Theorizing Genres--Interpreting Works

My goal in theorizing genre is to fortify interpretation – to enhance one’s ability to understand and appreciate particular works as literary art. Genre in this sense is a lens through which historical and aesthetic features of a work become more visible, a mode of deductive critical reasoning that develops interpretive hypotheses. It is based on previous conceptualizations of genre as represented world, as framework of expectation, and as “a tool for living” deployed within and outside of institutional discursive practices. This deductive tool is shown to develop interesting, unforeseen, and falsifiable interpretations in a close study of three traditional oral genres of the Haya people of northwestern Tanzania.