Macrogenres
From WebGenreWiki
A page for Hierarchies, Naming conventions and alike.
Contents |
List of supergenres
Braslavski
- Academic
- Everyday Communication
- Journalistic
- Literary
- Official
Sharoff
The list of labels is also known as FGC (Functional Genre Classification).
From the functional viewpoint (see Sinclair below), genres of texts can be grouped according to aims of their production:
- recreation (fiction and popular lore), further distinction can be made between:
- fiction
- nonfiction
- instruction (how-tos, FAQs, tutorials)
- propaganda (adverts, political pamphlets)
- regulations (laws, small print and similar)
- information (lists, catalogues, dictionaries)
- reporting (newswires, police reports, biographies), further distinction can be made between
- reporting events (a narrative describing what has happened)
- presentation (a factual description of a state of affairs)
- discussion (all texts expressing positions; this is the biggest supergenre), further distinction can be made between
- academic (research and position papers)
- communication (forums, emails, also typical personal or company blogs)
- public (journalism and political debates)
For more information, see Slides at the Webgenres colloquium
According to this classification, many categories listed in the flat list of genres belong to dimensions other than aims, e.g. blog is the publication medium, while such microgenres as news, diary or verses can be realised via it.
Sinclair
Sinclair proposed the following classification of Intended outcomes of communication:
- E.3.2.1. information -- an unlikely outcome, because texts are very rarely created merely for this purpose. Mainly reference compendia.
- E.3.2.2. discussion -- polemic, position statements, argument.
- E.3.2.3. recommendation -- reports, advice, legal and regulatory documents.
- E.3.2.4. recreation
- E.3.2.4.1. fiction -- including faction.
- E.3.2.4.1.1. novel/novella/short story
- E.3.2.4.1.2. historical, thriller, etc.
- E.3.2.4.2. non-fiction
- E.3.2.4.2.1. biography
- E.3.2.4.2.2. autobiography
- E.3.2.4.2.3. letters -- the published variety, not correspondence.
- E.3.2.4.1. fiction -- including faction.
- E.3.2.5. religion -- holy books, prayer books, Order of Service. ... it is recommended that it is only used for texts that cannot be properly classified under other headings. To have a religious topic (e.g. a biography of a religious figure) is not enough for classification here.
- E.3.2.6. instruction
- E.3.2.6.1. academic works
- E.3.2.6.2. textbooks
- E.3.2.6.3. practical books
For more information see his explanations in the EAGLES Guidelines
Stubbe
- Communication
- Documentation
- Information
- Journalism
- Literature
