The Children of the Abbey as a Hybrid Text
Regina Maria Roche’s 1796 The Children of the Abbey is a text that crosses the boundaries of genre: it at once engages with the conventions of the Gothic novel, the pedagogical text, the national tale, the novel of Sensibility, and travel literature. As an Irish-born British woman writing this novel during the politically volatile 1790s, Roche’s historical and temporal location may provide an explanation for her development of this hybrid novel. In its employment of multiple and potentially contradictory genres, The Children of the Abbey may be interpreted as Roche’s reflection of and engagement with the instability of her time. In order to more effectively understand the political and social implications of Roche’s work, it is necessary to disentangle the various literary strands within the novel, identify how each genre functions, and consider the possible reasons why it has been woven into the text.
What is Genre?
From Literature as Discourse: Textual Strategies in English and History:
Genre thus refers to systems of classifications of types of texts. Genre classifications are part of a broader social system of classifications, not all of which use the term 'genre', but which have the same essential characteristics and functions. Genres (or types of texts) are classified in terms of both the semiosic dimension (primarily conditions of production and reception, matching kinds of author and writing to kinds of reader and readings) and the mimetic dimension (primarily what topics, themes or meanings will be included and what will be excluded, and their modality, i.e. how they are understood to relate to the real world). Sometimes the mimetic dimension is emphasized in a definition...
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...plicated by “its actual [inclination] towards emotion that exceeded utility” (89). As Regina Maria Roche’s novel may arguably be connected to both the genre of the pedagogical text as well as to the novel of sensibility, tension may arise in the text as the two potentially-conflicting genres are both engaged with. Hybrid novels, therefore, may provide both clarification as well as confusion in the interpretation they encourage of their readers.
Works Cited:
Hodge, Robert. Literature as Discourse: Textual Strategies in English and History. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990.
Manning, Susan. "Sensibility." The Cambridge Companion to English Literature, 1740-1830. Eds. Thomas Keymer and Jon Mee. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Moynahan, Julian. Anglo-Irish: The Literary Imagination in a Hyphenated Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Genre is the French word for 'type'. Type is the kind of text it is.
The end of the eighteenth century in England is a time of growing unrest at the coming revolution, but also of philosophers, writers, and theories. One of these writer/philosophers was Hannah More, eighteenth-century playwright and poet. More dabbled in many fields throughout her life, she also visited France during the Revolution, producing poetry and essays regarding France and its players of the Revolution that are still read today. Regardless, one of her more recognized contributions to English Literature is her poem regarding sensibility: “Sensibility: A Poetic Epistle to the Hon. Mrs. Boscawen” (Hannah More), in which she praises the attribute and those of her friends who possess it. While the attribute described in the poem may have always existed in the minds of men, More was the first to memorably put it to words. Consequently, the creation and definition
Based on the writings and readings we have done in class, the best candidate for discussing the many different types of genre systems would be Charles Bazerman. Bazerman does a successful job at breaking down the meaning of a genre system. His text also analysis’s the larger aggregations that genres are part of and introduces and methodological issue of how expand our perspective on genres and the systems they are part of. Bazerman does all of this successfully by using examples that young people can relate to.
Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. New York: Oxford, 2011. Print.
A genre is specific type of music, films, or writing. In music, genre refers to musical style such as jazz, salsa or rock. In film or literature, the genre is determined by the subject, setting or plot of the story. Many genres, such as "mystery" or "fantasy," overlap in film and literature, while others, such as "romantic comedy" in film or "historical fiction" in books, are specific to one or the
Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 http://www.bartleby.com/215/0816.html
Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000
Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1907-21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 http://www.bartleby.com/215/0816.html
Genres originate from the Latin word generic, which refers to the type, and is used to define styles in music, art, and literature. Literary genre is a concept distinguished by the composition principle and common characteristics of the story to distinguish different works. Genres play a role in preparing various theories of literature in connection with the problem of how literary works are formed and existed. Besides, the literary genre often divides into the country, era, writer and so on. Author Carolyn Miller says, "What we learn when we learn a genre is not just a pattern of forms or even a method of achieving our own ends. . . . [A]s a recurrent, significant action, a genre embodies an aspect of cultural rationality"
i) Genre is a group of literature, music, or other forms of art or entertainment, it can be written or spoken, audio or visual, based on some stylistic criteria(1).There are four main types of genre, which are information media, entertainment media, persuasive media and educational media.
Genres are hare. They are usually really hard to tell what they are (Yegulalp). An adventure theme is when a person or character goes on a journey, it's an adventure. In addition, a comedy theme is an exciting piece that features funny and weird types of entertainment. The drama theme is a type of anime that features emotions, such as anger, sadness, and a lot more. Sometimes it’s not just the regular old genres, for example, a new one is a type of anime that features large amounts of devastation, sadness, and despair. Or it could be shounen a type that is mainly directed toward men or boys, including violence and fighting. Maybe the reader does not like any of those. Maybe they are the sports type and they like the sports topics better than the actual topics of anime that other people like ("Manga - Genres").
Now, I define genre differently than before this class. Genre can exist in just about every aspect of society. Genre is a category that arises from artistic, musical, media, or literature compositions that have similarities. Genre exists in media, social media, television, movies, music, stories/literature, etc. Genre can exist in
Genres is the name given to the category, classification or group of films that have similar techniques or conventions. There are many type of genres. The primary (main) film genres are action, adventure, comedy, crime, drama, epics, horror, musicals, science fiction, war, and westerns. Genres are important because it helps the film viewers choose a movie that may interest and entertain them and it also gives them a brief idea of the storyline of the movie. For example, the story line in a romantic movie is that a guy gets his ideal girl after a conflict. Movies in a specific genre all share in similar techniques and convention. E.g. plot, setting, themes, and content. In a science fiction, the setting is usually in outer space and the content
The Websters Dictionary defines ‘Genre’ as a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content. There are different genres of music in the world, the list of which is available in this weblink *
To define genre is to embark on a conjectural journey within a theoretical minefield. Genre theory has drawn immense debate and contemplation throughout literary history, however, several conclusions have emerged. Genre types are unfixed categories whose characteristics differ considerably among the specific genres; furthermore, the role of literary history plays a significant role in discussions of genre, for genre types evolve and shift with each new literary text. An approach to the discussion of genre, family resemblances, illustrates similar conventions among texts within a genre, but there are significant problems in this approach. There are several ways to discuss genre, and although problems abound in any approach, the subjective nature of the literary experience calls attention to the importance of the interaction between reader and text to provide the final word on genre.