DEFINE genre and multigenre?

Answer 1

"Genre" is the French word for "kind" or "sort." In books the word genre is a marketing and critical term that categorizes certain fiction works apart from others. The most important genres are science fiction, fantasy, horror, western, and romance. Some people get even more specific, for example, subdividing science fiction into space opera, high tech, science fantasy, and more.

Multigenre works are works that bridge categories. For example, there is a new class of works called the "weird western" becoming popular, in which elements of fantasy and horror are layered onto a western novel. There are also supernatural romances, which use ghosts, spirits, vampires, and other fantasy and horror elements in a fairly standard romance novel.

Many critics have a low opinion of genre fiction, particularly because many publishers recycle formulae over and over in the genres to ensure a large audience. The result is work which is often lowbrow and stylistically unambitious. But from a strictly categorical stance, the genres are little more than ways for publishers to divvy up their product lines and pitch their ads in a narrow, focussed manner.