Evolving Genres: From Paper to Screen
This weeks’
lecture focussed on genres; what they are and how they can change and adapt and
involve several types in one form (Van Luyn, 2013). A statement that caught my
eye was that in relation to technology, does a change in medium mean a change
in genre too? Based on my interpretation from the McNeill (2011) reading, I
would say no. In Diary 2.0?, McNeill (2011) discusses the evolution of the
diary in written form to that of the present day online blog. The generic idea
is still there, that of putting into words thoughts and feelings from the
author on a personal level. However by being online there are alternative
features and functions such as adding hyperlinks and the ability to invite
other people to read what was once considered a private format.
I can relate
this to Instagram by comparing my social network to its ancestor, the photo
album. Once upon a time a person had to take a photo with this thing called a
camera and then actually get the film inside the camera developed at a store
and then you could go home and organise them in a book with plastic pages which
you could then share with all your family and friends when they came to visit. Networking
sites such as Instagram and Flickr promise
“[a] way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures” (www.instagram.com/about/faq)
and they “want to help people make their photos available to the people who matter
to them” (www.flickr.com/about). So essentially the idea of a physical photo
album and online photo sharing are the same genre but just one has evolved from
the other and includes bonuses such as instant sharing and the feature of
editing or filters.
The genre of an
essay varies in that it can be both personal and formal and include a wide
range of topics to satisfy any number of readers (DiYanni, 2005). My Instagram
account, although not an essay, can relate to DiYannis’ (2005) review of the
essay writing skill in that it is coherent, organised, accurate and has some
style (even if only my targeted audience can relate to it). Genres hold no particular
boundaries and will often overlap to build and expand on one idea in order to
generate and shape the knowledge of our world.
References
DiYanni, R.
(2005). Introduction: reading and writing essays. In Twenty-five great essays (pp. 1-30). New York, NY: Penguin
Academics
McNeill, L.
(2011). Diary 2.0?: a genre moves from page to screen. In C. Rowe & E.L.
Wyss (Eds.), Language and new media:
linguistic, cultural, and technological evolutions (pp. 313-325).
Cresskill, NJ: Hampton
Van Luyn, A.
(2013). BA1002: Networks, narratives and
the making of place, week 6 notes. [Power Point]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
Image:
Movie poster of film genres [Image]. (2013).
Retrieved from http://www.123rf.co.kr
Hi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your take on the relationships between Instagram and the fact that it still falls under the same 'genre' that photos in a physical form would take. McNeill definitely had it right when she used the example of online blogs and stated that "Although the blog had the potential to become a new kind of genre, it is an adaptation of diary form, using tools on the web."
This proves that as you've also argued, a change in medium definitely does not automatically form a whole new 'genre', but simply transforms and updates the original form.