Talk:Genre fiction

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what was the purpose of the Warsaw ghetto?

Contents 1 Warsaw ghetto? 2 Plans for Article 3 Erotica 4 conrad as example of ... 5 Romance 6 Expansion of scope

[edit] Warsaw ghetto?

I suspect that the article on the Warsaw Ghetto is likelier to answer your question. Smerdis of Tlön 22:56, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Plans for Article

Over the next few days I propose to go through the article and expand or add material, especially material on listing and defining the main fiction genres. I'm also thinking of adding material on the origin and history of the genres. PaulV 19:09, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Added subheads for fiction genres; wrote text for the first two. Plan to keep on with it... PaulV 14:52, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

Decided to delete some of the older material seeking to distinguish genre fiction from other forms of fiction that have common elements. The definition and conventions of genre are discussed under their own headings.

Also deleted material suggesting that genre conventions are essentially a time-saver for writer and reader (not having to define or explain certain things). It seems rather that the stability of genre conventions comes from the fact that readers like those elements, rather than that they are simply familiar with them.

Deleted the heading Genre in general, since this material is covered in the separate article for genre.

Deleted the paragraph discussing fantasy fiction and its evolution, since this is covered in depth in the Fantasy fiction article.

Still working on the heading The evolution of fiction genres. It's a work in progress. PaulV 18:50, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Erotica

I see someone has deleted the erotica heading, but has given no reason for doing so. Since it is a mainstream fiction genre, I intend to restore it. PaulV 00:40, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] conrad as example of ...

how about mentioning some of Joseph Conrad's works (maybe Lord Jim or one of his shorter novellas) as examples of of the statement at the end of the section 'Genre fiction#Genre fiction and literary fiction'

"Indeed, many works now regarded as literary classics were originally written as genre novels."

Doldrums 17:17, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Romance

"Romance is currently the largest and best-selling fiction genre in North America. It has produced a wide array of subgenres, all of which feature the mutual attraction and love of a man and a woman as the main plot, and have a happy ending."

Does this preclude the possibility of homosexual romance novels? 68.255.232.59 19:14, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

I changed "all" to "the majority". While this describes most romance novels, there are exceptions. There are exceptions - unrequited love, for one, and a romance novel doesn't have to have a happy ending.--RLent 20:21, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

To be a genre romance, it does indeed have to have a happy ending. Radway's Reading the Romance spends a couple of chapters on the structure of the "ideal romance". To be fair, Radway's a little bit dated, but the structure of genre romance, while it's changed, hasn't changed that substantially.

Novels featuring romance don't have to have happy endings, but genre romances really do. Deborah-jl _Talk 21:32, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Expansion of scope

This article appears to define genre fiction as a category only of literature. Is this term not also often used to describe other formats? Zombie movies are a good example. Preconceived plot structure and eventual outcome are expected by the audience. Kung-fu movies especially of the 70's also often followed the specifications of genre fiction.

If "fiction" in this context is meant to only refer to the written word and an expansion of definition of the term is inappropriate, I think at least a more significant mention of such literature’s influence on other aspects of pop culture would be. For example, the work of Quentin Tarantino is not only based off of but completely dependent on the concept of genre fiction.