Observations on the structure and function of communicative genres

Abstract

This article considers the issue of routinization in communication. It argues that, like institutions, genres are a universal element in human communication and a part of communicative practice in all human societies, although it stresses that not every process of human communication is determined by genre. Furthermore, genres are shown to be indispensable because they eliminate the need for laborious planning. This is the case in a number of codes: linguistic, paralinguistic, mimetic, gestural, etc. The essay emphasizes that genres are socially distributed ― some people within certain classifications and identities will have access to some genres; other people, from different classifications and identities will not have access to these genres. But it also argues that it should not be forgotten that there are a huge number of genres and that these have specific social functions. Thus, each society will have genres relating to collective memory, didactic genres, and moral(izing) genres with similarities in historical forms.