Hybrid genre

2025-10-30T23:55:12Z

78.149.122.181: /* List of named hybrid genres */

{{short description|Genre that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}

A '''hybrid genre''' is a [[literary genre|literary]] or [[film genre]] that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres. Hybrid genre works are also referred to as '''cross-genre''', '''multi-genre''', '''mixed genre''', or '''fusion genre'''. Some hybrid genres have acquired their own specialised names, such as [[comedy drama]] ("dramedy"), [[romantic comedy]] ("rom-com"), [[horror Western]], and [[docudrama]].

''A Dictionary of Media and Communication'' describes hybrid genre as "the combination of two or more genres", which may combine elements of more than one genre and/or which may "cut across categories such as fact and fiction".<ref name="oxford">{{cite book|last1=Chandler |first1=Daniel |last2=Munday |first2=Rod |title=A Dictionary of Media and Communication |date=2020 |edition=3rd |chapter=hybrid genre |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0198841838 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20111108103413377 |access-date=21 July 2023 |via=Oxford Reference}}</ref>

Hybrid genres are a longstanding element in the fictional process. An early literature example is [[William Blake]]'s ''[[Marriage of Heaven and Hell]]'', with its blend of poetry, prose, and engravings.<ref>M. Singer/W. Walker, ''Bending Genre'' (2013) p. 21-2</ref> In cinema, the merging of two or more separate genres attracts a broader range of audience type.<ref name="Aldredge">{{cite web|last1=Aldredge |first1=Jourdan |title=A Guide to the Basic Film Genres (and How to Use Them) |url=https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/guide-to-basic-film-genres/ |website=PremiumBeat |publisher=[[Shutterstock]] |date=August 29, 2022 |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="Stylesphere">{{cite web |title=The Psychology of Jumping Genres: Why Audiences Love Hybrid Films |url=https://stylespheresource.com.in/the-psychology-of-jumping-genres-why-audiences-love-hybrid-films/ |website=Stylesphere Source |date=May 8, 2024 |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref>

==Examples==
===Literature===
In contemporary literature, [[Dimitris Lyacos]]'s trilogy ''[[Dimitris Lyacos#Poena Damni|Poena Damni]]'' combines fictional prose with drama and poetry in a multilayered narrative developing through the different characters of the work.<ref>{{cite web|date=2011-03-14|title=Reviews: Z213: Exit by Dimitris Lyacos|website= Write From Wrong Literary Magazine|url=http://writefromwrongmag.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/reviews-march/|access-date=2015-11-07|publisher=Writefromwrongmag.wordpress.com}}</ref>

Many contemporary women of color have published cross-genre works, including [[Theresa Hak Kyung Cha]], [[Giannina Braschi]], [[Guadalupe Nettel]], and [[Bhanu Kapil]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=How I Learned To Love Experimental Fiction As A Brown Girl By Seeking Out Books By Women Of Color|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/how-i-learned-to-love-experimental-fiction-as-a-brown-girl-by-seeking-out-books-by-women-of-color-15863937|access-date=2020-10-11|website=Bustle|date=25 January 2019 |language=en}}</ref> [[Giannina Braschi]] creates linguistic and structural hybrids of comic fantasy and tragic comedy in Spanish, [[Spanglish]], and English prose and poetry.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-08-06|title="What to Read Now: Mixed-Genre Literature," Giannina Braschi|url=https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2012/september/what-read-now-mixed-genre-literature-giannina-braschi|access-date=2020-10-11|website=World Literature Today|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marting|first=Diane E.|date=2010|title=New/Nueva York in Giannina Braschi's "Poetic Egg": Fragile Identity, Postmodernism, and Globalization|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/gso.2010.4.1.167|journal=The Global South|volume=4|issue=1|pages=167–182|doi=10.2979/gso.2010.4.1.167|jstor=10.2979/gso.2010.4.1.167 |issn=1932-8648|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Carmen Maria Machado]] mixes [[Psychological fiction|psychological realism]] and [[science fiction]] with both humor and elements of [[Gothic fiction|gothic horror]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-09|title=13 Latina Fantasy Books For the Sci-Fi Lover in Your Life|url=https://fierce.wearemitu.com/things-that-matter/these-13-latinx-sci-fi-books-make-the-most-magical-christmas-gifts/|access-date=2020-10-11|website=Fierce|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Dean Koontz]] considers himself a cross-genre writer, not a [[Horror fiction|horror]] writer: "I write cross-genre books-suspense mixed with love story, with humor, sometimes with two tablespoons of science fiction, sometimes with a pinch of horror, sometimes with a sprinkle of paprika..."<ref>Koontz, Dean. "Afterword", ''Lightning'', G.P. Putnam's Sons hardcover edition, January 1988. Berkley Publishing Group, mass market edition, May 1989. p. 360</ref>

===Film===
Examples of hybrid genre films include:
*''[[Grease (film)|Grease]]'' (1978; [[Musical film|musical]], comedy, [[Romance film|romance]], [[Coming of age film|coming-of-age]])<ref name="farout">{{cite web|last1=Tibbs |first1=Ros |date=4 August 2022 |title=10 essential films that define genre-hybridity |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/10-essential-films-genre-hybridity/ |access-date=21 July 2023 |website=Far Out}}</ref>
*''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'' (1988; [[live action]], [[animated film|animation]], [[Mystery film| mystery]])<ref name=farout/>
*''[[Back to the Future 3]]'' (1990; [[science fiction film|science fiction]] and [[western film|western]])<ref name=oxford/>

*''[[Punch-Drunk Love]]'' (2002; rom-com, [[psychological drama]], musical, [[screwball comedy]])
*''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'' (2004; [[Horror film|horror]], [[Survival film|survival]], [[comedy film|comedy]])<ref name=farout/>
*''[[Let the Right One In (film)|Let the Right One In]]'' (2008; horror ([[vampire film|vampire]]), romance, coming-of-age, [[Nordic noir]])<ref name=ding2017a>{{cite web | title=The 20 Best Genre-Hybrid Movies of The 21st Century (1) | website=Taste of Cinema |first=Kevin |last=Ding | date=13 July 2017 | url=http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2017/the-20-best-genre-hybrid-movies-of-the-21st-century/ | access-date=21 July 2023}}</ref>

*''[[Drive (2011 film)|Drive]]'' (2011; [[arthouse film|art-house drama]], [[B-movie]])<ref name=ding2017c/>

*''[[Deadpool]]'' (2016; [[superhero film|superhero]], [[action film|action]], comedy)''<ref name="farout" />''

*''[[Elle (2016 film)|Elle]]'' (2016; [[erotic thriller]], [[Black comedy]], [[Satire (film and television)| satire]])<ref name=ding2017b>{{cite web | title=The 20 Best Genre-Hybrid Movies of The 21st Century (2) | website=Taste of Cinema |first=Kevin |last=Ding | date=13 July 2017 | url=http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2017/the-20-best-genre-hybrid-movies-of-the-21st-century/2/ | access-date=21 July 2023}}</ref>

*''[[Logan (2017 film)|Logan]]'' (2017; superhero, Western)<ref name=ding2017b/><ref name=farout/>

*''[[The Killing of a Sacred Deer]]'' (2017; horror, [[Greek tragedy]], dark comedy)<ref name=ding2017c>{{cite web | title=The 20 Best Genre-Hybrid Movies of The 21st Century (3) | website=Taste of Cinema |first=Kevin |last=Ding | date=13 July 2017 | url=http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2017/the-20-best-genre-hybrid-movies-of-the-21st-century/3/ | access-date=21 July 2023}}</ref>

*''[[Parasite (2019 film)|Parasite]]'' (2019; comedy, [[drama film|drama]], [[Thriller film|thriller]])''<ref name="farout" />''
* ''[[Bones and All]]'' (2022; [[Road movie|road film]], coming-of-age, romance, horror)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bones and All review: Timothée Chalamet turns cannibal in gruesome love story |url=https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/bones-and-all-review-timothee-chalamet-turns-cannibal-in-gruesome-love-story-1943273/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Dexerto |language=en}}</ref>
*''[[Everything Everywhere All at Once]]'' (2022; action, [[fantasy film| fantasy]], sci-fi)
*''[[Sinners (2025 film)|Sinners]]'' (2025; horror (vampire), [[Revisionist Western|revisionist Western]], [[Musical film|musical]])<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-04-24 |title='Sinners' Is a Black Musical |url=https://www.autostraddle.com/sinners-is-a-black-musical/ |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=Autostraddle |language=en-US |archive-date=April 29, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250429162439/https://www.autostraddle.com/sinners-is-a-black-musical/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Paul A. |date=2025-04-22 |title=Sinners Review: Finally, A Transcendental Southern Gothic Vampire Musical Blockbuster |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/sinners-movie-review/ |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref>

===TV series===
*''[[Lost (TV series)|Lost]]'' (2004-2010; [[Adventure fiction|adventure]], mystery, science fiction, serial drama, [[Supernatural fiction|supernatural]], survival, thriller)<ref name="Lost">{{Cite web |last=VanDerWerff |first=Todd |title=The Lost Interviews |url=https://www.vox.com/a/lost-damon-lindelof-interviews |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]}}</ref>

==List of named hybrid genres==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
*[[Action comedy]] ([[action (fiction)|action]] and [[comedy]])
*[[Action drama]] (action and [[drama]])
*[[Action thriller]] (action and [[Thriller (genre)|thriller]])
*[[Action horror]] (action and [[Horror fiction|horror]])
*[[Comedy drama]] (comedy and drama)
*[[Comedy-horror]] (comedy and horror)
*[[Comedy thriller]] (comedy and thriller)
*[[Comic fantasy]] (comedy and [[fantasy]])
*[[Comic science fiction]] (comedy and [[science fiction]])
*[[Crime drama]] (crime and drama)
*Crime fantasy ([[crime fiction|crime]] and fantasy)<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-05-15|title=When crime meets fantasy in fiction|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/15/crime-fantasy-literature-crimefest-bristol-literary-genres|access-date=2022-02-18|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
*[[Dark fantasy]] (horror and fantasy)
*[[Docudrama]] (dramatised [[documentary]])
*[[Docufiction]] (documentary and [[fiction]])
*[[Ethnofiction]] ([[ethnography]] and fiction)
*[[Fantasy Western]] (fantasy and [[Western (genre)|Western]])
*[[Horror Western]] (horror and Western)
*[[Romantic comedy]] ([[Romance novel|romance]] and comedy)
*[[Romantic fantasy]] (romance and fantasy)
*[[Science fantasy]] (science fiction and fantasy)
*[[Science fiction Western]] (science fiction and Western)
*[[Tragicomedy]] ([[tragedy]] and comedy)
*[[Zombie comedy]] ([[zombie apocalypse|zombie fiction]] and comedy)
{{div col end}}

==See also==
*[[Genre-busting]]
*[[Menippean satire]]
*[[Northrop Frye]]
*''[[Orlando: A Biography]]''

==References==
{{Reflist|2|}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Freedman |first1=Diane P. |title=An Alchemy of Genres: Cross-Genre Writing by American Feminist Poet-Critics |date=1992 |edition=1st |publisher=[[University of Virginia Press]] |location=Charlottesville, Virginia |isbn=978-0813913773}}

==External links==
* [https://www.filmsite.org/filmgenres.html Film Genres] at [[Filmsite]]

[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Genres]]
[[Category:Literary genres]]
[[Category:Theme]]
[[Category:Film genres]]

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Hybrid genre