Genre

Definition

Genre is defined in the Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory as "a French term for a kind, a literary type or class" (J. A. Cuddon).
In Encyclopædia Britannica, we can find the definition "a distinctive type or category of literary composition" ("Genre").

There is no definite list of literary genres, since there are new ones getting created, such as novella - "short and well-structured narrative, often realistic and satiric in tone" ("Novella"), and hybrid genres being formed, for example tragicomedy - "dramatic work incorporating both tragic and comic elements" ("Tragicomedy").  For that reason I will only list the major Classical genres ("Genre").

Major Classical Genres

(according to the Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory by J. A. Cuddon)

• Epic

The Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theories defines epic as:"a long narrative poem, on a grand scale, about the deeds - of warriors and heroes" (J. A. Cuddon). 
In Encyclopædia Britannica we can also learn that "the term has also been loosely used to describe novels, such as Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and motion pictures, such as Sergey Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible" ("Epic").

Some examples of works belonging in the epic genre are: Homer's Iliad and  Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, or Cantar de mio Cid (Spanish).

• Tragedy

Encyclopædia Britannica defines tragedy as "branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual" ("Tragedy").

"In the first place it almost certainly denoted a form of rirual sacrifice accompanied by a choral song in honour of Dionysus, the god of the fields and the vineyards. Out of this ritual developed Greek dramatic tragedy." (J. A. Cuddon)

Some examples of works belonging in the genre of tragedy are: Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles or The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. (J. A.Cuddon)

• Lyric

"The Greeks defined a lyric as a song to be sung ro the accompaniment of a lyre (lyra). A song is still called a lyric (the songs in a musical are known as lyrics) but we also use the term loosely to describe a particular kind of poem in order to distinguish it from narrative or dramatic verse of any kind. A lyric is usually fairly shorr, not often longer than fifty or sixty lines, and often only between a dozen and thirty lines; and it usually expresses the feelings and thoughts of a single speaker (not necessarily the poet himself) in a personal and subjective fashion." (J. A. Cuddon)

Some examples of works belonging in the lyric genre are: The Poems of Catullus, Shakespeare's Sonnets, The Rime Sparse and Other Lyrics by Francesco Petrarch, Demain dès l'aube (Eng. Tomorrow At Dawn) by Victor Hugo or Prometheus by Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

• Comedy

Encyclopædia Britannica defines comedy as "type of drama or other art form the chief object of which, according to modern notions, is to amuse" ("Comedy").

"Greek comedy (in speaking of which we distinguish berween Old, Middle and New Comedy) was from the beginning associated with fertility rites and the worship of Dionysus; thus, with komos. From Aristophanes onwards it has been primarily associated with drama (except during the Middle Ages)." (J. A. Cuddon)

Some examples of works belonging in the genre of comedy are: Love's Labour's Lost, Much Ado About Nothing and The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare, The Alchemist by Ben Jonson, George Peele's Old Wives' Tale, Molière's Don Juan or Shaw's The Devil's Disciple. (J. A. Cuddon)

Here you can see a short video of a modern rendition of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

• Satire

Encyclopædia Britannica defines satire as "artistic form, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, parody, caricature, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to inspire social reform" ("Satire").

"In his Dictionary Johnson defined satire as a poem 'in which wickedness or folly is censured'. This, clearly, is limiting. Dryden claimed that the true end of satire was 'the amendment of vices'; and Defoe thought that it was 'reformation'. One of the most famous definitions is Swift's. 'satire', he wrote, 'is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.' " (J. A. Cuddon)

Some examples of works belonging in the genre of satire are: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Marvell's The Last Instructions to a Painter, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, The Rosciad by Charles Churchill, Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Huxley's Brave New World or Orwell's 1984.

Examples

Here is a list of examples of other genres, other than the major classical ones as listed above:

• science fiction 

• fantasy

• historical

• crime

• mystery

• thriller

• adventure

• horror

• romance

• academic

• biography

• etc.

Works Cited

Cuddon, J. A., et al. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Penguin Books, 2014.

“Genre.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/art/genre-literature.

“Tragicomedy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/art/tragicomedy.

“Novella.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 2 Oct. 2023, www.britannica.com/art/novella.

“Epic.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 10 Oct. 2023, www.britannica.com/art/epic.

“Tragedy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 29 Sept. 2023, www.britannica.com/art/tragedy-literature.

“Lyric.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/art/lyric.

“Comedy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 13 Sept. 2023, www.britannica.com/art/comedy.

“Satire.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 7 Sept. 2023, www.britannica.com/art/satire.

“Much Ado about Nothing - David Tennant | ‘what My Dear Lady Disdain’ | Digital Theatre+.” YouTube, YouTube, 29 May 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKP49qnMLGY&ab_channel=DigitalTheatrePlus.

Author of the page: Rey Valtoš