[Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'?

Julian Hopkins reach at julianhopkins.net
Mon Jan 16 22:30:44 PST 2012


I agree that genres are still relevant, and particularly in a commercial
media context where they can be used to categorise potential audience
demographics and therefore advertising potential. 

I have found the concept of genre to be useful in analysing the relevance of
monetised personal blogs. Drawing from Lüders et al. I have approached
genres as sociotechnical assemblages that “specify and generalize
communication, ensuring coordination of specific practices involving many
people, and contributing to the reproduction of social institutions and
sectors in society” (Lüders et al. 2010: 950).

Although it is true that any particular blog can have a variety of types of
writing, they can usually be roughly identified with a particular genre. The
usefulness of genre is that they reflect and constitute particular
communicative patterns that stabilise particular social contexts. A personal
blog aimed at a small group of family and friends uses language and pictures
appropriate to maintaining relations amongst those people. When some
personal blogs gained a large audience, the bloggers usually toned down some
of the more intimate aspects in order to avoid offending family members and
so on, and sought to blog about topics that kept the audience present (e.g.
more blog posts about how to style one's hair). When they were given the
opportunity to make money, the blog posts tended to become more impersonal
and oriented around consumption, public events (product launches, parties),
and so on. This led to a new genre, the 'lifestyle blog', that reproduces
opportunities for localised advertising, marketing opportunities, and so on.
New bloggers can see these different genres in operation, and are likely to
choose to emulate one or the other, thus demonstrating the relevance of
genre to ongoing blogging practices.

Lüders, M., L. Prøitz & T. Rasmussen 2010. Emerging personal media genres.
New Media & Society 12, 947 -963.

All the best,

Julian

++++++++++
Blog: www.julianhopkins.net
Twitter: @julianhopkins
Skype: julhop


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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:14:39 -0800 (PST)
From: "Denise N. Rall" <denrall at yahoo.com>
To: Matthew Allen <M.Allen at exchange.curtin.edu.au>,
	"Air-L at listserv.aoir.org" <Air-L at listserv.aoir.org>
Cc: "ravindra.mohabeer at viu.ca" <ravindra.mohabeer at viu.ca>
Subject: Re: [Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'?
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As much as I can hardly disagree with a Professor, not to mention a
life-time member of AoIR and a memorable past-President, my recent trip to
the USA during which I (unfortunately) watched television, I have to say
that in the 300 - 600 multi-channel media that tv has become, if anything,?
genre is even more pronounced.

There are sci-fi channels, sports channels, lifestyle channels, history
channels, and one of my country friends leaves his set tuned to the Western
Country Riding channel. There is little or no cross-flow. To change
channels, one can stay in the genre (sports, etc.) or at the insistence of
other family members, switch to another genre (such as a movie channel).

While I agree totally that the word genre is perhaps outdated, it appears to
drive selection into an increasing narrow version of reality - lifestyle vs.
sports, etc. The biggest movie channels, such as HBO would have the
opportunity to offer cross-cultural (sic) events such as new dramas, new
comedy, and new mini-series that include more than one 'lifestyle' such as
gangsters, chic flicks, history fiction (The Tudors) and so on.


I am tempted to say the word 'lifestyle' while ridiculous, offers a chance
to differentiate between the goth, the nerd, the gangbanger, the preppy, the
hipster, the tragic romantic, and so on, might offer a clue to the next
generations after X and Y (whatever they are called) as to what genre might
mean. Genre indicates multiple things (among others) appropriate beginnings,
tone, rhetoric, and endings. Category seems a weak way to cover that
richness of terminology.

?
Dr Denise N. Rall, Research Assistant, School of Health & Human Sciences
Upcoming exhibit: "The Bride as Banquet" The Channon Gallery, The Channon,
NSW?
Denise N. Rall, Mobile +(61)(0)438 233344 Fax +(61)(0)2 6624 5380
http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/esm/staff/pages/drall/


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