Theorist's Views on Genre

Fiske
"The difference between style and taste is never easy to define, but style tends to be centered on the social, and taste upon the individual. Style then works along axes of similarity to identify group membership, to relate to the social order; taste works within style to differentiate and construct the individual. Style speaks about social factors such as class, age, and other more flexible, less definable social formations; taste talks of the individual inflection of the social."

Fowler
"Genre is not..simply 'given' by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change."

Altman
"Genre offers audiences a set of pleasures."