Genre Conventions Research Articles

Relationship between Setting Description and Immersion in Fiction in Algeria

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between setting description and immersion in fiction in Algeria. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The study found that vivid and detailed depictions of settings significantly enhance reader immersion. The Study have shown that richly described settings contribute to a more immersive reading experience by allowing readers to mentally visualize and emotionally connect with the story world. Moreover, descriptive passages that engage multiple senses, such as sight, sound, smell, and texture, have been found to deepen immersion by creating a more sensory-rich environment. Additionally, the effectiveness of setting description in fostering immersion seems to be influenced by factors such as reader preferences, genre conventions, and the narrative context. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of thoughtful and evocative setting descriptions in enhancing reader engagement and immersion in fictional narratives. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: Schema theory, transportation theory and reader-response theory may be used to anchor future studies on assessing the relationship between setting description and immersion in fiction in Algeria. In terms of practical implications, findings from research on setting description and immersion can inform authors, educators, and practitioners in the fields of literature, media, and education. From a policy perspective, research on setting description and immersion in fiction can inform initiatives aimed at promoting literacy, cultural diversity, and media literacy.

To what extent do L2 learners produce genre-appropriate language? A comparative analysis of lexical bundles in argumentative essays and speeches

L2 English learners are often reported to incorporate features of spoken language into their academic writing, blurring the lines between written and spoken genres. However, previous corpus-based studies have predominantly focused on L2 writing, leaving L2 speaking relatively unexplored. It is thus unclear whether learners lack genre awareness – as previously claimed – or if they indeed attempt to differentiate their language across genres, but lack ability to do so. This study explores lexical bundles in academic L2 English in parallel corpora of written and spoken data produced by the same learners, with the same prompts pertaining to argumentation. The findings show that learners employ phrasal/referential bundles, typical of academic prose, significantly more in their essays than in their speeches, where clausal and stance-expressing bundles are more prevalent. Notably, the students were found to employ identical bundles differently in argumentative essays and argumentative speeches produced in response to the same prompts. This finding implies that learners may have a better understanding of how to use formulaic language in both spoken and written genres than previously believed, suggesting that they are aware of genre distinctions, although other factors related to mode (e.g., the cognitive demands of speaking vs. writing) are likely to be involved as well. Furthermore, in comparison with previous findings on L1 bundles, these findings hint at the possibility of argumentative genre conventions unique to L2 learners, in which, broadly, L2 argumentative speech resembles an L1 conversational genre, while L2 argumentative essays seem to navigate a middle path between conversational and academic prose conventions.

Exploring critical reception and thematic trends: A corpus-based analysis of critic reviews for 'While You Were Sleeping'

This study presents a corpus-based analysis of 51 critic reviews of the romantic comedy "While You Were Sleeping", sourced from RottenTomatoes, to explore the linguistic nuances, thematic focuses, and sentiment orientation in film criticism. Employing corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis, the study systematically examines the language and thematic patterns in these reviews, aiming to understand the broader dialogue about cinema and its cultural impact. The analysis reveals several key themes: the balance between charm and credibility, the significance of lead performances, narrative plausibility versus genre conventions, cultural and seasonal context, divergent perspectives on humor and tone, the importance of cinematic style and directorial choices, reflections on the romantic comedy genre, and audience engagement and emotional resonance. These findings highlight the complex and multifaceted nature of film criticism, particularly in the romantic comedy genre, where films are evaluated not just for entertainment but also for narrative structure, character development, and adherence to genre norms. The study underscores the importance of external factors such as cultural context and timing in film reception and emphasizes the impact of lead performances and casting decisions on audience engagement and film perception. It contributes to a deeper understanding of film criticism, extending beyond mere entertainment to encompass cultural, narrative, and stylistic considerations. The insights gained can inform future film productions, critiques, and academic discussions in cinema studies.

Genre Conventions of Fact-Checks: Topics, Style, and Form of Fact-Checking in Two IFCN-Certified News Media

ABSTRACT Despite fact-checking often being described as a new genre of journalism, the number of studies focusing on genre conventions in fact-checking is limited. This study examines fact-check conventions related to topic selection, style, and form through a quantitative content analysis of 375 fact-checks from Belgium's verified International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) signatories published between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022. Results show that the most prominent topics in fact-checks resembled the “top public policies” of the time in which the fact-checks were published and that fact-checkers focused more on statements circulating on social media or online than on statements made by elite actors. Concerning style, both news outlets use source and verification transparency but implement it differently in their fact-checks. Regarding the form, multimedia embeds are commonly used, and labels are used to mark the fact-checks explicitly as such. Additionally, giving a final judgement is a common convention, but they are not provided through rating scales, and both news outlets use different formats for these final judgements. Overall, it can be concluded that genre conventions in fact-checking through IFCN-certified news media are not fixed yet and that style and form seem to depend on the topic and origin of fact-checks.

Vocal Configurations of Friday: Six Audiobook Versions of Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe is a novel obsessed with voice. Shipwrecked on his island, Crusoe teaches a parrot to speak and engages in silent conversations with God and himself and, when he finally meets Friday, he communicates in the discourses of master, educator, and companion. In silent reading of the print text, the reader subvocalises and dramatises the grammar, syntax, and pronunciation of Friday’s speech and more or less unconsciously creates a cohesive whole out of the dialogue sections and the passages narrated by Crusoe. In audiobook narration this process is externalised in the actual vocalisation of the text. The performing narrator has to make conscious choices depending on how he construes the Crusoe-Friday relationship and in what genre conventions he places it. Moreover, since Friday does not appear until two thirds into the text, the performing narrator needs to fit the last third into the overall vocal profile to produce a cohesive effect. This article focuses on the vocal configurations of Friday as manifest in six audiobook recordings of the novel. Material voice characteristics, such as quality, rhythm, and diction, as well as contextualising aspects of ethnicity, age, and nationality are taken into account. The rhetorical situation in which the performing narrator intensifies intentionality is also foregrounded.

Сравнительный стилистический и жанровый анализ посланий Патриарха Московского Кирилла и архиепископа Кентерберийского Джастина Уэлби

<p>This article presents a comparative stylistic and genre analysis of the messages delivered by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury. The study examines the unique stylistic elements and genre conventions employed in their respective messages, aiming to reveal the underlying rhetorical strategies, thematic emphases, and communicative techniques. Employing qualitative analysis methods, the paper explores how these religious leaders use language and genre to articulate their theological perspectives and address contemporary issues. The analysis underscores the differences and similarities in their approaches, reflecting their distinct cultural, theological, and institutional contexts. By comparing the messages of these prominent figures in the Russian Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of contemporary religious communication and its impact on global and local religious communities.</p>

Study on the Evolution of Endings and Genre Conventions in the Yingying Love Story

Study on the Evolution of Endings and Genre Conventions in the Yingying Love Story

Towards a new progressive labour culture? Industry-oriented channels, bitter and precarious structure of feeling and worker solidarity in China

This article explores the progressive potential of commercial industry-oriented channels (IoCs), an emerging form of media produced by and addressed to workers of specific industries, on China’s digital platforms. Juxtaposing textual analysis with worker-audience interviews and participant observation, I found that despite the collusion of state surveillance and platform governance, IoCs prove instrumental in fostering resistive labour subjects and collectives among ordinary workers. This is due to IoCs’ genre convention and discourses, but more importantly, to worker-audience’s bitter and precarious structure of feeling that mediates their collective reception processes. The findings complicate our understanding of the potential of media/cultural production for labour resistance, highlighting the role of worker-audience in the circuit of progressive labour culture and the potential of commercial media in fostering radical class subjects. Drawing on the analysis, I further advance a model of worker media as double articulation, to open up more hermeneutic and action space for cultural labour activism.

“I’m Not Mean”: How the Course Syllabus Communicates Power

To explore how syllabi communicate power and what this genre says about pedagogy and student-instructor interactions, I analyzed selected syllabi from an undergraduate professional writing (PW) program and conducted two focus groups with students and one with instructors to learn their perceptions about the genre broadly and to explore their reactions specific to PW syllabi. To analyze my IRB-approved study’s data, I use McCroskey and Richmond’s bases of power framework. Findings suggest that syllabi reflect contradictions inherent in the instructor role and help to illustrate the often incongruous relationship instructors cultivate with students, evidenced by rule-enforcing on the one hand and relationship- and community-building on the other. To negotiate these contradictions, instructors distance themselves from their syllabi, using a variety of strategies to downplay their authorship. Naming the bases of power and identifying them through the rhetorical and genre convention rules of the syllabus reveals various maneuvers instructors use to communicate (power) through syllabi. Doing so characterizes instructor power as nuanced discourse, surpassing the language written on the page to the ways the genre is used as a rhetorical space for negotiating roles, behaviors, and activities.

Flipping the heterosexual script: representing girls’ positive sexual health on Netflix

ABSTRACT Studies have documented how U.S. teen television programmes perpetuate a dominant heterosexual script in which girls are instructed to deny their sexual desire and to passively wait to be chosen by boys. This project explores how Netflix’s reputation for producing ‘quality television’ provides space for girl-centric programmes to flip conventions of genre and intervene in considerations of girls’ sexuality. We argue the Netflix shows I Am Not OK With This (2020), Trinkets (2019–20), Never Have I Ever (2020–2023), and Teenage Bounty Hunters (2020) flip the long-standing heterosexual script. Main girl characters are shown initiating heterosexual activity, understanding the importance of their own pleasure, demanding protection from pregnancy and STIs, and refusing to be victimized by cultural stigmas. Moreover, while earlier studies examined teen characters who were overwhelmingly white, middle-class and heterosexual – the Netflix girls (and boys) we study are much more diverse in terms of race, class, and sexuality, and the programmes open spaces for Black and Brown girls, in particular, to express and act on their sexual desires without being sexualized.

Nostalgia, Masculinity, and Real Person Fiction: The Obama Biden and Bernie Sanders Mysteries

Published in 2018, 2019, and 2022 respectively, Hope Never Dies and Hope Rides Again, subtitled An Obama Biden Mystery, and Feel the Bern: A Bernie Sanders Mystery by Andrew Shaffer offer crime stories that feature the former President and Vice-President and, analogously, Senator Bernie Sanders as amateur investigators. Described as ‘[e]vocative of noir thrillers and bromantic buddy-cop movies’ on Penguin Random House’s website, the novels rest on a premise that, this paper argues, is carried not only by a liberal nostalgia for the Obama presidency and, in the case of Feel the Bern, small town life, but also by certain stereotypes about gender and race (‘Obama Biden Mysteries Series’). Thus, this paper asks how nostalgia, masculinity, and especially a certain kind of liberal white masculinity, and race interact with the depiction of crime in this series. Furthermore, it traces how all of these aspects are influenced by and contingent on the conventions of the (sub-)genre of real person fiction.

Столкновение дикости и цивилизации в фэнтези-вестерне Джо Аберкромби «Красная страна»

In the novel Red Country the famous British author Joe Abercrombie carries out a genre experiment combining in one book the features of such distant and incongruous genres as fantasy and Western. He constructs in his imaginary world a territory with all specific characteristics of a Western chronotopos and actively uses typical plot devices of the Western. But on the level of ideas the plot of Red Country comes into a conflict with the basic values of the Western, instilling the clichés borrowed from this genre with a unique author’s meaning. A good example of this is Abercrombie’s unexpected development of the subject of savageness and civilization. A conflict with savage Indians who must give way to the white man and his civilization is an obligatory part of Western ideology. The attitude to savages in Westerns has undergone some changes, but the opposition of savages and the civilized society remains unchanged. In Red Country Abercrombie uses traditional episodes of Indian attacks etc. according to the Western genre conventions, but afterwards he shows the relativity of the ideas of civilization and savageness themselves; since attributing these characteristics to one or the other group of characters depends exclusively on one’s point of view. The problems of the civilization of the Western kind are also highlighted: its coming leads to the destruction of the indigenous ways of life and brings about the reign of unscrupulous greed. Characters, portrayed as traditional savages in the beginning of the novel, are seen later already as bearers of dying ancient cultures. The fact that they are becoming extinct under the pressure of modern civilization does not bring any satisfaction, as a victory over savageness in a Western should do. This is achieved by actualizing the understanding of dying ancient cultures inherent to fantasy. Therefore, the novel Red Country reconsiders the genres of Western and fantasy and supports values of the modern multicultural and post-colonial society.

Lyrical prayer poetry by priest poets. K. Kravtsov’s and S. Kruglov’s poetic prayers

The article undertakes a comparative study of the lyrical prayer poetry authored by K. Kravtsov and S. Kruglov, both ordained priests as well as poets and each offering a personal interpretation of the canon of prayer, transforming it into a unique poetic genre. Going into the history of the phenomenon, V. Razumov provides a classification of the prayer genres proper, noting that the diversity of prayers can be grouped into five principal types: invective, supplication (including intercession on somebody’s behalf), penitence, thanksgiving, and praise. Those are the prayer intentions explored in Kruglov’s and Kravtsov’s poetry, with the addition of elements typical of contemporary as well as folk poetry (a stream of consciousness, a counting rhyme, intertextual references, a lyrical hero in a particular role, a civically-minded lyrical subject, etc.). Razumov finds that Kruglov extends the limits of the genre convention, whereas Kravtsov appears to transcend them. This difference notwithstanding, both poets write at the confluence of literary and liturgical traditions and undoubtedly enrich the tuning and intonation of modern poetry.

Global Forms in Bolaño’s 2666: Genre, Race, Capital

ABSTRACT Roberto Bolaño’s posthumously published 2666 is a novel split into five parts without a clear logic of organization. I argue that its unity lies in the way each section takes up and then dissolves the conventions of an Euro-American genre, negating its usual organization of meaning and therefore relation to history. I argue that these genres are structures of experience which decompose in confrontation with the colonial destruction of life. Since there is no single received literary form that adequately represents the transformations of racial violence, Bolaño negates a procession of genres as a way of testifying to the complex matrix of power, death and revolt in the contemporary world. Subsequently, I demonstrate my interpretation with a reading of Book I, “The Part about the Critics”, as an academic novel. This genre has historically represented the world of an academic elite institutionally sheltered from the movements of history. Bolaño rewrites Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” as an allegory of colonial mining to stage the reemergence of slavery in the form of the university discourse.

A Csigolya fiú esete Pató Sárival

The oeuvre of Sándor Petőfi is one of the most well-researched one, still it has parts which are – paradoxically – lesser-known in the literary consciousness. The prose of Petőfi can be seen as a “blind spot” which has not been integrated into the curriculum of public education and it was hardly ever discussed in the professional discourse as this corpus was considered to have a marginal status. Petőfi, who oŸen declared his versatility in the 1840s, translated prose and experimented with different narrative techniques in his novel and short stories. Petőfi’s short stories are strongly connected to the financial aspects of publishing, however, they should not be viewed simply as “fillers” since these texts can be analysed from a literary perspective, considering the variation of genre conventions, narrative styles and tones in these experimental short stories which interact with the other texts of the oeuvre, as well. This paper reviews Petőfi’s latest published short story regarding the reality effects of the text.

“You have to survive”: Reading trauma, survival, and adolescent resilience in N.H. Senzai’s contemporary young adult war narrative, Escape from Aleppo

ABSTRACT In recent years, millions of Syrians – one-third of them under the age of 18 – have sought refuge in neighbouring and far-off regions. This article explores the representations of the impact of trauma on young people and their prospects for healing in N.H. Senzai’s 2018 young adult novel, Escape from Aleppo. Recent scholarship on decolonizing trauma studies urges approaches that incorporate aspects of recuperation and resilience, focusing on the possibility of post-traumatic growth and healing. Situated at the intersection of trauma studies and young adult literature, this article examines the post-traumatic growth of Senzai’s young protagonist through negotiations with history that foster resilience and help Syrians to cope with distress. Representing survival through the conventions of the young adult genre, the novel balances two extremes – suffering and hopefulness – and provides an alternative response to trauma that highlights emotional growth through localized systems of knowledge available to young survivors.

‘Once you are in number 9 you are stuck in this space’: Constraint, Creativity and Inside No. 9

In this article, I will explore the ways in which the critically acclaimed British TV comedy anthology series Inside No. 9 (BBC Two, 2014–), created and written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, uses constraints to facilitate creativity. While the generative properties of constraint have been explored by a wide range of scholars, their application to understanding the creative process in film and television has been limited, with studies of pedagogical approaches at the National Film School of Denmark and their influence on Danish cinema and television being the key example. While frequently described as ‘dark comedy’, Inside No. 9 embraces a wide range of subject matter and genre conventions, ranging from gothic horror to naturalistic drama. But the primary distinguishing characteristic of the show is that the self-contained stories are confined entirely or predominantly to a single location – frequently the No. 9 in question – and feature a limited cast. In addition to this foundational premise, the series embraces the generative properties of constraints in a rich variety of ways – including spatial, temporal, narrative and intertextual. This article will explore how these have functioned to create one of the most innovative and critically successful British TV shows of the last decade.

Incorporating Lawyers’ Perspectives on Genre Organization of Legal Letters of Demand into the Pedagogy of Teaching English for Legal Purposes

In the tradition of ESP genre analysis, there is a paucity of legal genre analyses that focused on exploring the expert perspectives on genre organization to raise learners’ rhetorical consciousness of the necessary discursive practices. Therefore, this study analyzed interview data on the genre organization of a legal letters of demand collected from 10 lawyers. The Grounded Theory methods were employed to collect data and the analysis resulted in the writers’ rationales for the choice of the elements in genre organization. The lawyers organize facts provided by a client in a predictable and logical order, and the problem-solving activities they frequently conduct before writing a letter ensure the accuracy of the facts. The lawyers’ use of the elements in genre organization was based on an agreed set of conventions. The three important considerations of the lawyers interviewed regarding the organization of a letter of demand were 1) linear organization of moves and steps, 2) attention to details and 3) consistency in using the elements. It is required to make law students aware of lawyers’ expectations of the structure of the genre. The students’ needs should be fulfilled in genre-based activities (i.e., brainstorming, and problem-solving activities in the pre-writing stage) to raise their awareness on the responsibility of a lawyer in the genre convention.

Нейропоэзия как баттл поэтических языков

The article develops a view of neural networks as a tool for formulating and verifying philological hypotheses related to various aspects of the generation and reception of a literary text. The principles of aesthetic communication are analyzed, in which, thanks to the development of the modern technological environment, an anthropic author, a neural network and a recipient can participate equally. Neuropoetry is interpreted through the metaphor of a “battle of poetic languages” (in accordance with the conventions of the rap battle genre) — as a communicative field in which anthropic and digital authors interact as equal participants in the creative act, jointly forming new prerequisites for the reader’s perception of a literary text. The ‘co-creation’ of anthropic and digital authors is considered in terms of the actor-network theory of Latour. In interactions between a person and a neural network, the latter transcends its purely instrumental function and assumes features of subjectivity. It becomes an equal agent in generating a collective aesthetic statement. Neuropoetry, as a result of co-creation of this kind, is characterized by a double semiotic nature: one part of it is the result of the creation of an anthropic author, while the second demonstrates ‘secondary poetry’, in which the digital author imitates the procedures of natural speech generation. As a result, a new, complicated model of aesthetic communication is formed, complementing the standard positions of the communicative act (author — text — reader) with the level of communicative interaction of anthropic and digital co-authors. The recipient, in the situation of perceiving a text co-written by a person and a neural network, is involved in a complex interpretative game that activates the mechanisms of aesthetic reception, and the act of ‘neuro-creativity’ itself creates new forms of mimesis, which ceases to be ‘imitation of the world’ and becomes ‘imitation of imitation’.

Moral Judgment and Social Critique in Journalistic News Satire

Journalistic news satire is a satire subgenre that is gaining legitimacy in academic research as well as in the journalistic field as an opinion news format and arena for public debate. News satirists claim journalistic roles and operate under the mandate of exposing moral wrongs and auditing power. The development of a more substantial news satire coincides with an observed repoliticization of humor and comedy and intensified moral negotiation around comedic content, particularly on social media. Based on the Moral Foundation Theory, this study identifies moral judgments in journalistic news satire, using a content analysis of TV news satire material from Sweden and the U.S. The results show an overwhelming majority of moral judgments related to the individualizing foundations of Harm and Fairness, while the binding foundations of Ingroup, Authority, and Purity were less frequent. In addition, the results show strong similarities between the two countries in the material, indicating moral common ground and displaying how moral judgment is connected to the inherent nature of satire in general and the genre conventions of journalistic news satire in particular.