Chapter 2 – Organising meaning in media texts: genre and narrative Week 3 - Narratives and Genres
Long et. Al., Chapter 2, p84-117
Studying genre
Studying genre
Genre = a term for the classification of particular types of media forms and content within each media
group
- categorizations are meaningful to producers (they can identify consumer preferences) AND
consumers (allows us to find texts we like/need easily) of texts
- genre can be thought of as a signifying system, which relies on sets of codes and conventions shared
by both producers and consumers.
- paradigmatic analysis: comparing each element of a news report with alternatives that might have
been used (vertical).
- syntagmatic analysis: involves an assessment of the semantic impact of the way story components
have been arranged and combined (horizontal, the sentence itself).
- problems of definition
- every media text is both similar to and different from all others of its type
- no media text features all the elements of the category it might belong to (Jurassic park)
- “genre is a type of media form comprising the paradigmatic elements (stories, rhetoric,
signification) that are used in the creation of individual syntagmatic texts”
Genre: dynamism and exhaustion
- key feature of genre: its abiding and changing nature: genres are dynamic.
- this is because texts are drawn upon elements, not all of the codes and conventions available
in a particular generic group
- a lot of genres have died out (western films, cigarette advertising) because of repetition or stylistic
changes
- Western films: good white guy forged the values of civilization out of the wilderness/natives -> cold
war/Vietnam (what’s good/wrong?) caused problematization of the image of the West
- some genres have been forced to change (by legislation or social convention)
- merging genres bc of the need for innovation (Dynasty: family business drama and police drama)
- also generic parodies (The Office; poking fun at reality TV)
- but despite their lampooning style, they are still recognizably generic
- can also be called hybrid: mixing different genres together to do something that is different
and new (or which feels new)
Genre in context: production and consumption
- new genres also emerge; to provide new thrills for new audiences
- generic innovation and repetition can be attributed to the increased competition (esp. in television)
- in the global age, generic innovation and repetition is exported across cultural/linguistic boundaries
(TVOH)
- genres can deliver (predictable) audiences easily and minimizes the economic risks
- BBC and ITV have been criticized for producing formulaic programming
- genres are important to consumers: because it gives us a horizon of expectations
SUMMARY | Media Studies (Long et. Al.)
Long et. Al., Chapter 2, p84-117
Studying genre
Studying genre
Genre = a term for the classification of particular types of media forms and content within each media
group
- categorizations are meaningful to producers (they can identify consumer preferences) AND
consumers (allows us to find texts we like/need easily) of texts
- genre can be thought of as a signifying system, which relies on sets of codes and conventions shared
by both producers and consumers.
- paradigmatic analysis: comparing each element of a news report with alternatives that might have
been used (vertical).
- syntagmatic analysis: involves an assessment of the semantic impact of the way story components
have been arranged and combined (horizontal, the sentence itself).
- problems of definition
- every media text is both similar to and different from all others of its type
- no media text features all the elements of the category it might belong to (Jurassic park)
- “genre is a type of media form comprising the paradigmatic elements (stories, rhetoric,
signification) that are used in the creation of individual syntagmatic texts”
Genre: dynamism and exhaustion
- key feature of genre: its abiding and changing nature: genres are dynamic.
- this is because texts are drawn upon elements, not all of the codes and conventions available
in a particular generic group
- a lot of genres have died out (western films, cigarette advertising) because of repetition or stylistic
changes
- Western films: good white guy forged the values of civilization out of the wilderness/natives -> cold
war/Vietnam (what’s good/wrong?) caused problematization of the image of the West
- some genres have been forced to change (by legislation or social convention)
- merging genres bc of the need for innovation (Dynasty: family business drama and police drama)
- also generic parodies (The Office; poking fun at reality TV)
- but despite their lampooning style, they are still recognizably generic
- can also be called hybrid: mixing different genres together to do something that is different
and new (or which feels new)
Genre in context: production and consumption
- new genres also emerge; to provide new thrills for new audiences
- generic innovation and repetition can be attributed to the increased competition (esp. in television)
- in the global age, generic innovation and repetition is exported across cultural/linguistic boundaries
(TVOH)
- genres can deliver (predictable) audiences easily and minimizes the economic risks
- BBC and ITV have been criticized for producing formulaic programming
- genres are important to consumers: because it gives us a horizon of expectations
SUMMARY | Media Studies (Long et. Al.)
