| This dissertation project examines selected historical models of screen Genre in the new context of recent generic practice, a practice which has changed markedly over the last two decades, due not only to the work of prominent specific auteurs specializing in genre narratives, but also due to industrial and technological shifts in distribution and reception leading to altered expectations of generic audiences' reading competencies and behaviors. This evaluation indicates that a contemporary model of Genre itself might be better considered as a game-like or ludic mode of engagement with an inter-related body of texts, rather than as a system of classification by textual type.;The Introduction presents key historical Structuralist concepts for approaching screen Genre, and these approaches are further examined in Chapter One, particularly those of Claude Levi-Strauss and Will Wright, in the context of two recent genre textual examples with striking Structuralist affinities: a multiplayer narrative "B-Movie" card game, and the 2012 Horror film The Cabin In the Woods. Considered in a context of play, as defined by Johan Huizinga, this creates an intriguing potential model of textual practice and reception modes.;In Chapter Two, an exploration of the contemporary reception practice of "binge viewing" and its digital distribution contexts illuminates the significance of the recent Marvel "Cinematic Phase One" project. The vast Marvel Comics print continuity and its recent cinematic endeavors, coordinated at corporate and creative levels, further present an unexpected affinity with Roland Barthes' ideas regarding texts and their readers in S/Z. It appears that a "megatext" of such scope may itself behave like a discrete genre, ultimately more comprehensible in the context of Genre models, and in turn suggesting more generalizable reading practices of genre audiences.;In Chapter Three, the work of genre auteur Joss Whedon illustrates the role of ideology and authorship in shaping genre texts, creating a framework of reading that can serve to augment or subvert existing genre structures. Whedon's approach to genre authorship may be examined at the ideological level using Sergei Eisenstein's theory of intellectual montage, and at the structural level by delineating the archetypes repeated across his texts, particularly that of the Surrogate, and its evolution and relationship to the reification and dismantling of authorial control.;In Chapter Four, a close examination and comparison of recent genre television series Battlestar Galactica (2003-2009) and Dollhouse (2009-2010), reveals strong thematic similarities between the series despite their markedly different genre settings, creators, production circumstances, and ratings success or failure. Both series additionally employ unusual approaches to narrative time, requiring close attention by audiences to decipher their timelines and internal rules. The divergent approaches of the two series to similar themes, with the latter apparently engaging the former, expose larger implications for variation, repetition, and reading in contemporary Genre practice.;The Conclusion examines the possible future impact of changes in practice, reception, and technology as examined in the dissertation, and their potential implications for the media industries, while considering the significance of the continued relevance of historical theories to these newer contexts and its implications. |
