MHJH Media Center

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Glossary of literary genre

Adventure:  It can be a story of survival, exploration, intrigue, or battle.  The heroic exploits of larger-than-life protagonists and the ultimate triumph of the good guys over the bad are the driving forces of adventure genre.  See also: spy/espionage, technothrillers, biothrillers, espionage and terrorism, survival, war adventure, action, and heroism.

Detective:  A narrative about the solution of a mystery or the identification of a criminal. Elements can include the detective's use of logic in solving the mystery; incompetent or ineffectual police; a suspect who appears guilty at first but is later proved innocent; and the detective's friend or confidant.
Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is commonly regarded as the earliest example of this type of story. Other writers include Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, and Agatha Christie.

Disaster:  The catastrophe may be natural or man-made.  Natural disasters include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, title waves, floods, plagues, and meteor strikes.  Man-made disasters include nuclear explosions, accidents caused by experimenting with bacteria or DNA, accidents involving aircraft or ocean vessels, or the destruction of the ozone layer.

Espionage & Terrorism:  Stories involving political intrigue with possible spies and/or terrorism.  There is action and adventure sometimes in exotic settings with heroic protagonists and despicable antagonists and maybe a sprinkling of technological effects.

Fable: Narration demonstrating a useful truth, especially in which animals speak as humans; legendary, supernatural tale.

Fairy tale: Story about fairies or other magical creatures, usually for children.

Fantasy: Fiction with strange or otherworldly settings or characters; fiction with invites suspension of reality.

Folklore: The songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a people or “folk” as handed down by word of mouth.

Historical fiction: Story with fictional characters and events in a historical setting.

Horror: Fiction in which events evoked a feeling of dread in both the characters and the reader.

Humor: Fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement, meant to entertain.

Legend: Story, sometimes of a national or folk hero, which has a basis in fact but which also includes imaginative material.

Mystery/Suspense: The author maintains the audience's attention through the buildup of events, the outcome of which will soon be revealed.

Mythology: Legend or traditional narrative, often based in part on historical events, that reveals human behavior and natural phenomena by its symbolism; often pertaining to the actions of the gods.

Realistic fiction: Story that can actually happen and is true to life.

Romance: The main plot concerns two people falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. The conflict in the book centers on the love story. The climax in the book resolves the love story. A writer is welcome to as many subplots as she likes as long as the relationship conflict is the main story.

Science fiction: Story based on impact of actual, imagined, or potential science, usually set in the future or on other planets.

Spy: See espionage and terrorism

Survival:  Features the protagonist testing the limits, possibly making mistakes, but triumphing over adversity in the end.

Tall tale: Humorous story with blatant exaggerations, swaggering heroes who do the impossible with nonchalance

War:  High on action centered around military conflicts with a prevailing theme of justice and patriotism

Westerns: Often set on the American frontier during the last part of the 19th century (1865-1900) following the Civil War, in a geographically western  setting with romantic, sweeping frontier landscapes or rugged rural terrain. However, Westerns may extend back to the time of America's colonial period or forward to the mid-20th century, or as far geographically as Mexico. Often portrays the conquest of the wilderness and  nature, in the name of civilization the confiscation of the territorial rights of the original inhabitants of the frontier.