genre /zhónrә/ n. 1 a kind of style, esp. of art or literature (e.g. novel, drama, satire).

The concept of genre is instantly problematic, even to those in the academe.

First, “are we entitled to discuss a genre without having studied all the works that constitute it?” Although it is rather impossible to study everything within a particular genre, it is indeed a logical question. Because merely knowing a fraction of something is not enough to construe the whole. But then again, doing so is impossible. With that limitation, we do not need to examine every instance of phenomenon before making a descripti

Second, “are genres finite in number or infinite?” The idea that genres are unlimited supports the first problem stated above. Tomahevsky wrote:

I remember genres referring to science fiction, horror, romance, and detective stories. I recall genres in the form of popular literature or the renaissance. There are genres pertaining to Shakespeare, or Garcia Marquez, or e.e. cummings. How about German Literature, British, American, or Greek Literature? Name anything and one will have a genre for it.

Eight out of ten students in the University of the Philippines think that literature is the “old stories.” Six out of ten do not consider current popular books, such as Harry Potter as literature. Out of this six, I asked if Harry Potter is a novel, and they all agreed. Then I asked, but a novel is a literary genre, would Harry Potter be literature then? Four said no, while the two maintained that a novel is just a long story, while literature is “something else.” Nine out of ten do not regard as literature, stories written in class or personal poems, and only four out of ten thought of e.e. cummings’ “Poem” as a poem, one of whom, only because he heard it discussed it in one of his English classes.

Some topics in this essay:
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