Genre fiction

Genre fiction is a term for fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to the fans of that genre. In contemporary fiction-publishing, genre is an elastic term used to group works sharing similarities of character, theme, and setting—such as mystery, romance, or horror—that have been proven to appeal to particular groups of readers. Genres continuously evolve, divide, and combine as readers' tastes change and writers search for fresh ways to tell stories. For a number of reasons, genre fiction is often regarded as the lower-quality opposite of literary fiction.

The evolution of fiction genres

Since the beginning of literature it has been acknowledged that there are different types or categories of created work. Poetry, an older form of literature than prose, was in ancient times divided into narrative, dramatic, and lyric forms. Narrative poetry, at least as it was first written (as opposed to recited or sung), was primarily epic. Dramatic poetry came to be divided into tragedy and comedy. The Greek philosopher Aristotle in his Poetics for the first time named story genres by categorizing dramas according to the value-charge of their endings and the design of their stories.

Related Topics:
Literature - Poetry - Prose - Lyric - Epic - Aristotle - Poetics - Dramas

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Many fiction genres can be traced to a small number of important or extremely popular literary works written before that genre came into existence. "Genre" fiction is portrayed as those works that seek, in some degree, just to emulate these paradigms. Science fiction began with Jules Verne and then H. G. Wells, as a recognisable genre. Horror stories and mystery stories can both be traced in large measure to Edgar Allan Poe and a few others.

Related Topics:
Existence - Science fiction - Jules Verne - H. G. Wells - Horror - Edgar Allan Poe

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The period 1900–1910 was fertile for the development, by writers such as M. P. Shiel, of fiction genres and character types. Often these appeared in periodicals, which eventually became the pulp magazines of the early 20th century.

Related Topics:
M. P. Shiel - Periodical - Pulp magazines

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