The Shifting Definitions of Genre : Essays on Labeling Films, Television Shows and Media

Geraghty, Lincoln (EDT)/ Jancovich, Mark (EDT)

McFarland & Co Inc（2008/04発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 268 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780786434305
• DDC分類 791.436

Full Description

Histories of science fiction often dicuss Fritz Lang's Metropolis as a classic work within the genre--yet the term "science fiction" had not been invented at the time of the film's release. If the genre did not have a name, did it exist? Does retroactive assignment to a genre change our understanding of a film? Do films shift in meaning and status as the name of a genre changes meaning over time?

These provocative questions are at the heart of this book, whose thirteen essays examine the varying constructions of genre within film, television, and other entertainment media. Collectively, the authors argue that generic labels are largely irrelevant or even detrimental to the works to which they are applied.

Part One examines the meanings of genre and reveals how the media is involved in the production and dissemination of generic definitions. Part Two considers specific films (or groups of films) and their relationships within various categorizations. Part Three focuses on the closely tied concepts of history and memory as they relate to the perceptions of genre.

Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     

Introduction: Generic Canons

Lincoln Geraghty and Mark Jancovich     

PART ONE: INSTITUTIONS OF GENRE

1. Pale Shadows: Narrative Hierarchies in the Historiography of 1940s Horror

Mark Jancovich     

2. The Independent Film Channel: Creating a Genre and Brand Across Small Screens, Big Screens, and the Virtual World

Liza Treviño     

3. "Off-Beat" as a Generic Designation in Variety Reviews

Jason Scott     

PART TWO: TEXTUAL NEGOTIATIONS

4. Film Noir as Male Melodrama: The Politics of Film Genre Labeling

Janet Staiger     

5. Beyond the Valley of the Classical Hollywood Cinema: Rethinking the "Loathsome Film" of 1970

Harry M. Benshoff     

6. Rethinking the History of European Horror: Television, La porta sul buio and Historias para no dormir

Andrew Willis     

7. Can Rock Movies Be Musicals? The Case of This Is Spinal

Andrew Caine     

8. "A Most Historic Period of Change": The Western, the Epic and Dances with Wolves

James Russell     

9. "A Term Rather Too General to Be Helpful": Struggling with Genre in Reality

Su Holmes     

PART THREE: HERITAGE, HISTORY AND MEMORY

10. Repackaging Generation One: Genre, Fandom, and The Transformers as Adult/Children's Television

Lincoln Geraghty     

11. Subcultural Tastes, Genre Boundaries and Fan Canons Brigid Cherry     

12. Monster Legacies: Memory, Technology and Horror History

Peter Hutchings     

13. "Just Men in Tights": Rewriting Silver Age Comics in an Era of Multiplicity

Henry Jenkins     

Notes on Contributors     

Index