Literary genres
A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or length (especially for fiction).
7 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
Epistolary Literature
Melvyn Bragg discusses the 18th Century fashion for epistolary literature including Aphra Benn, Samuel Richardson and Jane Austen.
15 March 2007
Featuring: John Mullan, Karen O'Brien, Brean Hammond
Gothic
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss what inspired the 18th century anti-enlightenment Gothic movement, and examines how it has managed to secure itself a permanent position in popular culture even today.
4 January 2001
Featuring: Chris Baldick, A. N. Wilson, Emma Clery
Pastoral Literature
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss pastoral literature which looks at tensions between nature and art, the real and the ideal, the actual and the mythical.
6 July 2006
Featuring: Helen Cooper, Laurence Lerner, Julie Sanders
Roman Satire
Melvyn Bragg and guests Mary Beard, Denis Feeney and Duncan Kennedy discuss Roman satire.
22 April 2010
Featuring: Mary Beard, Denis Feeney, Duncan Kennedy
Sensation
Melvyn Bragg discusses the novels of sensation, a literary phenomenon which swept through the Victorian era.
6 November 2003
Featuring: John Mullan, Lyn Pykett, Dinah Birch
The Romantics
Melvyn Bragg discusses the ideals and legacy of Romanticism, a literary and artistic movement at the turn of the 19th century which gave rise to the great poetry of Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats.
12 October 2000
Featuring: Jonathan Bate, Rosemary Ashton, Nicholas Roe
Tragedy
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of the ancient genre of tragedy and examines whether we have a psychological need for it, either as catharsis or Schadenfreude.
2 December 1999
Featuring: George Steiner, Catherine Belsey