Genology (Genre Theory)

Genology is the branch of literary theory that studies literary kinds, types, and genres: their nature, features, system, historical origin, and evolution. The term was introduced by the scholar Paul van Tieghem. The foundations of the classification of kinds (epic, lyric, drama) were laid by Aristotle and Plato according to the principle of the mode of representation; Georg Hegel gave a philosophical grounding of the triad of kinds. Genology investigates how genre canons are formed, how genres interact, diffuse, and transform, and why some genres fade while others arise. Important contributions to genre theory were made by Mikhail Bakhtin (genre as the 'memory' of literature, the theory of the novel and of speech genres), Northrop Frye, and Tzvetan Todorov. Problems of genology were developed in Ukrainian literary studies by Oleksandr Biletsky; genre transformations are an object of constant attention in contemporary poetics.