Modern Genre Theory
By David Duff
Nov 1999
Pearson Education / Longman
ISBN: 0582368057
304 pages, Illustrated
$57.50 Paper original
OUT OF PRINT
Much of the world's literature and criticism has been shaped by ideas about the nature, function and value of literary genres. Modern developments in critical theory and the emergence of new media such as film and television, have put in question traditional categories, and challenged the assumptions on which earlier genre theory was based. This anthology, the first of its kind in English, charts these new developments and contains judicious selections from major twentieth-century theorists including Mikhail Bakhtin, Gérard Genette and Jacques Derrida.
Contents
Preface
Key Concepts
Introduction
1 Benedetto Croce Criticism of the Theory of Artistic and Literary Kinds
2 Yury Tynyanov The Literary Fact
3 Vladimir Propp Fairy Tale Transformations
4 Mikhail Bakhtin Epic and Novel : Toward a Methodology for the Study of the
Novel
5 Mikhail Bakhtin The Problem of Speech Genres
6 Northrop Frye The Mythos of Summer : Romance
7 Ireneusz Opacki Royal Genres
8 Hans Robert Jauss Theory of Genres and Medieval Literature
9 Rosalie Colie Genre-Systems and the Functions of Literature
10 Fredric Jameson Magical Narratives : On the Dialectical Use of Genre Criticism
11 Tzvetan Todorov The Origin of Genres
12 Gerard Genette The Architect
13 Jacques Derrida The Law of Genre
14 Alastair Fowler Transformations of Genre
15 Mary Eagleton Genre and Gender
Notes on Authors
Further Reading
Index
Features
• Contains selections from major twentieth-century theorists.
• Demonstrates the central role that genre has played in structuralism,
post-structuralism, and various modes of historical criticism.
• Emphasizes the interdisciplinary character of modern debates about
genre.
• Contains a glossary of key terms and annotated bibliography.
• Provides an indispensable resource for students and anyone working
with this most versatile of concepts.