Please respond to both of these questions (using references) in a post tagged under this page.
- How has the academic reception of popular genres changes over time?
- What might the value be of studying them?
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Pop Genres 2020 
Popular Genre 2020 ENGL602 – Week 1
William Ruru
1. How has the academic reception of popular genres changes over time?
Storytelling is an integral part of life. Popular Genre (PG) such as cartoons, comic books, science fiction, fantasy, detective stories, film noir, graphic novels, television series and anime are often not considered as ‘serious’ or ‘high’ literature and excluded from authorized literary canon.
Some universities offer students courses to examine practices associated with PG to examine humanity that become part of the cultural gestalt. These courses explore the foundation of PG by examining the development of structure, characterization, setting, context, mode(s) that contribute to an audience’s understanding of a composition, use of technology and other literary devices to reach readers in all corners of the publishing industry. Reading, watching, comparing, contrasting and critiquing works by writers from different backgrounds eg gender, ethnic, sexual orientation or other marginalized group gives different perspective, themes and messages the author wishes to impart to a student/reader that maybe more pleasurable relevant and tell us more about society today than do literary classics (Mountford, 2020).
2. What might the value be of studying them?
Through examining how narrative, structure, composition, style, and technical crafts contribute to Popular Genre (PG) it informs students to:
* Identify and contextualize PG
* Understand target audience and appeal to different types of people and learning styles
* Self-reflect one’s own writings
* Demonstrate an ability to critique others’ writing constructively
* Discuss PG published writings and
* Produce consistent quality written work in agreed PG that may get published and earn an income
REFERENCES
Mountfort, P. (2020). AUT Blackboard. Popular Genres ENGL602. Powerpoint Week 1. Retrieved from https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_96250_1&content_id=_5273101_1&mode=reset
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How has the academic reception of popular genres changed over time?
What might the value be of studying them?
The stereotypical nature of Popular Genres has accounted for the heavy resistance it has faced as a standing genre, amongst the academic community. The rising of popular genres accumulated defiance amongst academics, who believed that the genre threatened the sanctity of the more conventional genres that allegedly belonged to the literary canon. The argument posed, depicted that numerous popular genres disobeyed the orthodox conventions of realism, and followed well worn formulaic plot structures with two dimensional characterisation, resulting in predictable resolutions while giving little room for character development. Despite the associated stereotypes, and backlash faced by the genre, recent times and technological developments have resulted in an uprising of Popular Genres; permitting it to be studied in tertiary institutions such as Auckland University of Technology, London Metropolitan University and Central Queensland University.
The academic reception of popular genres changing overtime is due to multiple factors, the most important being the advancement of technological developments. This includes the evolution of television which is a transparent artefact of the present times, as well as the introduction of comics from traditional books, shifts from black and white to colored films, and the use of multi-modal conventions within the genre. Great interests sparked within comics, science fiction,young adult novels, romance and fantasy as it became more entertaining than traditional genres. Accordingly, the need to study popular genres became progressively demanding, due to a rapid increase in popularity. “Terry Eagleton (Prof.of Cultural Theory at the University of Manchester) argues that contemporary genres – incl. tv programs and pop – may tell us more about society today than do literary ‘classics’.” However, the plight for freedom of the genre is an ongoing process similar to the struggles of post colonial marginalised classes including women, blacks and Jews. Their restrained acceptance within society and literary studies, draws attention to the discrimination, as well as the privilege of the Anglo-saxon speakers of english who excluded the genre, based on preference.
Through studying popular genres, people are keeping up with contemporary times. They are not limited to what was popular in the past as there is an understanding that as the evolution of new media continues, as does change in audience and readers’ likings within academic literature and entertainment. Furthermore, there is a better perception of what academic literature consists of, the traditional values it once held are ever present however, the contemporary aspects of popular genres such as the inclusion of visual and audio elements alongside written material allows the creators to express themselves in new ways that don’t seem far-fetched. For example, Youtubers can climb their way to fame using a single idea, smartphone, and the Youtube platform, the affordability seems surreal. Popular genres are artefacts of our time that should be researched into in order to better understand the ever changing world and thought processes of the creators. The development of new ideas can only be based on what is already there, therefore the need to study them is substantial. The value of studying popular genres is prodigious due to the overwhelmingly large number of possibilities and places it can take you.
Mountfort, P. (2020). AUT Blackboard. Popular Genres ENGL602. Powerpoint Week 1. Retrieved from https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_96250_1&content_id=_5273101_1&mode=reset
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