Compare and contrast the various 21st century LITERARY GENRES and their
ELEMENTS, STRUCTURES, and TRADITIONS from Across the Globe
A Literary Genre is an artistic category or style of writing. It allows literary critics and students to
classify compositions within the larger canon of literature. Genre (pronounced ˈzhän-rə) is
derived from the French phrase genre meaning “kind” or “type.” Each literary genre has its
unique and important features that will aid the intended readers in fully analyzing a literary text.
Read and comprehend carefully the elements of various 21st century literary genres.
1. Poetry
As poetry has evolved, it has taken on numerous forms, but in general, poetry is the genre of
literature which has some form of meter or rhyme with focus based on syllable counts,
musicality, and division of lines (lineation). Unlike prose which runs from one end of the page to
the other, poetry is typically written in lines and blocks of lines known as stanzas. Poetry may be
in the form of narrative, lyrical, or dramatic.
2. Drama
Drama is a text which has been written with the intention of being performed for an audience.
Dramas range from plays to improvisations on stage. Its two main types are Tragedy and
Comedy.
3. Non-fiction Prose
Prose is a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a natural flow of
speech, and ordinary grammatical structure, rather than rhythmic structure. Non-fiction prose
refers to any literary work that is based mainly on facts. This includes autobiography, biography,
character sketch, diary or journal, editorial, and essay.
4. Prose Fiction Prose
Fiction is a literary work that is wholly or partly imagined or theoretical. Examples of this are
myths, legends, parables, fables, fairy tales, short stories, novels, and novellas.
5. Creative Nonfiction
The words “creative” and “nonfiction” describe the form. The word “creative” refers to the use of
literary craft, the techniques fiction writers, playwrights, and poets employ to present nonfiction
—factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid, dramatic
manner. The goal is to make nonfiction stories read like fiction so that your readers are as
captivated by fact as they are by fantasy. This creative nonfiction type of literature can be in the
form of an essay, a journal article, a research paper, a memoir, or a poem; it can be personal or
not, or it can be all of these.
6. Hyperpoetry
This genre, also called cyberpoetry, is a form of digital poetry that uses links using hypertext
mark-up. It refers to works of verse (although not necessarily in lines and stanzas) which could
not be presented without the computer. Hyperpoetry includes verse with links to sub-poems or
footnotes, poetry “generators,” poetry with movement or images. It is usually highly steeped in
the visual and sometimes involves parts that are read in varying orders.
7. Blog
Blog (abbreviated version of "weblog") is an online journal or informational website displaying
information in the reverse chronological order. A blog features diary-type commentary and links
to articles on other websites. It is also a platform where a writer or even a group of writers share
their views on an individual subject.
A typical blog includes:
• Header with the menu or navigation bar
• Main content area with highlighted or latest blog posts
• Sidebar with social profiles, favorite content, or call-to-action
• Footer with relevant links like a disclaimer, privacy policy, contact page, etc.
8. Mobile Phone Text Tula
A particular example of this poem is a tanaga, a type of Filipino poem, consisting of four lines
with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line - that is to say a 7- 7-7-7
syllabic verse, with an AABB rhyme scheme. The modern tanaga still uses the 7777 syllable
count, but rhymes range from dual rhyme forms: AABB, ABAB, ABBA; to freestyle forms such
as AAAB, BAAA, or ABCD. Tanagas do not have titles traditionally because the tanaga should
speak for itself. However, moderns can opt to give them titles. They are being sent through SMS
on mobile phone with friends, families, loved ones, and through netizens.
9. Chick Lit
Chick lit is a genre fiction which addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously
and lightheartedly. Chick lit or Chick literature consists of heroine-centered narratives that focus
on the trials and tribulations of their individual protagonists. Although it sometimes includes
romantic elements, chick lit is generally not considered a direct subcategory of the romance
novel genre, because the heroine's relationship with her family or friends is often just as
important as her romantic relationships.
10. Speculative Fiction
Speculative fiction is a term, attributed to Robert Heinlein in 1941, that has come to be used to
collectively describe works in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural,
superhero, utopian and dystopian, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic, and alternate history.
Speculative fiction is a broad category of narrative fiction that includes elements, settings and
characters created out of imagination and speculation rather than based on reality and everyday
life.
11. Flash Fiction
Flash fiction is another genre of literature in which stories are extremely short and often consists
of a few hundred words or fewer in its entirety. This is quite different to the concept of a short
story, which is usually several pages long and can notch up thousands of words. Works of flash
fiction, by contrast, can comprise as little as a single page or 250 words. This has to cover a lot
of ground with few words. Imagine the typical story arch with a beginning, rising action, climax,
and conclusion. Many flash fiction stories are able to touch on all of those elements, all within
the strict word count. The word limit provides a very creative challenge.
12. Digi Fiction
Digital Fiction is fiction that is written for and read from a computer and can be web- or app-
based (for tablets and smartphones) or accessed via CD-ROMs. Digital fictions are different to
e-books, however. Rather than existing as a digital version of a print novel, digital fictions are
what are known as “born digital” – that is, they would lose something of their aesthetic and/or
structural form and meaning if they were removed from the digital medium. For example, they
may contain hyperlinks, moving images, mini-games or sound effects. Further, unlike e-books in
which the reader moves from one page to another in a linear fashion, in many digital fictions, the
reader has a role in constructing the narrative, either by selecting hyperlinks or by controlling a
character’s journey through the story world. Digital fictions require the reader’s interaction with
the narrative throughout the reading experience and include texts such as hypertext fictions,
flash fictions and some video games. In order to get to the full story, the reader must engage in
navigation, reading, viewing in all three formats.
13. Graphic Novel
Graphic Novel is a type of text combining words and images—essentially a comic, although the
term most commonly refers to a complete story presented as a book rather than a periodical.
They are similar to comic books because they use sequential art to tell a story. However, they
are generally standalone stories with more complex plot. In graphic novels, the story is told
using pictures in sequence, panels, speech balloons, and other conventions of the comic book
form and format. Figurative language, symbolism, and other literary devices may also be
present.
14. Manga
This is a Japanese or Japanese-influenced comics. It is usually printed in black-and-white.
There are many genres inside manga, the most distinct being shojo (for girls) and shonen (for
boys).
15. Doodle Fiction
It is a literary presentation where the author incorporates doodle drawing and handwritten
graphics in place of traditional format. Drawings enhance the story, often adding humorous
elements that would be missing if the illustrations were omitted.
16. Illustrated Novel
It is a narrative medium that utilizes both images and text to tell a story. It is certainly wordbased
with a scattering of illustrations, usually of critical turning points of the story. Here, the reader
must interpret the images to comprehend completely the story. Textual portions are presented
in a traditional form. Some illustrated novels may contain no text at all.
17. Text-talk novels
These stories are told almost completely in dialogue simulating social network exchanges.
