DiscourseDiscourse and genre and genre

What is a genre?

A staged, goal-oriented, purposeful activity in which speakers engage as members of our culture (Martin, 1984: 25) 

What is a genre?

A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are recognized by the expert members of the parent discourse community, and thereby constitute the rationale (i.e. social purpose) for the genre. This (social purpose) shapes the schematic (discourse) structure of the discourse and influences and constrains choice of content and style (Swales 1980: 58).

What is a genre?

Communicative purpose is both a privileged criterion (that is, the criterion that matters the most) and one that operates to keep the scope of a genre as here conceived narrowly focused on comparable rhetorical action (i.e. what it is doing). In addition to purpose, exemplars of a genre exhibit various patterns of similarity in terms of structure, style, content and intended audience (Swales 1980: 58).

What is a genre?

If all high probability expectations (that is, more or less not either/or) are realized, the exemplar will be viewed as prototypical by the parent discourse community. The genre names inherited and produced by discourse communities and imported by others constitute valuable ethnographic communication, but typically need further validation (Swales, 1990: 58).

Practicing a genre is almost like Practicing a genre is almost like playing a game, with its own rules playing a game, with its own rules and conventions. Established genre and conventions. Established genre participants, both writers and participants, both writers and readers, are like skilled players, who readers, are like skilled players, who succeed by their manipulation and succeed by their manipulation and exploitation of, rather than a strict exploitation of, rather than a strict compliance with, the rules of the compliance with, the rules of the gamegame

It is not simply a matter of learning It is not simply a matter of learning the language, or even learning the the language, or even learning the rules of the game, it is more like rules of the game, it is more like acquiring the rules of the game in acquiring the rules of the game in order to be able to exploit and order to be able to exploit and manipulate them to fulfill manipulate them to fulfill professional and disciplinary professional and disciplinary purposes (Bhatia, 1998: 25-26)purposes (Bhatia, 1998: 25-26)

Assigning a text to a genre categoryAssigning a text to a genre category

Customer: What kind of book would you say this Customer: What kind of book would you say this is? Where would you put it on your bookshelves?is? Where would you put it on your bookshelves?

Sales assistant: Well .. I suppose youSales assistant: Well .. I suppose you’’d call it a d call it a biography because itbiography because it’’s got some of her earlier life s got some of her earlier life in it. Itin it. It’’s not a memoir ... I dons not a memoir ... I don’’t know ... Itt know ... It’’s not s not very interesting. She got someone else to help her very interesting. She got someone else to help her write it. It should have been in the first person, I write it. It should have been in the first person, I only read about half of it ... I dononly read about half of it ... I don’’t know ... Maybe t know ... Maybe itit’’s an expose …s an expose …

Relationships between genresRelationships between genres

Written genres across culturesWritten genres across cultures

Spoken genres across culturesSpoken genres across cultures

Summary

Genres are activities that people engage in through the use of language

Letters to the editor and academic essays are examples of written genres

Academic lectures and casual conversations are examples of spoken genres

Summary

Genres may be spoken or written in Genres may be spoken or written in typical, and sometimes conventional, typical, and sometimes conventional, ways ways

Genres often have a common function Genres often have a common function and purpose (or set of functions and and purpose (or set of functions and purposes) purposes)

There may be certain contexts in There may be certain contexts in which a genre typically occurswhich a genre typically occurs

Summary

A text may have the same structure as A text may have the same structure as other texts yet be an instance of a other texts yet be an instance of a very different genrevery different genre

A text may be a mix of different A text may be a mix of different genresgenres

Genres change through timeGenres change through time

We draw on our previous experiences We draw on our previous experiences with a genre to produce, understand with a genre to produce, understand and interpret new examples of a genreand interpret new examples of a genre

Genre is not always a clear-cut Genre is not always a clear-cut categorycategory