Do works of art always conform with every convention of the genre into which they fall, or do they adopt some of the conventions and flout others?

Methods and Approaches précis & summary

Listen to the mini-lectures in the week 1 Teams folder as well as attending the in-person workshop.

Questions to think about:

⦁ Is there a clear distinction between ‘theory’ and ‘criticism’?
⦁ What do you understand by the notion of genre, and generic conventions?
⦁ Do works of art always conform with every convention of the genre into which they fall, or do they adopt some of the conventions and flout others?
⦁ Is there a politics of genre? Are some genres more conservative than others?
What would you say the politics were, for instance, of a Mills and Boon novel?
⦁ What are the politics of writing in a language other than your first?
⦁ What genre would you place Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in, and why?
⦁ To what extent do genre conventions translate ?