Genres are often viewed as the structural framework of literature, but they are elusive and can vary significantly across time and context. For instance, while 'Oedipus Rex,' 'Hamlet,' and 'Death of a Salesman' are all termed tragedies, they exhibit substantial differences beyond just unhappy endings. This variability raises questions about the definitions and classifications we impose on literary works, suggesting that genres can be more complex and fluid than traditionally understood.
The categorization of literature is often based on a selective pool of texts, which limits our understanding of genres' full scope. For instance, while there are believed to be hundreds of tragedies from ancient Greece, only a fraction—thirty-two complete works—are known, primarily attributed to just three playwrights. This selective preservation challenges the robustness of our knowledge about the genre itself, leaving significant gaps in our comprehension of what tragedy could encompass.
The concept of genre, particularly in the context of the novel, highlights how literature professors often discuss a minuscule sample of works. Franco Moretti pointed out that when one talks about 'the nineteenth-century British novel,' it typically refers to approximately two hundred texts, which is only about 0.5% of all novels published in that era. This raises critical questions about the limitations of our literary canon and the implications for our understanding of literary history.
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