CCT300 – Labs

1. Week 3 CCT300 – Labs New media genres CCT300 – Critical Analysis of Media September 24, 2009

2. What is a genre? • The word genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for 'kind' or 'class'. The term is widely used in rhetoric, literary theory, media theory, and more recently linguistics, to refer to a distinctive type of 'text'*. • Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of content (such as themes or settings) and/or form (including structure and style) which are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them. (Chandler)

3. What is a genre? • Genres are groups of texts that have specific features, specific purposes, and inspire (or create) certain types of action. • Genres often have particular sets of “rules” or expectations for form, presentation, or content attached to them. • It’s difficult to define genre exactly or to be able to rigidly assign texts as “belonging” to a particular genre, although plenty of people have tried.

4. Genres and systems • Genres can be seen as systems; different genres interact with and influence each other. • Sometimes one genre incorporates another, or multiple genres can be seen at work in one text.

5. Genres and media • Genres relate to the media in which they are presented. • “The interaction between genres and media can be seen as one of the forces which contributes to changing genres. Some genres are more powerful than others: they differ in the status which is attributed to them by those who produce texts within them and by their audiences.” (Chandler)

6. Genres and the texts within them • One way that we understand genres is by looking at different texts within a genre and comparing and contrasting their features.

7. Genres and audience • “Every genre positions those who participate in a text of that kind: as interviewer or interviewee, as listener or storyteller, as a reader or a writer, as a person interested in political matters, as someone to be instructed or as someone who instructs; each of these positionings implies different possibilities for response and for action. Each written text provides a 'reading position' for readers, a position constructed by the writer for the 'ideal reader' of the text.” (Kress 107)

8. Genres are dynamic • Genres change over time; they are dynamic, adapting to different groups, media, and purposes. • Genres can be re-purposed as the needs of people and groups change, or as society changes the way in which it uses information technologies.

9. Genres inspire social action • Genres come from and inspire social action and are intertwined with the needs and values of cultures and social groups. • Classifying genres can be difficult, but generic analysis can be useful in helping us understand how texts work and what kinds of actions they inspire.

10. A summary of ideas about genre Carolyn Miller’s 1984 essay on "genre as social action” identifies five specific features of genre common to writing. Genre is: • comprised of categories of discourse resulting from social action; • rule-governed to some degree; • distinguishable from form; • constitutive of culture; • a mediating force between the individual and society. (36-37)

11. What are important aspects of genre that we can consider? • Purpose • Content/subject matter • Textual features and conventions • Format and design conventions • Medium • Audience (real and constructed) and their expectations • Cultural and social background

12. How can genre analysis help us understand communication? • Identifying textual features • Understanding audience needs and expectations • Understanding conventions for design and content • Knowing appropriate style and tone • Having a pre-made structure • Expecting actions and change • Analyzing and understanding how to make writing effective

13. Ways of Classifying Genres • We can classify texts as belong to a genre in different ways: • By subject matter (management books, self-help books) • By type of text (letters, memos, speeches) • By medium (written, oral, mixed communication)

14. Digital Genres? • New genres speed up change • Digital genres differ for their nature on morphing or having no end • Compare what rap was 5 years ago and what is now

15. Web sites • The design process involves knowing conventions as to how the design should begin • Modes are important and more widespread with new media • Genre hybridity occurs due to blending of media

16. The iPhone as a Genre • This device not is a good example of genre formation but it also explains how modality and hybridity in action • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smRIKw23FWA&feature=player_embedded

17. Networks of Design Issues Audiences (Students, Executives, Fans) Purposes (Enjoyment, Sales, education) Context (School, Corporate Culture, Travel) Modes Visual/Audio Media HTML/Flash Genre Gallery/Portfolio

18. References • Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Multimodal discourse. London: Routledge. • Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. • Schirato, T & Yell, S 1996, Communication and cultural literacy: an introduction, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards. • Shiels, M 2008, 'Obama uses iPhone to win support', BBC News, 3 October, viewed 16 June 2009.URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7649753.stm • Walsh, M 2006, 'The textual shift: examining the reading process with print, visual, and multimodal texts', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29. no. 1, pp. 24-37.

19. Q&A • Why are new genres created? Why is the definition of genre controversial and not so applicable to the formation of digital genres?