Adrian Hernandez

Conventional Genres

            When I go to the movies to watch a horror flick, it’s not always easy to define what makes it a horror.  Many times, what is sold as horror turns out to be rather comical and is, often times, centered on a romantic plot concerning the main character.  The horror film might be billed as thriller, or a cheesy sci-fi film, a monster movie, a satirical film such as the “Scary Movie” series.  The same applies when I am reading a book.  It could be a book on politics but by simply saying “politics”, it is unclear if it is satirical, tragic, comedic or anything else for that matter.  By simply stating something about the content or subject matter in such a broad manner, most people are inadvertently referring to a work’s subject genre as defined in the Genres handout from class. 

            In fact, the study of genre goes far beyond simply stating the subject matter or “audience appeal,” and scholars have taken the classifications to a more specific level allowing genre classifications to be more clearly and consistently applied to works of art.  The average person most likely would not have been able to classify this paper by now other than being able to say, “It’s an essay, dude.”  Well, in fact they would be correct, however, it is much more than just an essay – dude.  According to the Genres handout, this essay could be described by looking at both the “representational”, or types of voice, genre and the “narrative”, or plot, genre and saying that it is both “single voice” and perhaps “informative” if we were to create a new category as this isn’t exactly a piece of literature in the written artwork sense. 

            In the case of Agamemnon, its author, Aeschylus, began the interaction between characters in his plays whereas before Aeschylus, plays were delivered entirely in the “single voice”.  Aeschylus created dialogue by having his characters interact.  This led to the most common genre as far as movies and sitcoms go.  Ag still delivered plenty of “single voice”, however, as is found in the beginning of the play with the Watchman delivering his long monologue.  This type of mixed representational genre shows how before Aeschylus, the audience may have held expectations of the narrator type genres to which they were accustomed.  This exposes one of the flaws of genre: conventions.

            One example may be found when one attends a standup comedy show.  One attends a comedy show with the expectation that his or her monologue will be delivered, with respect to the representational genre, in the “single voice” and fit, with respect to the narrative genre, within the comedy story line.  However, this is not always the case as comedians frequently engage in dialogue between characters, both made up and real people whom they imitate, and can even add narration to the dialogue.  Furthermore, comedy can include romantic themes and frequently uses satire.  The rules of genre exist to provide a guide in attempting to explain the subject matter, number and types of voices, and the plot.  These rules, however, can lead to expectations which can lead the audience down a misguided path as no one piece of work can be classified by one specific genre entirely.

            Eugene O’Neill’s The Homecoming provides a nice example of the multiple genres contained within one piece.  While Homecoming is a tragedy, the gossiping townspeople add a sense of comedy to the play.  This is also found in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King when Teiresias, the blind prophet, is able to see clearly Oedipus’ situation even though he is physically blind.  The dialogue even plays to this by pointing out his blindness when Oedipus says to Teiresias, “… for your eyes, your mind, your eyes are blind” (Oed 446).  It’s comical because Oedipus cannot see the truth about his own past.  So, as is evident in both works, genre can help define and categorize literary works but can also bring audiences to the work with conventions which can prove to be misleading. [AHe]