Genre Theory: Classifying Literary Works

Genre theory exists as a form of literary criticism primarily for its usefulness in creating a form of taxonomy by which literary works can be easily divided. In one sense genre theory may be seen as an attempt to apply a certain scientific method to dividing works of literature along lines much in the same way as biological classification of species. The only problem is that literary works defy such scientific rigidity. Therefore, in a truer sense genre theory is more of an etymological exercise in which specific conventions in a piece of writing are exercised so as to conform to reader expectations.

The origins of genre theory go back at least to Aristotle's Poetics in which he outlined the foundations that define a tragedy. Aristotelian theory was centered on authorial intention; modern day views that the reader takes any part in decoding the meaning, or that the meaning is any way influenced by forces external to the text would have been anathema to him. A primary feature of genre is that the reader comes to it with expectations of form, style and content that cannot be undone by interpretation; a detective story is a detective story and it cannot be interpreted by the reader as anything else because the author's intention was to create a detective story.