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Genre Theory Rick Altman, in A 1984
Genre Theory Rick Altman, in A 1984
Altman pointed out that genre (up until the 1960s) was often
discussed in either ‘inclusive’ or ‘exclusive’ terms. Critics could refer
in an almost tautological sense to a genre as comprising all the
films that fulfilled a particular simple definition, e.g. westerns were
films set in the American West between 1840 and 1900. But most
analysis by scholars concentrated on a much more ‘inclusive’ list of
‘canonical’ films, which appeared to utilise the ‘essential’ elements
of the genre.
References
Rick Altman (1999) Film/Genre, London: bfi
Jim Kitses (1969, revised 2004) Horizons West, London: bfi
Nick Lacey (2000) Narrative and Genre, Basingstoke: Palgrave
Steve Neale (2000) Genres in Contemporary Hollywood, London:
Routledge
Steve Neale (ed) 2002 Genre and Contemporary Hollywood,
London: bfi
Steve Neale and Murray Smith (eds) (1998) Contemporary
Hollywood, London: Routledge
Tom Ryall (2000) ‘Genre and Hollywood’ in John Hill and Pam
Church Gibson (eds) The Oxford Guide to Film Studies, Oxford: OUP