Genre

Whereas a literacy event is defined as any interaction between readers and written
texts within a social context, a genre is a socially sanctioned type of
communicative event, either spoken like a sermon, a joke, a lecture or printed,
like a press report, a novel, or a political manifesto. Although sometimes viewed as
a universal type, fixed by literary and other conventions, a genre in sociocultural
perspective is always dependent on being perceived as such within a specific
context of situation or culture.
The concept of genre is related to text type and language choice: it is measured
against a prototypical sermon in their culture, for example, that members of a
group can assess to what extent the register chosen by a certain preacher
conforms to or derivate from the genre <sermon>, even if is not delivered in a
church. As we saw in Chapter 4, misunderstanding can arise when some
participants in a speech event believe they are engaged in one genre (for example,
problem solving task) while the other participants in the same event believe they
ara engaged in another (such as a talk show interview).
What turns a collection of communicative events into a genre is some
conventionalized set of communicative purposes. For example, one convention of
scientific research papers is that they inform researchers of scientists findings as
clearly, convincingly as possible, and in a manner that furthers future research.
However, not every scientific community shares the same views as to how these
goals should be achieved. There are striking differences, for example, between the
French and the Anglo Saxon genre research paper. Anglo Saxon scientists have to
legitimize their research by displaying in the first paragraph all extant research on
the same topic and showing how their own fills a neglected gap. By contrast,
French scientific articles draw their legitimation from the status and affilation of the
research to stand on its own merits. Whereas American research articles end with
the obligatory discussion of *the limitations of the study*, French articles do no
such thing: instead, they are obligated to raise larger questions; and point two
directions for further areas of study. These two different styles within two scientific
communities that otherwise share the same purpose may create difficulties for
some French scientists, who may be willing to publish in English but wish to retain
their own cultural scientific style.
It is easy to see why genre plays such a central role in the definition of culture. One
can learn a lot about a discourse communitys culture by looking at the names it
gives to genres, for genre is societys way of defining and controlling meaning. In
fact, the very definition of a text type as a separate genre, or a stylistic variation of
the same genre, is matter of passionate disputes, and not only among scholars.

For, the concept of text type establishes constraints on what one is expected to
write about, in what form, for what audience. Religious leade4rs in some cultures,
like, for example, Shi a Islam, make a difference between texts that tell the truth,
for example, the sacred text of the Quran, and those that lie, such as poetry.
Norrative irony, as found in the Western novel, is not a familiar text feature in a
culture that expects narrative truth to be identical to real life truth. Those who use
novelistic irony and fiction to criticize Islamic practices, like Salman Rushdie did,
are read at face-value and condemned by those who have the authority to be the
textual gate-keepers of their culture
Summary
The advent of writing and the invention of the printing press have radically changed
the relation of language and culture. The maintenance of historical tradition, the
control of collective memory, the authority to interpret events have all been
enhanced by the written medium. Thus textual culture has become the dominant
culture of research and scholarship.
However, there have always been two ways of looking at written language: as fixed
and stable product. i.e. as text, or as an interactive, highly inferential process
between a text and its readers. i.e. as discourse. Through their educational system,
their media. And their political institutions, discourse communities play an important
role in establishing the parameters of socially acceptable literacy events, in
defining the appropriate genres within their boundaries, and in seeing to it that
these genres are respected by their members.