Mapping Approaches to Genres

Mapping Approaches to Genres

In Approaching the Genres we noted the difficulty of discussing Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy without reference to the other. The hypothesis introduced was that we could map changes to cultural attitudes toward technology and gender by looking at films that are representative of a particular culture at a particular point in time (in our case, roughly, by decades beginning with the 70s). I further hypothesised that if we have Science Fiction at one end of the scale and Fantasy at the other, Horror sits in the middle and is drawn into either end more or less, depending on the technological fear factor at a particular moment in culture.

As we start watching the films the course revolves around then we will consider how those films sit on the continuum above. Additionally, you will be asked to plot your responses to those films in terms of their fit (or misfit) into the categories of science fiction, horror or fantasy. The following diagram will thus appear throughout the course in order for you to indicate your own judgement of the film.

If you thought a film was horror with no fantasy or science-fiction then you would code it as a 1. If you thought a film was a mix of horror and science-fiction then that would be coded as a 5. You may like to try mapping your own preferred type of film onto the Mapping films activity now.