Literary genre

A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or subject matter (content). Literary genres are also categories of marketing, literary criticism and consumption .

One of the areas in the study of literature is the difference between literary fiction on the one hand and genre fiction or escapist fiction on the other .

Subgenres

Genres are often divided into sub-genres. Literature can be organized according to the "poetic genres" and the "prose genres". Poetry might be subdivided into epic, lyric, and dramatic, while prose might be subdivided into fiction and non-fiction. Further subdivisions of dramatic poetry, for instance, might include comedy, tragedy, melodrama, and so forth. This parsing into subgenres can continue: "comedy" has its own genres, for example, including farce, comedy of manners, burlesque, and satire. ,

Many times, the criteria used to divide up works into genres are not consistent, leading to works that belong to more than one genre. Romance and mystery are marked out by their plots, and Western by its setting, which means that a work can easily be a Western romance or Western mystery.

List of literary genres

:Autobiography:Biography:Children's literature:Constrained writing :Diaries and Journals:Essay:Fiction::Adventure novel::Airport novels::Bildungsroman::Chick lit::Crime fiction, Detective fiction::Erotic::Fable::Fairy tale::Family Saga::Frame story::Gothic:::Southern Gothic::Historical fiction ::Historiographical metafiction::Hysterical realism::Hypertext fiction::Inspirational fiction::Invasion literature::Legal thriller::Mystery:::Cozy:::Hard-boiled:Nouveau roman::Psychological novel::Psychological thriller:Roman à clef::Romance:::Historical romance::::Bodice rippers::::Regency romance:::Inspirational romance:::Paranormal romance:::Time travel romance::Saga::Satire::Speculative fiction:::Alternate/Alternative history:::Fantasy (for more details see Fantasy subgenres)::::Epic fantasy::::Science fantasy::::Urban fantasy:::Horror:::Science fiction (for more details see Science fiction genres and related topics)::::Cyberpunk::::Hard science fiction::::Space opera::Sensation novel::Slave narrative::Spy fiction/Political thriller::Thriller::Western:Memoir:Non-fiction:Oral Narrative (Oral History):Outdoor literature:Poetry (see that article for an extensive list of sub-genres and types)::Aubade::Clerihew::Epic::Haiku::Lied::Lyric::Ode::Rhapsody::Song::Sonnet::Speculative poetry:Travel literature