In this first chapter of The Bedford Book of Genres, the authors goal is to help their audience find a better understanding of genres and their purpose. Genres allow writers to categorize their work or describe types of composition. We all know books are categorized into genres, but music and movie genres are also a good example. Music is categorized into rap, pop, or country and movies are categorized into genres such as horror, romance, action, or comedy. Each genre represents the author/composer and allows their audiences to have a better understanding of their thoughts.
Although the first chapter was insightful and gave the reader a thorough understanding of genre, I found it interesting how flexible genres can be and how time-periods heavily influence which type of genres are used. As a writer/composer, you want to use the resources surrounding you and choose a genre that your audience will pay attention too. For example, Annie L. Burton wrote her memoir, Memories of Childhood’s Slavery Days, in 1909. Out of all the possible genres to choose from, she chose to write a memoir. This may be because during that time-period, memoirs were very popular and intrigued readers the most. Perhaps if this wasn’t written in that time period, she would have written/composed her experiences in a different genre popular to a different time era. Also, I believe that the advancements of technology heavily influence the genres used today. More writers are using blogs to write and more composers are publishing music through cellular apps which allows genres to become more flexible. Although I strongly encourage innovation, I hope new genres and ways of writing do not forget about their roots.