Page 14 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

Preface

Genre Studies in Mass Media offers a range of theoretical approaches to
the study of genre. Each chapter consists of at least two parts. The first
part consists of a detailed discussion of one of the theoretical approaches
to genre study. This is followed by a “Lines of Inquiry” section, which
summarizes the major points of the discussion section and suggests
directions for analysis and further study. Some chapters also include
examples of genre analysis that illustrate how the particular theoretical
approach is applied.
The text focuses on the process of genre analysis, using the selected ap-
proaches discussed. The book provides examples and analyses of genres
in an effort to support, illustrate, and extend any abstract concepts that
have been introduced. More important, it gives students the theoretical
tools to conduct their own primary research into genres. In that sense,
the methodology is expansive rather than reductive. Presumably, two
students could conduct an analysis of the same genre using different ap-
proaches and come up with divergent interpretations. In all cases, for an
interpretation to be valid: (1) the analysis must be systematically applied,
and (2) the analysis must be supported with concrete examples from the
text (i.e., film, television episode, newspaper). It must be emphasized,
however, that depending on the specific area of study, one approach may
be more useful than another.
This text builds on the qualitative methodologies I developed in
previous works (Media Literacy: Keys to Interpreting Media Messages
and Approaches to Media Literacy: A Handbook), and applies many of
the principles of media literacy discussed in those works to the study of
genre. For this book, I relied heavily on the popular press for resource
materials, particularly the New York Times. My strategy involved moving
from specific accounts to exploring the implications of these articles. The
stories that appear in the press about genre (often in the business sec-

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