – we definitely were.
o Sword-and-sorcery – I wonder how many repetitions the romance will present.
o Wuxia – if it’s big in Asia, can we crowbar it as a genre into English language?
● Contemporary – so, the setting. On a setting. Cool.
o Occult detective fiction – seen it. Mystery.
o Paranormal romance – romance with trimmings.
o Urban – Setting. Take real or non-real elements to tell your story, but don’t make it a point, I beg of you!
● Cozy[8] – could be any of the four. Eschewing violence or war doesn’t make the story any less real.
● Dark – so it’s a drama. Or any other of the four. Write whatever themes you like.
● Fairytale – setting. Another setting.
● Fantastique – aspects in French.
● Fantasy comedy – we have been here before. Setting on a subgenre.
o Bangsian – setting that for some reason is so very specific. Why?
● Fantasy of manners – gods damn it! Setting.
● Gaslamp – so, a setting.
● Gothic – also a setting, but could be partially one of the subgenres I'll define.
● Grimdark – same as above, but of a different subgenre.
● Hard – seriously, what is this?
● High – very obviously high.
● Historical – oh come on!
● Isekai – I’m tired.
● Juvenile – as a society we really underestimate children sometimes.
● Low – not at all a debasing term.
● Magic realism – still a magic setting.
● Mythic – how many of these are there?
o Mythopoeia – authors should be allowed to write things without putting a strict label on every single deviation.
o Mythpunk – I like that it started as a joke. Most of these seem like a joke.
● Romantic – it’s romance. Bring the pitchforks.
● Science – and another setting.
o Dying Earth – yes, world-weariness is what I feel now.
o Planetary romance – any of the four.
o Sword and planet – lol, it’s the same wiki article as for the above.
● Shenmo – could we not?
● Superhero – pretty sure I’ve been here before.
● Supernatural – doesn’t this word mean something unreal, aka, fantasy?
● Weird fiction – Cthulhu would not be unwelcome now. I draw the line at Dagon, though, I don’t really like fish.
o New weird – every spark of author’s imagination must have its own genre, mustn’t it? Broadening horizons? Never heard of it.
● Weird West – I bet not as weird as the traditional western depiction would be to a person who actually lived through that very short period.
● Xenofiction – just a setting that sounds more intriguing than it is. Not even a setting. An aspect of the story, the reverse from usual perspective.
● Horror
● Horror – subgenre, simple. And finally, fantasy is finished!
● Body – could be an aspect of the same subgenre, could a different one.
● Comedy – two subgenres could coincide.
o Zombie comedy – shouldn’t zombies be tragic? But my morbidity loves this.
● Erotic – two subgenres.
o Ero guro – cool. So?
● Ghost stories and ghostlore – seriously? Either too narrow, or too broad, no middle ground with this, is there?
● Gothic – even the wiki article calls it aesthetic. This is not a genre! Partially a subgenre, either thriller or horror.
o American – I
o Southern – am
o Southern Ontario – not
o Space – even
o Suburban – going
o Tasmanian – to
o Urban – read.
● Japanese – where is the British horror? Like, a horror of someone cutting in the queue.
● Korean – isn’t it in films?
● Lovecraftian (or Cosmic) – we have been here already.
● Monster literature – as the whole premise has been numerous times put on its head, I call not a genre.
o Jiangshi fiction – interesting, how people had always had a fascination and abhorrence of death and corpses.
o Werewolf fiction – not a fan of doggies.
o Vampire literature – this time fascination with corpses comes to the extreme.
● Psychological – still a horror subgenre. Though could be confused with thriller sometimes.
● Splatterpunk – an actually different subgenre.
● Techno – I prefer science gone right stories.
● Weird fiction – again?
● Weird menace – dead.
● Weird West – who cares?
● Zombie apocalypse – I think the zombie idea in itself is more horrific than the apocalypse.
● Science fiction
● Science fiction – can I just put ‘setting’ on every one that follows? I think my sense of humour and patience are running out.
● Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic – just the opportunity for the author to use imagination.
● Afrofuturism – I’m not touching that with a 30 foot pole.
o Africanfuturism – nah-huh.
● Christian – oh, this I would poke!
● Comedy – Need to reread the Guide.
● Utopian and dystopian – where is science here?
o Dystopian – lovely setting. As the apocalyptic.
▪ Cyberpunk – I don’t know why ‘dirty’ translated to ‘punk’.
● Biopunk – the mohawk lives an autonomous life.
● Dieselpunk – will every progress of technology be clumped with ‘punk’?
● Japanese cyberpunk – amazingly beautiful. Still a setting.
● Nanopunk – okaaay.
● Solarpunk – bloody hell, it is.
● Steampunk – I give up.
o Utopian – there’s no such thing. That’s why these works exist.
● Feminist – is equality between men and women such a fictional concept? Scientifically speaking.
● Gothic – yeah, wiki article has a different name.
● Isekai – been here.
● Hard – ok, I can kinda see how this can be a part of a subgenre.
o Climate fiction – is it a fiction?
o Parallel world – somewhere there I have good teeth.
● Libertarian – pretty sure I’ve seen this before, like a million years before.
● Mecha – aspect.
o Mecha anime and manga – different format.
● Military – big guns for little... you finish it.
● Soft – ah, also not a debasing term.
o Anthropological – why are you so determined to classify what writers write about?
o Social – drama, mostly.
● Space opera – I’ve always wondered where ‘opera’ part came from.
● Space Western – 30 years! Only thirty years. Get over it already.
● Spy-Fi – hero’s journey, or mystery, or drama. Could it be romance?
● Subterranean – what’s the fascination with nether regions?
● Tech noir – is it very sophisticated?
● Techno-thriller – why distinguish?
● Science fantasy
● Science Fantasy – setting could combine.
● Science fantasy – why the repetition?
o Dying Earth – sounds terribly familiar.
o Planetary romance – yep, definitely seen this before.
o Sword and planet – same lame different name.
● Superhero
● Superhero probably a hero’s journey, but could be others. Setting. Aspect.
● Superhero – I’m not writing that again.
o Heroic fantasy – my patience is so very thin.
o Cape punk – huh, the link doesn’t work. Bliss.
o Heroic noir – nor this. Someone took pity on me.
● Romance
● Romantic fiction – yep, romance.
● Amish – ah, a fantasy of getting a partner who is nice to you. Though, to be honest...
● Chivalric – metal fantasy.
o Fantasy – shouldn’t the knights have died?
● Contemporary – setting.
o Gay – Yay! Also, only an aspect.
o Lesbian – a different aspect.
o Medical – what?
● Erotic – ah, subgenre.
o Thriller – subgenre on subgenre.
● Romantic fantasy – isn’t it always a romance?
● Historical – meaning it should have different values, morals and principles from modern times. Not that it often does. And, actually, why do the knights get special treatment?
o Regency – A Wild West of romance genre.
● Inspirational – who coined the name? Crime.
● Paranormal – yes, love truly transcends all planes of existence.
o Time-travel – we love that.
● Romantic suspense – we’ve been here during the mystery era. Still a romance.
● Western – here too? Romance, you’ve betrayed me!
● Young Adult – too young to adult, too adult to stay away. Or still too young?
Finally! Glory be! It’s finished!
You see?
You see how ridiculous this list is? I actually didn’t suspect the length of it myself till I copied it into 12 pages of Word.
Any literary majors here? Do you study all of them? Does it make you confused?
Of course it would make anyone confused, no rhyme or reason, lots are in different categories but meaning the same, such minutia on one hand, and such generalities on the other.
It is, frankly, a disgrace.
So in my anger – the best driving force, in my opinion – I propose different structure of literature.
First level of division. Fiction and Nonfiction. Yes, I’ve changed my mind, Nonfiction should be separate. And its genres someone else should explore.
Second. Poetry, Plays, Electronic literature, Graphic novels, Prose. Some expansion here too.
Now only working with Prose.
Genres. Hero’s journey, Drama, Romance, Mystery. Nothing changed.
Subgenres. Fun.
Ok, so my idea is that, unlike genres, that vary on the type of story told, subgenres differ on their effect on the reader.
So here’s my list of subgenres.
Nonsense – first because it happened to be so. Effect: confusion. I won’t say entertainment because it is a default for every genre and subgenre.
Morality tale. Effect: to teach something. Very obviously so. I believe every literature should teach something, even if it’s to not trust that author, so the distinction needed to be made.
Satire. Effect: to make reader think on two levels, develop critical thinking, maybe. Actually, I’m not sure if satire should be in this list at all, but I’ll let it be.
Thriller. Effect: produce anxiety.
Horror. Effect: produce fear. Not the same.
Erotic. Effect: produce lust. Or some approximation.
Comedy. Effect: do I have to tell it? To amuse you.
Tragedy. Effect: to make a reader experience a variety of emotions on sadness spectrum. And, daring to turn every romance reader against me, I will say that Romance can have a tragic subgenre. Like Romeo and Juliet, you know.
Shock. Effect: to produce a visceral reaction much stronger than anxiety or fear. Disgust or worse. Also questionable if it belongs on the list, but I’ll allow it and think of it more.
So, here we are, 9 subgenres. Each one could be used with any of the genres. So simple.
And the setting and aspects could be whatever you want. Whether you want to disclose them in the description of your work or not, the soul of the story wouldn’t change.
Examples of use:
Nonsense hero’s journey in wild west. Or erotic mystery from animal’s perspective. Or thriller drama of modern times, which is reality.
See what I did there?
Structure, that’s what I crave.
Give me sense and I’ll follow. For now, I’ll abide by my own rules.
