This week’s reading regarding genre interests me. Throughout the 4 readings I was constantly wondering why we have to fit things into a genre and what happens when we cannot. Do we make a new genre for the genre that does not fit the already existing/ established genre? Bill Hart Davidson addresses my first few thoughts of why we have to essentially “categorize” everything. He explains it as human nature to “routinize” things. I couldn’t agree more. It’s second nature for us to try to put things in boxes based on what we have experienced previously. In Learner’s piece I also agreed with his thoughts on how writing defines particular disciplines. I think this is what happens when people come in something different. They are breaking the particular boundaries placed on that area. I also agree with Roozen`s thoughts on how heavily texts have to rely on others. That makes complete sense to me. We can only understand based on what we have seen and understood previously. Lastly, Devit discusses how genre is so normalized by society that hinders writing. While reading I often thought about when I took a Children’s Literature course here at Kean. Almost every single book we read would not immediately be something someone constituted as “children’s literature”. We learned that the idea of genre can and probably should be loose. It does not mean that the issues addressed in those novels did not pertain to children, they did, just not the typical idea of what you think a child would read. I also agree with her argument that genre and situation are closely tied together. That makes the genre less rigid and strict, as it should be. Lastly, and admittedly secretly, I think how Devit did pay mention to form being significant. Not sure if it’s the 5 paragraph essay that has been beaten into me seeping out, BUT I do find that so important. In the text she says, “In merging form and content we do not wish to discard the significance of form in genre”. I genre should be established but able to play around with and mix and combine. Overall, the readings this week made me look more into why we generalize things and also what happens when we do not meet the societal expectation of genre, whether that’s an email, a book, a musician or even ourselves.
week 3: the idea of genre
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