Introduction. TV Genres in the Age of Abundance: Textual Complexity, Technological Change, Audience Practices

For students and scholars in communication and media studies, the word “genre” is a great conversation starter. The concept generally points to the question of how to understand a text in relation to others, and this framework is a legacy of traditional approaches in literature found within the humanities, from the Aristotelian distinction between tragedy and comedy to the classic “universal archetypes” described by Northrop Frye. In what ways is a text (a novel, a film, a tv program…) similar or different to others around it? Why does that matter? What is the value in separating texts from each other? The answers to these questions play an important role in helping understand many aspects of the production, distribution and reception of various kinds of media texts.