Arguing Quote by Emily Gould
“I think that genre distinctions basically boil down to marketing categories, which are outdated. Any time people have an argument about them, they're arguing about something that doesn't exist in any meaningful way that has to do with style or substance or actual content of books.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The Death of Genre” in The Atlantic, 2015
Genre labels are marketing constructs that often misrepresent the true nature of creative works.
In simple terms: Genres are marketing tricks.
Key Takeaway
Look beyond categories.
Themes
marketing
literature
culture
classification
meaning
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
theoretical
commentary
When to use this quote
- book clubs
- publishing
- academic debates
- online forums
Key Concepts
semiotics
postmodernism
media studies
Questions to Reflect On
- Do categories ever help you find something you love?
- Can you define a work without a genre?
A Different Perspective
Genres can help readers discover new works.
![“I do experiment with lots of different genres. In making music, I don't think of genre like, "I want to do this, because I'm going use that country music sound; I'm going use that hip-hop sound; I'm going use that acoustic [sound]." It's just making music. So now that I've traveled a lot more…” quote by India.Arie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/188/india-arie-2-7871_acoustics_i-do-experiment-with-lots-of-different-g_42376.jpg)
