1. Formal Conventions:
* Narrative Structure: This refers to the way a story is organized, including plot points, pacing, climax, and resolution. For example, detective fiction often follows a specific structure with a crime, investigation, and resolution.
* Character Archetypes: Genres often employ recurring character types, like the hero, villain, sidekick, or damsel in distress. These archetypes provide familiar elements for readers.
* Setting: Genres often feature specific settings that contribute to their atmosphere and themes. For instance, science fiction often uses futuristic settings, while westerns take place in the American West.
* Language and Style: Genres have distinct writing styles, including vocabulary, sentence structure, and tone. For example, poetry often uses figurative language and unconventional sentence structures.
2. Thematic Concerns:
* Shared Themes: Genres often explore similar themes and concerns, such as love, loss, redemption, power, and identity. These themes are often presented in different ways within each genre.
* Social and Cultural Context: Genres are influenced by the social and cultural context in which they are created. For example, the Gothic genre emerged in response to the changing social and political landscape of the 18th century.
3. Audience Expectations:
* Genre Conventions: Readers often have expectations about what they will find in a particular genre. These expectations can shape the way they interpret a text.
* Emotional Response: Genres can evoke different emotional responses in readers. For example, horror aims to evoke fear, while comedy aims to evoke laughter.
4. Historical Development:
* Evolution of Genres: Genres are not static; they evolve over time. New genres emerge, existing genres become more specialized, and genres can even blend together.
* Cross-Genre Influences: Genres can influence and borrow from each other, leading to new hybrid forms.
It's important to note that:
* The structural basis of genres is not always rigid or fixed.
* Authors often experiment with genre conventions, blending genres, or subverting expectations.
* Genres are fluid and can be subjective, with different individuals having different understandings of genre boundaries.
Ultimately, understanding the structural basis of literary genres allows us to appreciate the complexities of storytelling and how different genres contribute to the richness and diversity of literature.