Genres

The modal and thematic classifications literary works are sorted by, by subject and mode rather than by form: dramatic genres, epic and heroic narrative, the novel and its forms, short, lyric and nonfiction forms, speculative and fantastic fiction, and satire and mystery fiction. Belongs here: a genre such as tragedy, epic or detective fiction that describes what a work is about and how it means to affect a reader. Does not belong here: the formal pattern a work is written in, carried under Forms, or an aesthetic movement a work is part of, carried under Movements.