What is Genre?

As a student, my studies have involved looking at multiple types of genres. Some genres I've been exposed to are nonfiction articles, different musical styles, both in-person and Youtube-based lectures, and memes (my personal favorite). Each of these has its own conventions, as they were created to fill each of their different purposes. For example, the conventions of nonfiction articles incorporate facts rather than opinions, professional styles of writing, and supplementary material such as photographs and charts. The conventions of Gamelan, a type of traditional Indonesian ensemble music, include the use of metallophones and other percussion instruments, non-Western scales, and unique tuning styles.

Kerry Dirk explains that the creation of a genre is the result of precedence. In other words, a genre is a response to past responses. However, genres are not "cookie-cutter" formulas for material, as they can be manipulated to fit certain audiences and purposes. An example of this could be "vlogging" videos on Youtube. Although each video is targeted towards a different demographic, all follow the same conventions (filming oneself, narrative style, etc.) that make their genre identifiable.

Out of all the major course terms, I feel as if I'm the most comfortable with audience, purpose, and genre. Identifying genres themselves isn't that difficult, but recognizing the specific conventions within each genre is something that I haven't done since my last English class in high school. Audience and purpose are two things that I enjoy analyzing in material outside of academics.

The audience is the type of person/group that a genre's material is attempting to appeal to. For example, the audience of a research paper is typically someone involved in academia, like a student, professor, or researcher.