Popular genres have always been excluded from academic literacy in the past as pop genres are not regarded as higher art or literature compared to high prose academic literature and high classical dramas that are valued as privileged status (Nick, 2020). Pop genres such as Comics, science fiction, fantasy novels, and other entertainment works are all regarded as non-serious literature. After all, pop genres are only entertainment for leisure time. Therefore, pop genres have never been mentioned in educational literature, only outside of school or university.
Pop genres have always been criticisms with stereotypical marks. There are five points in the following. First: Pop genres often use formulaic plot structures, which means all story plots, character settings are arranged in order, and the same arrangement pattern is not repeated. Therefore, the audience also anticipates the next plot as expected (Mountfort, 2020). For instance, the protagonist of justice will be the winner, no matter how many difficulties experienced. The best example is the protagonist of the Dragonball series; Son Goku, no matter how many edges of life and death he had been through, he still defeats the evils; even if he is dead, he can still be resurrected, and every time he comes back, his power will break the norm as every audience can expect (Lopez, 2014).
Second; Characterisation is often two-dimensional or flat that is a character with little or no complex emotions, motivations, or personalities. Features including; no internal conflict, conform to a stereotype, never experience character development and Lack a multi-faceted personality (Courneen, 2020). For example, Action heroes like Superman and Batman are always young, and middle-aged appearances and strong or immortal physical, and are always upright heroes (Mountfort, 2020).
Third, Pop genres are Multi-modal as every creation of work has frequent use of various special effect techniques including; visual, audio, writing materials, and other technical means, which also imply that pop genres are nothing if without multi-modal. Fourth, pop genres are the products of technology development as pop genres represent the technology of the era as each popular creation requires technological equipment (Mountfort, 2020). In other words, pop genres require technology to be produced, and the advancement of technology products are influenced by pop genres. Finally, pop genres are non-realism as they are imaginary creations as purely fictitious (Mountfort, 2020), even though many creations are based on realistic backgrounds, the development of the story plot is always based on the preferences of the audiences. For example, idol romantic dramas are created to match to the taste and fantasy of most audiences, thus misleading many audiences to believe that love is beautiful, somehow forgot the crucial of reality (Paul, 2016).
Even though pop genres have encountered many criticisms and exclusions, but due to the change of the times and the continuous development of humanity, the contents of pop genres have also begun to be introduced into the scope of academic literature. It is significant to look at the elements or contents of pop genres. First, pop genres also follow the social footsteps of the times. Any film and television works have colors that reflect the contemporary society in which traditional literatures do not have (Mountfort, 2020). Second, pop genres have promoted the development of technology (Mountfort, 2020, such as the smartphones we use that changed the way we communicate, the way to enjoy entertainment, and the way to do business or study, which must not be ignored, otherwise will not keep up with the times. Third, every pop genre creation has the seriousness meaning and reflection from the author. For example, Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare reflects blind hatred and love tragedies in the society we live seem to occur every day, and what we can do is prevent tragedies by taking predecessors as an example to introspect, hoping that there will be good changes, thus the society in the writing of Shakespeare will not need to use the death of beloved to gain consciousness (White, 2016). Finally, Pop genres also represent the cultural gestalt of the country, region, and ethnic group. For example, in addition to showing Japan’s soft power, Japanese animations often have cuteness characters that symbolize Japan’s preference for a warm and harmonious society. They are all worth exploring.
Reference:
Mínguez-López, X. (2014). Folktales and other references in Toriyama’s Dragon Ball. Animation, 9(1), 27-46. DOI: 10.1177/1746847713519386
Mountfort, P. (2020). ENGL602 Popular Genres: Introduction [PowerPoint Slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/
Courneen, T. (2019). What is a flat character and how to fix one. Reedsyblog. Retrieved https://blog.reedsy.com/flat-character/
Paul, K. (2016). The science behind why you love romantic and sad AF movies. Retrieved https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2016/06/why-do-we-watch-horrible-romance-movies
White, R. S. (2016). Shakespeare’s cinema of love: A study in genre and influence. Manchester University Press. DOI: 10.7228/manchester/9780719099748.001.0001
Pop Genres 2020 