List of genres
This is a list of genres taken from the genre page. The current genre page is as of 23 April 2010 (2010 -04-23)[update] under construction and this list does not aid its new purpose.
Literary genre
A story, similar to Adventure, but the protagonist usually takes a risky turn, which leads to desperate situations (including explosions, fight scenes, daring escapes, etc.). Action and Adventure are usually categorized together (sometimes even as "action-adventure") because they have much in common, and many stories fall under both genres simultaneously (for instance, the James Bond series can be classified as both).
- Die Hard Scenario: The story takes place in limited location - a single building, plane, or vessel - which is seized or under threat by enemy agents, but are opposed by a single hero who fights. This genre has become popular in Hollywood movie making both because of its crowd appeal and the relative simplicity of building sets for such a constrained piece. This genre began with the 1988 movie Die Hard, which was followed by two sequels. Among the many films that have copied this formula are Under Siege (terrorists take over a ship), Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and Derailed (hostages are trapped on a train), Sudden Death (film) (terrorists take over an Ice Hockey stadium), Passenger 57, Executive Decision and Air Force One (film) (hostages are trapped on a plane), Con Air (criminals take over a transport plane), and Half Past Dead and The Rock (criminals or terrorists take over a prison). Paul Blart: Mall Cop is a recent spoof of these movies.
- Heroic bloodshed:
- Military: A story about a war or battle that can either be historical or fictional. It usually follows the events a certain warrior goes through during the battle's events.
- Spy fiction: A story about a secret agent (spy) or military personnel member who is sent on a secret espionage mission. Usually, they are equipped with special gadgets that prove useful during the mission, and they have special training in things such as unarmed combat or computer hacking. They may or may not work for a specific government.
- Samurai fiction:
- Western fiction: A story talking place in the American Old West. Westerns commonly feature gunfighters and/or cowboys.
- Girls with guns and swords:
A story about a protagonist who journeys to epic or distant places to accomplish something. It can have many other genre elements included within it, because it is a very open genre. The protagonist has a mission and faces obstacles to get to his destination.
A story that tells about a series of funny or comical events, intended to make the audience laugh. It a is very open genre, and thus crosses over with many other genres on a frequent basis.
- Comedy of manners: A film satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters. The plot of the comedy is often concerned with an illicit love affair or some other scandal, but is generally less important than its witty dialogue. This form of comedy has a long ancestry, dating back at least as far as Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing.
- Parody: A story that mocks or satirizes other genres, people, fictional characters or works. Such works employ sarcasm, stereotyping, mockery of scenes, symbols or lines from other works, and the obviousness of meaning in a character's actions. Such stories may be "affectionate parodies" which merely mean to entertain those familiar with the source of the parody... or they may well be intended to undercut the respectability of the original inspiration for the parody by pointing out its flaws (the latter being closer to satire).
- Action comedy: A subgenre which emphasizes physically humorous antics, unorthodox body-language and oftentimes exasperating situations. See Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Chan and Lucille Ball.
- Slapstick: a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence and activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense. These hyperbolic depictions are often found in children's media, and light comedies aimed at younger audiences.
- Romantic comedy: A subgenre which combines the romance genre with comedy, focusing on two or more individuals as they discover and attempt to deal with their romantic love, attractions to each other. The stereotypical plot line follows the "boy-gets-girl", "boy-loses-girl", "boy gets girl back again" sequence. Naturally, there are innumerable variants to this plot (as well as new twists, such as reversing the gender roles in the story), and much of the generally lighthearted comedy lies in the social interactions and sexual tension between the characters, who very often either refuse to admit they are attracted to one another, or must deal with others' meddling in their affairs.
- Comedy horror: See Shawn of the Dead and Jennifer's Body.
- Comic Fantasy:
- Comic science fiction: A comedy that uses science fiction elements or settings, often as a lighthearted (or occasionally vicious) parody of the latter genre.
A story about a crime that is being committed or was committed. It can also be an account of a criminal's life. It often falls into the Action or Adventure genres.
- Detective story: A story about a detective (or detectives) and/or person, either professional or amateur, who has to solve a crime that was committed. They must figure out who committed the crime and why. Sometimes, the detective must figure out 'how' the criminal committed the crime if it seems impossible.
- Courtroom drama:
- Murder mystery: A mystery story which focuses on one type of criminal case: homicide. Usually, there are one or more murder victims, and the detective must figure out who killed them, the same way he or she solves other crimes. They may or may not find themselves or loved ones in danger because of this investigation; the genre often includes elements of the suspense story genre, or of the action and adventure genres.
- Hardboiled:
- Legal thriller:
- Gangster:
A story that re-tells events rather than create them. Usually, it is about true historic events.
Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of human sexual relationships which have the power to or are intended to arouse the reader sexually. Such erotica takes the form of novels, short stories, poetry, true-life memoirs, fanfiction parodies and sex manuals. Transgressive sexual fantasies are a common feature of the genre, on such themes as prostitution, orgies, homosexuality, sado-masochism, cross-dressing, pedophilia, incest, bestiality and many other taboo subjects and fetishes, which may or may not be expressed in explicit language. Satire and social criticism are other common elements. Despite cultural taboos on such material, before the invention of printing circulation of erotic literature was not seen as a major problem, as the costs of producing individual manuscripts limited distribution to a very small group of readers. The invention of printing, in the fifteenth century, brought with it both a greater market and increasing restrictions, which took the form of censorship and legal restraints on publication on grounds of obscenity. In the United States, the First Amendment of the US Constitution (The Right to Freedom of Speech) does allow for erotic materials as a protected form of expression, with some exceptions. The use of children in sexual materials is strictly prohibited in all 50 states, and possession of such is a crime. Local government also has the authority to set standards for "obscenity", and can regulate/prohibit materials in their jurisdiction. They can also regulate who can have access to these materials (age requirements). Thus the First Amendment is not an absolute when erotica is concerned.
- Lesbianism: The fundamental work of lesbian literature is the poetry of Sappho of Lesbos. Contemporary lesbian literature is centered around several small, exclusively lesbian presses, as well as online fandoms. Certain works have established historical or artistic importance.
Faction, a neologism, in literature, describes a text as based on real historical figures, and actual events, woven together with fictitious allegations. Faction is often disliked as confusing to people who are trying to find facts. For example, schoolchildren told to look for historical information are liable to be confused by Faction literature.
A story about magic and supernatural forces, rather than technology, though it often is made to include elements of other genres, such as science fiction elements, for instance computers or DNA, if it happens to take place in a modern or future era. Depending on the extent of these other elements, the story may or may not be considered to be a "hybrid genre" series; for instance, even though the Harry Potter series canon includes the requirement of a particular gene to be a wizard, it is referred to only as a fantasy series.
- Bangsian:
- Contemporary Fantasy:
- Dark fantasy:
- Epic/High fantasy:
- Heroic:
- Magical girl: Popular in Japan, of girls who uses magic in either their training, idol stardom or even to fight evil.
- Mythic fiction:
- Science fantasy: A story with mystical elements that are scientifically explainable, or which combines science fiction elements with fantasy elements. It should be noted that science fiction was once actually referred to under this name, but that it is no longer used to denote that genre, and has somewhat fallen out of favor as a genre descriptor.
- Sword and planet: A subgenre of science fantasy that features rousing adventure stories set on other planets, and usually featuring Earthmen as protagonists. There is a fair amount of overlap between "Sword & Planet" and "planetary romance" although some works are considered to belong to one and not the other. In general, Planetary Romance is considered to be more of a Space Opera subgenre, influenced by the likes of A Princess of Mars yet more modern and technologically savvy, while Sword & Planet more directly imitates the conventions established by Burroughs in the Mars series.
- Dying Earth: A sub-subgenre of science fantasy which takes place either at the end of life on Earth or the End of Time, when the laws of the universe themselves fail. More generally, the Dying Earth sub-genre encompasses science fiction works set in the far distant future in a milieu of stasis or decline. Themes of world-weariness, innocence (wounded or otherwise), idealism, entropy, (permanent) exhaustion/depletion of many or all resources (such as soil nutrients), and the hope of renewal tend to pre-dominate
- Sword and sorcery: A blend of heroic fantasy, adventure, and frequent elements of the horrific in which a mighty barbaric warrior hero is pitted against both human and supernatural adversaries. Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Cimmerian, Kull of Atlantis, the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn, etc. is generally acknowledged as the founder of the genre, chiefly through his writings for Weird Tales and other 1920s and '30s pulp magazines.
- Wuxia: A distinct quasi-fantasy sub-genre of the martial arts genre.
A story about a real person or event. Often, they are written in a text book format, which may or may not focus on solely that person or event.
- Biography: The details of the life story of a real person, told by someone else.
- Autobiography: Essentially the same as a biography, with the exception that the story is written by the person who is the subject of the story.
- Memoir: Similar to autobiography, with the exception that it is told more "from memory", i.e. it is how the person personally remembers and feels about their life or a stage in their life, more than the exact, recorded details of that period. Though memoirs are often more subjective than autobiography works, memoirs are generally still considered to be nonfiction works. There are also some fiction works that purport to be the "memoirs" of fictional characters as well, done in a similar style, however, these are in a separate genre from their nonfiction counterparts.
- Historical fiction: A story that takes place in the real world, with real world people, but with several fictionalized or dramatized elements. This may or may not crossover with other genres; for example, fantasy fiction or science fiction may play a part, as is the case for instance with the novel George Washington's Socks, which includes time travel elements.
- Alternate history: A more extreme variant of historical fiction which posits a "what if" scenario in which some historical event occurs differently (or not at all), thus altering the course of history; for instance, "What if Nazi Germany had won World War II?" is an alternate history concept that has had treatment in fiction. Alternate History is sometimes (though not universally) referred to as a subgenre of science fiction or speculative fiction, and like historical fiction, may include more fantastical elements (for instance, the Temeraire series uses the fantasy element of dragons to create an Alternate History plot set during the Napoleonic Era).
- Counterfactual history: Referred to as virtual history, is a recent form of historiography which attempts to answer "what if" questions known as counterfactuals. It seeks to explore history and historical incidents by means of extrapolating a timeline in which certain key historical events did not happen or had an outcome which was different from that which did in fact occur. The purpose of this exercise is to ascertain the relative importance of the event, incident or person the counterfactual hypothesis is negating. For instance, to the counterfactual claim "What would have happened had Hitler drunk coffee instead of tea on the afternoon he committed suicide?", the timeline would have remained unchanged — Hitler in all likelihood still would have committed suicide on April 30, 1945, regardless of what he had to drink that afternoon. However, to the counterfactual "What would have happened had Hitler died in the July, 1944, assassination attempt?", all sorts of possibilities become readily apparent, starting with the reasonable assumption that the German generals would have in all likelihood sued for peace, bringing an early end to World War II, at least in the European Theater. Thus, the counterfactual brings into sharp relief the importance of Hitler as an individual and how his personal fate shaped the course of the war and, ultimately, of world history.
- Period piece: This type features historical places, people, or events that may or not be crucial to the story. Because history is merely used as a backdrop, it may be fictionalized to various degrees, but the story itself may be regarded as "outside" history. Genres within this category are often regarded as significant categories in themselves.
- Jidaigeki: A story usually set in the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868.
- Costume drama: A type of drama that especially relies on lavish costumes and designs. This type crosses over with many other genres.
A story that is told to deliberately scare or frighten the audience, through suspense, violence or shock. H. P. Lovecraft distinguishes two primary varieties in the "Introduction" to Supernatural Horror in Literature: 1) Physical Fear or the "mundanely gruesome" and 2) the true Supernatural Horror story or the "Weird Tale." The supernatural variety is occasionally termed "Dark Fantasy," since the laws of nature must be violated in some way, thus qualifying the story as "fantastic."
- Ghost story: A story about the intrusion of the spirits of the dead into the realm of the living. There are sub-genres: The Traditional Haunting, Poltergeists, The Haunted Place or Object (i.e. the hotel in Stephen King's The Shining), or the etching in M. R. James' "The Mezzotint", etc. Some would include stories of Revenants such as W. W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw."
- Monster: A story about a monster, creature or mutant that terrorizes people. Usually, it fits into the horror genre, for instance, Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. Although Shelley's Frankenstein is often also considered the first science fiction story (biological science reanimating the dead), it does present a monstrous "creature." Other clear Monster stories are of the creatures of folklore and fable: the Vampire, the Werewolf, the Zombie, etc. Beings such as that depicted in Karloff's The Mummy would also qualify.
- Giant monster: A story about a giant monster, similar to the monster genre. However, giant monster stories are generally about a monster big enough to destroy buildings. Some such stories are about two giant monsters fighting each other, a genre known as kaiju in Japan, which is famous for such works after the success of such films and franchises as Godzilla.
- Occult stories: Stories that touch upon the adversaries of Good, especially the "Enemies" of the forces of righteousness as expressed in any given religious philosophy. Hence, stories of devils, demons, demonic possession, dark witchcraft, evil sorcerers or warlocks, and figures like the Antichrist would qualify. The nature of such stories presupposes the existence of the side of Good and the existence of a deity to be opposed to the forces of Evil.
- Slasher: A horror genre featuring a usually male serial killer or other psychopath as an antagonist, methodically killing a number of vulnerable, often female protagonists in succession. Dramatic suspense is heightened by the victim's obliviousness of the killer. The victims are typically in isolated settings and often engaged in sexual activity previous to the attacks. The "slasher" kills his victims by stealthily sneaking up on them and then bloodily stabbing and slicing them to death with a sharp object, such as a Chef's knife. Gender roles in slasher films are of particular interest in feminist film theory which has extensively examined the trope of the Final girl.
- Survival horror: A horror story about a protagonist who is put in a risky and life threatening situation that he or she must endure, often as a result of things such as zombies or other monsters, and the rest of the plot is how the hero or heroes overcome this.
Although normally associated with the crime genre, the term "mystery fiction" may in certain situations refer to a completely different genre, where the focus is on supernatural mystery (even if no crime is involved). This usage was common in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, where titles such as Dime Mystery, Thrilling Mystery and Spicy Mystery offered what at the time were described as "weird menace" stories – supernatural horror in the vein of Grand Guignol. This contrasted with parallel titles of the same names which contained conventional hardboiled crime fiction. The first use of "mystery" in this sense was by Dime Mystery, which started out as an ordinary crime fiction magazine but switched to "weird menace" during the latter part of 1933.
Paranoid fiction is a term sometimes used to describe works of literature that explores the subjective nature of reality and how it can be manipulated by forces in power. These forces can be external, such as a totalitarian government, or they can be internal, such as a character's mental illness or refusal to accept the harshness of the world he is in.
Philosophical fiction refers to works of fiction in which a significant proportion of the work is devoted to a discussion of the sort of questions normally addressed in discursive philosophy. These might include the function and role of society, the purpose of life, ethics or morals, the role of art in human lives, and the role of experience or reason in the development of knowledge. Philosophical fiction works would include the so-called novel of ideas, including a significant proportion of science fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, and Bildungsroman. The modus operandi seems to be to use a normal story to simply explain difficult and/or dark parts of human life.
Political fiction is a subgenre of fiction that deals with political affairs. Political fiction has often used narrative to provide commentary on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction often "directly criticize an existing society or... present an alternative, sometimes fantastic, reality." Prominent pieces of political fiction have included the totalitarian dystopias of the early 20th century such as Jack London's The Iron Heel and Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here. Equally influential, if not more so, however, have been earlier pieces of political fiction such as Gulliver's Travels (1726), Candide (1759) and Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Political fiction frequently employs the literary modes of satire, often in the genres of Utopian and dystopian fiction or social science fiction.
Traditionally, a story involving chivalry and adventure. In modern writing, a story about character's relationships, or engagements (a story about character development and interpersonal relationships rather than adventures).
The sagas (from Icelandic saga, plural sögur), are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, about migration to Iceland, and of feuds between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, mainly in Iceland. The texts are epic tales in prose, often with stanzas or whole poems in alliterative verse embedded in the text, of heroic deeds of days long gone, tales of worthy men, who were often Vikings, sometimes Pagan, sometimes Christian. The tales are usually realistic, except legendary sagas, sagas of saints, sagas of bishops and translated or recomposed romances. They are sometimes romanticised and fantastic, but always dealing with human beings one can understand.
- Family saga: The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels (or sometimes sequences of novels) with a serious intent, this is often a thematic device used to portray particular historical events, changes of social circumstances, or the ebb and flow of fortunes from a multiple of perspectives.
Often strictly defined as a literary genre or form, although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humour in itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the weapon of wit. A very common, almost defining feature of satire is its strong vein of irony or sarcasm, but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. The essential point, however, is that "in satire, irony is militant." This "militant irony" (or sarcasm) often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist actually wishes to attack.
Similar to fantasy, except stories in this genre use scientific understanding to explain the universe that it takes place in. It generally includes or is centered on the presumed effects or ramifications of computers or machines; travel through space, time or alternate universes; alien life-forms; genetic engineering; or other such things. The science or technology used may or may not be very thoroughly elaborated on; stories whose scientific elements are reasonably detailed, well-researched and considered to be relatively plausible given current knowledge and technology are often referred to as hard science fiction. Owing to the wide breadth of the genre, it very commonly has elements from other genres, such as action, comedy, alternate history (which is sometimes considered a sub-genre of science fiction), military or spy fiction, and fantasy mixed in, with such combinations often forming new major subgenres in their own right (see below).
- Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction: Science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization either through nuclear war, plague, or some other general disaster. Post-apocalyptic fiction is set in a world or civilization after such a disaster. The time frame may be immediately after the catastrophe, focusing on the travails or psychology of survivors, or considerably later, often including the theme that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been forgotten (or mythologized). Post-apocalyptic stories often take place in an agrarian, non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of technology remain. There is a considerable degree of blurring between this form of science fiction and that which deals with false utopias or dystopic societies. The genres gained in popularity after World War II, when the possibility of global annihilation by nuclear weapons entered the public consciousness. However, recognizable apocalyptic novels existed at least since the first quarter of the 19th century, when Mary Shelley's The Last Man was published. Additionally, the subgenres draw on a body of apocalyptic literature, tropes, and interpretations that are millennia old.
- Hard science fiction: Science fiction in which the science is detailed, well-researched, and considered plausible such as Jurassic Park or Prey (novel).
- Soft science fiction: Science fiction which isn't detailed about the science involved, and typically deals more with cultural, social, and/or political interactions.
- Christian science fiction: Science fiction with Christian religious themes.
- Comic science fiction: Science fiction which exploits the genre's conventions for comic effect.
- Military science fiction: Science fiction told from the point of view of the military, or a main character who is a soldier in the military. It usually has technology far superior to today's, but not necessarily implausible. Military science fiction essentially is the addition of science fiction elements into a military fiction story. (Note that some military science fiction stories fit at least somewhat into the "hard science fiction" sub-genre as well.)
- Feminist science fiction: Science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political, economic and personal power of men and women. Some of the most notable feminist science fiction works have illustrated these themes using utopias to explore a society in which gender differences or gender power imbalances do not exist, or dystopias to explore worlds in which gender inequalities are intensified, thus asserting a need for feminist work to continue.
- Libertarian science fiction: Science fiction that focuses on the politics and social order implied by libertarian philosophies with an emphasis on individualism and a limited state—and in some cases, no state whatsoever. As a genre, it can be seen as growing out of the 1930s and 1940s when the science-fiction pulp magazines were reaching their peak at the same time as fascism and communism. While this environment gave rise to dystopian novels such as George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, in the pulps, this influence more often give rise to speculations about societies (or sub-groups) arising in direct opposition to totalitarianism.
- Social science fiction: Science fiction concerned less with technology and space opera and more with sociological speculation about human society. In other words, it "absorbs and discusses anthropology", and speculates about human behavior and interactions. Exploration of fictional societies is one of the most interesting aspects of science fiction, allowing it to perform predictive and precautionary functions, to criticize the contemporary world and to present solutions, to portray alternative societies and to examine the implications of ethical principles.
- Mecha anime: Popularized from japan, humans pilot giant robots for battle, may even be in space.
- Space opera: Science fiction story characterized by the extent of space travel and distinguished by the amount of time that protagonists spend in an active, spacefaring lifestyle. Firefly, Star Trek, Star Blazers and Star Wars have often been categorized as such.
- Science fiction Western: A work of fiction which has elements of science fiction in a Western setting. It is different from a Space Western, which is a frontier story indicative of American Westerns, except transposed to a backdrop of space exploration and settlement. A science fiction Western occurs in the past, or in a world resembling the past, in which modern or future technology exists. The anachronistic technology of these stories is present because scientific paradigms occurred earlier in history but are implemented via industrial elements present at that time, or because technology is brought from another time or place. The genre often overlaps with Steampunk.
- Planetary romance: A sub-genre of science fiction in which the bulk of the action consists of adventures on one or more exotic alien planets, characterized by distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds. Some planetary romances take place against the background of a future culture where travel between worlds by spaceship is commonplace; others, particularly the earliest examples of the genre, do not, and invoke flying carpets, astral projection, or other methods of getting between planets. In either case, it is the planetside adventures which are the focus of the story, not the mode of travel.
- Space Western: A subgenre of science fiction, primarily grounded in film and television program, that transposes themes of American Western books and film to a backdrop of futuristic space frontiers; it is the complement of the science fiction Western, which transposes science fiction themes onto an American Western setting.
- Punk: An umbrella term, and suffix, for several Science Fiction subgenres, normally categorized by distinct technologies and sciences. The themes tend to be cynical or dystopian, and a person, or group of people, fighting the corruption of the government.
- Cyberpunk: A futuristic storyline dealing with people who have been physically or mentally enhanced with cybernetic components, often featuring cyborgs or the singularity as a major theme, and generally somewhat cynical or dystopian (hence the "punk" portion of the name). This is often confused or placed with Techno-thriller, which is actually a separate and less specialized genre.
- Postcyberpunk: a subgenre of science fiction which some critics suggest has evolved from cyberpunk. Like its predecessor, postcyberpunk focuses on technological developments in near-future societies, typically examining the social effects of a ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, genetic engineering, modification of the human body, and the continued impact of perpetual technological change. Unlike "pure" cyberpunk, however, the works in this category feature characters who act to improve social conditions or at least protect the status quo from further decay.
- Nanopunk: The genre is similar bio-punk, but describes the world where the use of biotechnologies are limited or prohibited, so only nanotechnologies in wide use (while in biopunk bio- and nanotechnologies often coexist). Currently the genre is more concerned with the artistic and physiological impact of nanotechnology, than of aspects of the technology itself which is still in its infancy. Unlike the Cyberpunk, a low-life yet technologically advanced character, the personification of a Nanopunk can be set 'hard' or 'soft', depending on your views of the impact Nanotechnology will have on our future.
- Retropunk: As a wider variety of writers began to work with cyberpunk concepts, new sub-genres of science fiction emerged, playing off the cyberpunk label, and focusing on technology and its social effects in different ways. Many derivatives of cyberpunk are retro-futuristic, based either on the futuristic visions of past eras, or more recent extrapolations or exaggerations of the actual technology of those eras.
- Atompunk: Atompunk relates to the pre-digital, cultural period of 1945-1965, including mid-century Modernism, the "Atomic Age", the "Space Age", Communism and paranoia in the USA along with Soviet styling, underground cinema, Googie architecture, space and the Sputnik, moon landing, superhero-comics, art & radioactivity, the rise of the US military/industrial complex & the fall-out of Chernobyl. Communist analog atompunk is an ultimate lost world. The Fallout series of computer games is an excellent example of Atompunk.
- Dieselpunk: Initially proposed as a genre by the creators of the role-playing game Children of the Sun, [12] dieselpunk refers to fiction inspired by mid-century pulp stories, based on the aesthetics of the interbellum period through World War II (c. 1920-1945). Similar to steampunk though specifically characterized by the rise of petroleum power and technocratic perception, incorporating neo-noir elements and sharing themes more clearly with cyberpunk than steampunk. Though the notability of dieselpunk as a genre is not entirely uncontested, installments ranging from the retro-futuristic film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow to the 2001 Activision video game Return to Castle Wolfenstein have been suggested as quintessential dieselpunk works of fiction.
- Steampunk: A story that takes place around the time steam power was first coming into use. The industrial revolution is a common time frame which steam punk stories take place in, and the steam technology is often actually more advanced than the real technology of time (for instance, Steam Detectives features steam-powered robots). The most immediate form of steampunk subculture is the community of fans surrounding the genre. Others move beyond this, attempting to adopt a "steampunk" aesthetic through fashion, home decor and even music. This movement may also be (perhaps more accurately) described as "Neo-Victorianism," which is the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles with modern sensibilities and technologies. This characteristic is particularly evident in steampunk fashion which tends to synthesize punk, goth and rivet styles as filtered through the Victorian era. As an object style, however, steampunk adopts more distinct characteristics with various craftspersons modding modern-day devices into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style. The goal of such redesigns is to employ appropriate materials (such as polished brass, iron, and wood) with design elements and craftsmanship consistent with the Victorian era.
- Teslapunk: Inspired by the inventions and ideas of Nikola Tesla, such as the Tesla coil, used for wireless power transmission. Teslapunk envisions a world in which Tesla coils became far more efficient than in reality, and Nikola Tesla's more outlandish concepts were realized.
- Clockpunk: It has been occasionally used to refer to a subgenre of speculative fiction which is similar to steampunk, but deviates in its technology. As with steampunk, it portrays advanced technology based on pre-modern designs, but rather than the steam power of the Industrial Age, the technology used is based on springs, clockwork and similar. Clockpunk is based very intensively on the works of Leonardo da Vinci and as such, it is typically set during the Renaissance. It is regarded as being a type of Steampunk.
- Biopunk: A story that is about genetics and biological research (often falling under the horror category). It focuses on some harmful effects characters have created when they change an animal's code to (unintentionally) create a violent monster. Biopunk emerged during the 1990s and describes the underground of the biotechnological revolution which was expected to start having a profound impact on humanity in the first half of the 21st century. Biopunk fiction typically describes the struggles of individuals or groups, often the product of human experimentation, against a backdrop of totalitarian governments or megacorporations which misuse biotechnologies as means of social control or profiteering. Unlike cyberpunk, it builds not on information technology but on synthetic biology. As in postcyberpunk however, individuals are usually modified and enhanced not with cyberware, but by genetic manipulation of their chromosomes.
A story that might have no plot, but represents a portion of (everyday) life. See main article: Slice of life story.
Speculative fiction is a fiction genre speculating about worlds that are unlike the real world in various important ways. In these contexts, it generally overlaps one or more of the following: science fiction, fantasy fiction, horror fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history.
- Slipstream: Fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries between science fiction/fantasy and mainstream literary fiction. The term slipstream was coined by cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling in an article originally published in SF Eye #5, July 1989. He wrote: "...this is a kind of writing which simply makes you feel very strange; the way that living in the twentieth century makes you feel, if you are a person of a certain sensibility." Slipstream fiction has consequently been referred to as "the fiction of strangeness," which is as clear a definition as any others in wide use.
- Supernatural fiction: Classification of literature used to describe fiction exploiting or requiring as plot devices or themes some contradictions of the commonplace natural world and materialist assumptions about it. It includes the traditional ghost story. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is an example of a work of literary fiction that is also largely concerned with supernatural fiction elements, making play of the possibility that they are psychological at root, but requiring the option that they are not for effect. The newer speculative fiction genres of horror fiction and fantasy fiction, growing out of some of the basic propositions and generic conventions, to a certain extent replaced it.
- Superhero fiction: Subgenre of fiction that deals with superheroes, supervillains, super-powered humans, aliens, or mutants, and their adventures. Distinct from (but often derived from) comic books, animated films, and graphic novels, these are prose stories and full-length novels. Superhero fiction is a type of speculative fiction. This subgenre is often considered part of the genres of science fiction, fantasy, action, adventure, horror, or detective mystery fiction. Some are stand alone novels, some books in a series, and some are anthologies. Some are individual or unique creations while others are corporate product or promotional tie-ins. Some are also the novelizations of films or television series. The largest and longest running of the corporate series are those associated with the DC Universe and the Marvel Universe.
- Utopian and dystopian fiction: The utopia and its offshoot, the dystopia, are genres of literature that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction is the creation of an ideal world, or utopia, as the setting for a novel. Dystopian fiction is the opposite: creation of a nightmare world, or dystopia. Many novels combine both, often as a metaphor for the different directions humanity can take in its choices, ending up with one of two possible futures. Both utopias and dystopias are commonly found in science fiction and other speculative fiction genres, and arguably are by definition a type of speculative fiction. More than 400 utopian works were published prior to the year 1900 in the English language alone, with more than a thousand others during the twentieth century.
- Weird fiction: Speculative literature written in the late 19th and early 20th century. Weird fiction is distinguished from horror and fantasy in that it predates the niche marketing of genre fiction. Because genre or stylistic conventions had not been established, weird tales often blend the supernatural, mythical, and even scientific. British "weird" authors, for example, published their work in mainstream literary magazines even after American pulp magazines became popular. Although "weird fiction" is chiefly a historical description for works through the 1930s, the term has also been used since the 1980s, sometimes to describe slipstream fiction that blends horror, fantasy, and science fiction.
The term "suppositional fiction" has been used as a subcategory in which stories and characters are constrained within an internally consistent world, but not necessarily one associated with any particular genre.[1][2][3] A work of suppositional fiction might be science fiction, alternate history, mystery, horror, or even suppositional fantasy, depending on the intent and focus of the author. An author of suppositional fiction is free to "pull the rabbit out of the hat", but her characters are not–they must have the tools and abilities she has set out as requirements or they are as powerless as any of us. Contrast this with less constrained genres in which characters can do pretty much anything from moment to moment, even things previously established to be impossible, or things not logically explicable.
A story that is usually a mix of fear and excitement. It has traits from the suspense genre and often from the action, adventure or mystery genres, but the level of terror makes it borderline horror fiction at times as well. It generally has a dark or serious theme, which also makes it similar to drama.
- Disaster-thriller: A thriller story about mass peril, where the protagonist's job is to both survive, and to save many other people from a grim fate, often a natural disaster such as a storm or volcanic eruption, but which may also be a terrorist attack or epidemic of some sort.
- Psychological thriller: A thriller that emphasizes the psychological condition of the hero that presents obstacles to his objective, rather than the action. Some psychological thrillers are also about complicated stories that try to deliberately confuse the audience, often by showing them only the same confusing or seemingly nonsensical information that the hero gains.
- Crime thriller: A thriller story that revolves around the life of detectives, mobs, or other groups associated with criminal events in the story.
- Techno-thriller: A thriller story whose theme is usually technology, or the danger behind the technology people use, including the threat of cyber terrorism such as State of Fear.
Urban fiction, also known as Street lit, is a literary genre set, as the name implies, in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the race and culture of its characters as the urban setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside. Profanity (all of George Carlin's seven dirty words and urban variations thereof), sex and violence are usually explicit, with the writer not shying away from or watering-down the material. In this respect, urban fiction shares some common threads with dystopian or survivalist fiction. Often statements derogatory to white people (or at least what is perceived as the dominant Eurocentric culture and power structure) are made, usually by the characters. However, in the second wave of urban fiction, some variations of this model have been seen.
Film genres
- Animation: A genre descriptor that refers to the medium; animation is the use of computer renderings or drawings (or occasionally photos of representational objects, known as stop-motion animation or claymation) shown in a sequence in order to depict an action or event rather than using the filming of live actors.
- Traditional Animation: Also known as "cel animation", this is one of the oldest animation subgenres. Basically, it is a way of animating a cartoon by drawing and painting pictures by hand. Each drawing or painting is a different frame of animation, and when they are flipped or put in sequence at the right speed, they give the illusion of movement. Examples are Beauty and the Beast and Spirited Away.
- Stop motion: A genre similar to Traditional Animation, however, instead of using hand drawn pictures, stop motion films are made with small figurines or other objects that have their picture taken many times in order to provide the animation frames. Examples are The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and The Corpse Bride.
- Computer Generated imagery (CGI): A genre of animation that includes animating a cartoon on a computer modeling program. Models of characters or props are created on the computer, and then programmed to do something specific. Then, when the animation is completely programed, the computer can play a completely computer generated movie. CGI is often used for the visual effects in Live Action films as well. Examples are Up or Toy Story.
- Puppetry: Although it is technically live action, puppetry is a different way of "animating" a movie and puppets are often used in lieu of live actors. Usually, there are small figurines or figures (similar to stop motion), but these are controlled and filmed in real time. Like CGI, puppetry can be found in Live Action films as a method of achieving a special effect. Examples are The Muppets and The Dark Crystal.
- Live action: Live action uses the filming or videotaping of live actors instead of animation. Essentially, it is filming using real people, props and sets. Many a live action production does feature animation to achieve certain special effects work, but the film still falls under live action so long as at least some characters are played by real people whose physical performance is captured on film or video. Examples are Citizen Kane and The Godfather.
TV genres
- Dramatic programming:
- Documentary: A documentary is a feature-length or near-feature length film depicting a real-world event or person, told in a journalistic style (if told in a literary narrative style the result is often a docudrama). Example: Hoop Dreams, The Thin Blue Line (documentary)
- Docudrama: A program depicting some sort of historical or current news event, with specific changes or fabrications for legal, continuity or entertainment reasons. Depending on the quality of the feature and intended audience, these changes can minimally or completely change the story in relation to the actual events. These programs often depict crime or criminals but can also be used to depict heroics or tell a less-explored side of a well-known story. Example: United 93 (film) by Paul Greengrass depicts the events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 via reconstruction from the available evidence. Since the specific words the passengers exchanged while planning their assault on the cockpit will never be known, the filmmakers created the dialogue based on research and evidence. The Onion Field is another example. This genre is often criticized for creating sensationalized programs intended to capitalize on public interest in lurid news stories; in the case of the Scott Peterson murder trial, a docudrama starring Dean Cain was filmed and aired during jury deliberations.
- Dramality: a combination of television drama and reality television genres[4][5] (e.g., the soap opera The Only Way Is Essex[6]).
- Courtroom drama:
- Legal drama:
- Medical Drama: A medical drama is based around a team of medics helping patients who have been involved in accidents serious or otherwise. Most commonly, an accident occurs which results in the medics being called to help the injured. Most are usually based around a hospital, however, some are based around a mobile medical team etc. Examples of this genre are Casualty, Holby City and ER.
- Mockumentary:
- Game Show: A television show depicting a real contest, typically a trivia competition or physical challenge, with rewards in prizes or money. The players may include celebrities.
- News show: A television program depicting real, up-to-date events.
- Police procedural: A television genre some say was pioneered by the popular show Dragnet. The stories revolve around a crime that has been committed and must be solved by the end of the episode following a very generic and usually unchanging structure of events. The crime is committed, witnesses are questioned, an arrest occurs, and then a judicial conclusion wraps it up. As the name implies, the show communicates everything "by the book," as it would happen in real life. In such modern Police Procedurals such as Law & Order, you see and hear even the officers reading freshly arrested criminals their Miranda rights. Not quite as dramatic or action-oriented as the Dick Tracy-style of detective shows.
- Reality television: A television show, purportedly unscripted although more evidence points to scripting, featuring non-actors interacting with each other or dealing with invented or contrived challenges, such as surviving on a "deserted" island by finding their own food and shelter, or competing against others for the affections of a certain person. Produced in a similar fashion as the documentary film genre, but with more emphasis on the showing of interpersonal conflict, emotional reactions, or unusual occurrences.
- Serial: A television show which is one continuous story. Each episode picks up from where the last one left off. The story may shift with a new season.
- Television comedy:
- Sitcom: Short for Situational Comedy, a generally lighthearted genre which features characters having to deal with odd or uncomfortable situations or misunderstandings.
- Stand-up comedy:
- Telenovela: A television serial melodrama popular in Latin America. They are similar to a soap opera in miniseries format. They often feature Love and Drama, as well as other situations depending on the genre of telenovela. Examples include: Desire (TV series), Fashion House and Wicked Wicked Games.
See also
Video games genres
Genres in video games are somewhat different than other forms of art because they are very seldom based on theme, style, tone, or audience as in film or literature. Instead most video game genres are based on the way in which the player interacts with the game. Genres from other types of media like science-fiction or fantasy are sometimes applied to games, but rarely does this concept of genre ever supplant the types described below.
Genres unique to video games:
- Arcade games:
- Shooter: A game where the main purpose is to fight using, and/or shoot guns.
- First-person shooter: A variant of the shooting game. In the game, the camera is actually in place of the character's eyes, so that you are playing the game from his or her view.
- Third-person shooter: A shooting game where the camera angle is actually hovering over the playable character as you play.
- Strategy: A game where the purpose is to strategize. You have an opponent with the same abilities as you, more or less, and to beat him, you must use your abilities in a much more tactical way.
- Real-time strategy (RTS): A strategy game where everybody plays at the same time, and races to think of a better strategy than the other players. Most of these video games are about military.
- Turn-based strategy: A strategy game where everybody takes turns. Once everybody has placed their units and military characters in the right spot they can't move again until the next turn begins.
- Musical: A game where music is usually played. To win, the players must match the rhythm of the music by pushing the right button combination until their opponents are unable to keep up with them. Not to be confused with the stage musical or musical film, which are stories that feature characters singing about the events in the plot.
- Simulation: A game where you must manage and develop fictitious business. For example, in a game you might be asked the manage and build a zoo, and the game simulates this for you in as accurate a way as possible.
- Puzzle: A game where you must solve puzzles in order to progress through the levels.
- Party: A type of game, mostly suitable for multiple players and social gatherings. In most of these, the player or players compete or cooperate together in smaller games, or minigames, within the main game.
- Platform: A Game Where the player must jump on to various platforms to evade obstacles and reach their goal, these games are fairly linear most of the time with levels adhering to a simple A to B structure.
- Fighting: A game where two or more playable characters fight. Each character usually has their own unique moves, and the goal of the game, usually, is to be the last man standing.
- Racing Games:
- Role-playing game (RPG): A game that isn't (necessarily) about combat. It is a game where the player plays a character, and goes around pretending to be a real person in a fictitious world. This is also similar to non-video game forms of gaming that involve roleplaying, including play by post gaming and tabletop roleplaying games.
- Massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG): A game similar to a regular Role Playing Game, but it is a multiplayer game played via the internet. During this game, thousands of players can play the same game at the same time. Players sign on and play and have competitions with other players while the game is commencing.
- Sports games:
- Survival/horror: Survival horror games place the player in a horrifying situation to which he/she must escape. The major emphasis of most survival horror games is placed upon tension and a truly terrifying or grizzly scenario. Solving clever or complicated puzzles is a major characteristic or the genre. Examples of survival horror games include the Silent Hill, Siren, Resident Evil, Clock Tower, and Parasite Eve series.
Music genres
Main article:
Music genre
- Middle Ages: Music composed from around the middle of the 5th century to the middle of the 15th century, largely characterized by monophonic and polyphonic music.
- Renaissance: Music largely composed from the middle of the 15th century to around 1600.
- Baroque: Music composed from around 1600 to the middle of the 18th century.
- Classical: Music that was composed from around the middle of the 18th century until the early 19th century. Also used to describe some more recently-written music (neo-classical) that contains many of the same musical elements.
- Romantic: Music composed from the early 19th century to about 1900. Also used to describe more recently-written music (Neo-romantic) that contains similar musical elements.
- 20th century: A wide classification of music composed in the 20th century. This music deals largely with sound experimentation and moving away from the traditional tendencies of tonality.
- Opera, Operette and Zarzuela
- Folk: Musical adaptations of old stories that were passed from generation to generation. Considered somewhat more niche now. Also see Neofolk, Folk Noir, Pagan Folk.
- Rock: Music that originated from Folk and Blues. It used newer electrical instruments instead of relying solely on the classical woodwinds and stringed instruments. It first became popular in the mid 20th century because of famous bands like The Beatles.
- Heavy metal: Similar to Rock, and generally considered a subgenre of it. It usually uses the same electrical instruments, but the music is more intense and less "pop" in style (see below) such as Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden.
- Punk rock: a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. Includes work by The Adverts, the Sex Pistols and The Clash.
- Pop: "Pop music" once referred to any popular music during the time period, though the term has slowly gained use as a more specific (yet still somewhat vague) genre descriptor for music with a catchy, relatively consistent melody, among other aspects. It is commonly placed as having started in the mid 20th century, alongside Rock music. Much dance music falls under this genre, and much modern Rock music is considered to include elements of it as well, since bands such as the Beatles were a significant stylistic influence on what is now considered Pop.
- Rhythm and blues (R&B) - an evolving range of genres that first began to develop in the early 20th century.
- Blues: A somewhat somber, quieter style of music whose name refers to the unhappiness of the performer, and which gained popularity in the early 20th century alongside Jazz, and influenced the early development of Rock music. A major genre within R&B, and one of its earliest genres as well.
- Hip hop - more rhythmically-based, mostly urban-derived genres, with a wide array of subgenres between them.
- Jazz - Jazz originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. Jazz has, from its early 20th century inception, spawned a variety of subgenres, from New Orleans Dixieland dating from the early 1910s, big band-style swing from the 1930s and 1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s, a variety of Latin jazz fusions such as Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, jazz-rock fusion from the 1970s and late 1980s developments such as acid jazz, which blended jazz influences into funk and hip-hop.
- Electronic music - music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. It consists of a number of separate genres, many of which are still evolving. One major category within this form of music is electronic dance music (EDM) which consists of a multitude of genres and sub-genres and is primarily associated with the dance and club scene.
- Breakbeat - a term used to describe a collection of sub-genres of electronic music, usually characterized by the use of a non-straightened 4/4 drum pattern (as opposed to the steady beat of house or trance). Includes work by The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim and Orbital.
- Drum and Bass or Jungle - a type of electronic dance music which emerged in the late 1980s which is characterized by fast breaks and basslines. Includes work by Roni Size, Chase & Status and London Elektricity.
- Ambient - a musical genre that focuses on the timbral characteristics of sounds, particularly organised or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.
- Downtempo - a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music.
- Electro - a genre of electronic music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 and funk records. Includes work by Kraftwerk.
- House - a style of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, USA in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Includes work by Fedde Le Grand and Frankie Knuckles.
- Trance - a style of electronic dance music that is generally characterized by a tempo of between approximately 128 and 150 BPM, melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that is progressive as it builds up and down throughout a track. Includes work by Darude, ATB and Chicane.
- Techno - a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, USA during the mid to late 1980s. Includes work by Tomcraft, Leftfield and Moby.
- UK Garage - an umbrella term that refers to several different varieties of modern electronic dance music generally connected to the evolution of house in the United Kingdom from early/mid-1990s. Includes work by T2, The Artful Dodger and Shanks & Bigfoot.
- Reggae - a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady. Reggae is based on a rhythmic style characterized by accents on the off-beat, known as the skank. Reggae is normally slower than ska. Reggae usually accents the second and fourth beat in each bar.Reggae song lyrics deal with many subjects, including religion, love, sexuality, peace, relationships, drugs, poverty, injustice and other social and political issues.
- Calypso: A music form that developed in the mid 20th century out of Kaiso music. The genre became a worldwide hit in the 1950s when the 1956 album titled Calypso was the first full-length record to sell more than a million copies. Calypso's most notable and popular subgenre is Soca music.
References
- ^ Izenberg, Orin. Being Numerous: Poetry and the Ground of Social Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011; p. 210
- ^ Leitch, Thomas M. What Stories Are: Narrative Theory and Interpretation University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1986; p. 127
- ^ Domańska, Ewa. Encounters: Philosophy of History After Postmodernism Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia, 1998; p. 10
- ^ McFedries, Paul. "Dramality". Word Spy. http://www.wordspy.com/words/dramality.asp. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ "Definition of dramality". MacMillan Dictionary. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/open-dictionary/entries/dramality.htm. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ Siddle, John (June 13, 2011). "Auditions for Only Way Is Essex-type dramality show filmed in Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/in-the-mix/2011/06/13/auditions-for-only-way-is-essex-type-dramality-show-to-be-filmed-in-liverpool-100252-28867283/. Retrieved November 30, 2011.