UTEL
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Glossary of Literary Theory |
Genre
:
A term used to describe types or categorizations of literature: tragedy,
comedy, epic, lyric, pastoral, novel, short story, biography, essay, and
so forth. Prior to the nineteenth century, it was assumed that the laws
of genre were fixed and stable and that they provided objective criteria
for evaluation. Today it is commonplace to acknowledge their arbitrary,
conventional, and historical nature.
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University of Toronto English Library Director: Ian Lancashire. Last modified: |