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CHL137

CHL137. Genre. Genre. A type or category of literature or film marked by certain shared features or conventions. from: http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_G.html. Are you a fan of action films or romances? Horror films or comedies?

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CHL137

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  1. CHL137 Genre

  2. Genre A type or category of literature or film marked by certain shared features or conventions. from: http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_G.html

  3. Are you a fan of action films or romances? • Horror films or comedies? • Do you decide whether to see a film based on its genre?

  4. What are your expectations?

  5. So, genre is more than just category • It is a marketing device • It constructs communities of readers • We use our familiarity with the conventions of genres to create expectations for unfamiliar texts • Forms like parody or experimental film or fiction rely on our familiarity w/ genre

  6. Alton essay • What does Alton say about Harry Potter and genre?

  7. Pulp fiction/Thrillers HP has some elements of these: • Vivid, alluring covers • Ease of identification w/ protagonist • A “conspiracy” against Harry • Violence and action • Lawlessness (rule breaking)

  8. Horror/Ghost Story • “The traditional ghost story portrays something that should be dead invading the world of the living” (Alton) • What elements of horror are in HP?

  9. Mystery/detective Fiction • Solving a crime • Finding missing items • Discovering hidden identities • Suspense • Rational problem solving Which HP book most fits?

  10. Series Books • Products to collect • “Brand loyalty”

  11. Series Books Characteristics • Desire for predictability • Repeated structure with happy endings: repeated resolution and “thematic closures.” • Follows same cast of characters How do HP books follow conventions?

  12. Bildungsroman A coming of age story, typically about a boy becoming a man. Three main motifs listed by Alton: • Loss of the father and search for a surrogate father • Struggle between values of the past and those of the present • Search for and discovery of love

  13. Sports Story • Written mostly for and about boys • Detailed play-by-play accounts of rules and sporting events • Themes of Sportsmanship and teamwork

  14. Fantasy Some identifying characteristics are: animals as characters, magical events, or imaginary beings as characters. Fantasies often involve a search or quest of some type and ask the reader to temporarily believe in the possibility of events and characters.  Examples: Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Earthsea, The Hobbit. http://www.leasttern.com/LitTerms/literary_terms.htm

  15. Fantasy uses the techniques of realism (specifically, character development and plotting) to tell a narrative based in the traditions of mythology, folklore, and legend. Myths, folktales, and legends are skeletal narratives based in the oral tradition – they feature 1-dimensional characters and formulaic plots. Fantasy retells these older tales in ways that fill in the skeleton by creating complex characters and plots based on these older stories, but complicating them, often by adding moral ambiguity.

  16. Fantasy cont. The Harry Potter series combines elements from mythology, folk tales, legends and from classic literature. Much like myth, fantasy often functions on a symbolic or allegorical level. Fantasy characters, motifs, and events often give physical form to abstract ideas.

  17. Quest Romance/Hero Myth • Destiny/prophecy • Mentors/helpers • Perilous journey with a series of task • Death struggle • Recognition of the hero

  18. So what? • So, Harry Potter combines these (and other) genres. . . • Why is this significant? • Why does it matter? • What might it explain?

  19. We skipped School Stories We’ll discuss this genre in some detail next class period after you’ve read the Smith essay about the characteristics of British Boarding School Stories. • For Wednesday, read: Smith, Karen Manners. “Harry Potter’s Schooldays: J.K. Rowling and the British Boarding School Novel,” which is in your course packet.

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