Genre Theory

Steve Neale- Genre Theory

It is easy to underplay the differences within a genre.

Steve Neale declares that genres are instances of repetition and difference

Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre. Repetition would not attract an
audience.

Genre is defined by two things:

- How much it conforms with a genres stereotypes and

conventions; A film must conform to these conventions enough
that it can still qualify and be identified as a film of that genre.

- How much a film subverts the genres stereotypes and

conventions. A film must subvert these conventions enough that it
is still viewed as a unique film, not just a clone.

Postmodernism- Baudrillard

Post-modernism claim that in a media-saturated world, where we are constantly immersed in media 24/7 on
the move, at work, at home the distinction between reality and the media representation of it becomes
blurred or even entirely invisible to us. In other words, we no longer have any sense of the difference between
real things and images of them, or real experiences and simulations of them. Jean Baudrillard, a French
philosopher, said how Disneyland was a good example of this blurring of reality and simulation, which he
called hyper reality.

Postmodernism is the study of language and meaning as a system a network of meaning. Language relies on
a shared understanding of rules. Linguists study the structures of language; in media texts, structuralists
would claim to work out the deep structures being employed.

For example in a film genre, structuralists would work out deep structures that give meaning to the text.
Within structuralism, neither the filmmaker nor audience would necessarily be aware of these structures.

Are creating stereotypes of genres fair to audiences? Is it being truthful to the film and its message as opposed
to its genre and iconography?

Edward Buscombe

Arguably a post-modernist approach:

Argued that we need to move beyond outer forms (iconography; a set of visual
representations in a text that, taken together, indicate its genre) and explore the inner
forms (attitude, tone, purpose) when exploring genre.

His concept was that there needed to be some thought towards what these genres are
trying to say rather than merely identifying them. E.g western films can be argued that they
tend to be pro-violence to some extent which defines them.
Key Words:

Genre- a means of classifying products according to the elements they have in common.

Sub-Genre- A variation of an already established genre with features recognisable in a number of examples e.g. horror genre;
slasher horror/psychological horror, monster horror etc.

Hybrid Genre- A mix of two or more genres

Iconography- a set of visual representations in a text that, taken together, indicate its genre

Post-modernism- there is not a clear definition due to postmodernists not agreeing on one, however postmodernism is widely
used to describe challenges and changes to established structures and belief systems that took place in Western society and
culture from the 1960s onwards. In our case the media power shift and to what extent is truth shown in Media in this day and
age.