Genre

A genre (from Latin: genus) is a style or type of music, literature, movies, or other media.

Some genres (styles) are used in more than one form of art or communication. For example, the genres fantasy and science fiction are used in literature, movies, and television.

Examples of genres

• General: comedy, romance, mystery, science fiction
• Literary (written): fiction, non-fiction, young adult
• Movie genres: action movie, documentary, film noir
• Musical: rock and roll, hip hop, pop punk
• Comedy: black comedy, slapstick, commedia dell'arte

Subgenre

A subgenre is a subordinate within a genre. Two stories being the same genre can still sometimes differ in subgenre. For example, if a fantasy story has darker and more frightening elements of fantasy, it would belong in the subgenre of dark fantasy; whereas another fantasy story that features magic swords and wizards would belong to the subgenre of sword and sorcery.