Literary genre

The genres Aristotle discusses include the epic, the tragedy, the comedy, dithyrambic poetry, and phallic songs.

In the case of poetry, these distinctions are based not on rhetorical purpose, but on a combination of structure, content and narrative form.

The first-century Greek treatise "On the Sublime", for example, discussed the works of more than 50 literary writers and the methods they used to influence their audiences' emotions and feelings.

[7] The reason for this shift is often attributed to the social events that were taking place in the Western world in terms of wars, infighting and overthrown leadership.

However, the twenty-first century has brought a new era in which genre has lost much of the negative connotations associating it with loss of individuality or excess conformity.

[6] Genre categorizes literary works based on specific shared conventions, including style, mood, length, and organizational features.

Western literature is typically subdivided into the classic three forms of Ancient Greece, poetry, drama, and prose.

Often, the criteria used to divide up works into genres are not consistent, and can be subject to debate, change and challenge by both authors and critics.

There is also classification by format, where the structure of the work is used: graphic novels, picture books, radio plays, and so on.