Identifying Literary Genres The Conventions of Noir Thriller in Harlan Coben’s The Stranger (A Structuralist Study).

B. Identifying Literary Genres

Identifying literary genres is one of the focuses of Structuralism in literature which mostly deals with narrative texts. According to Frye, this attempt is obtained through intertextuality. The meaning of a text is perceived through its deep structure which is internally related to the other similar works. In doing so, Frye distinguished narratives into the four mythoi: summer, winter, autumn, and spring. In Frye’s distinction of narrative genres, each of them is constructed through particular characteristics. Romance is basically characterized by conflict experienced by the leading characters as it employs the world of adventure. Catastrophe is the basic feature of tragedy which exposed the fall of the leading characters. On the other hand, irony and satire are structured by disorder and confusion, whereas comedy is constructed by triumph as the leading characters could overcome the problem by their unexpected way. The distinctions are then regarded as archetypal criticism as it focuses on identifying a particular pattern the character and characterization, the sequence of actions, and the formulation of plot which construct narratives among the period of Western literature. Even though the patterns are the basic construction, they are able to invent a number of different contents, such as the basic of tragedy which can be found in the story of Oedipus and Hamlet Tyson, 2006: 222-223. The literary canon does not merely affect the creation of various contexts as the extension of a particular structure. Nineteenth century is the most notable period of the canonical works. Literary genres are varied as the view upon the works is getting wider. There is as shift on the literary knowledge which emerged every ten years, such as the age of vers libre, the age of Eliot, and the age of Auden which extend American poetry. In narrative itself, the people are introduced to the period of Gothic novels as the extension of The Castle of Otranto. Even though the theme may be limited, the literary devices are able to extend the interpretation of a particular genre, such as Gothic novels which cover any stories in which the sensation of horror and terror are delivered to the readers. After all, among the literary canon and the development of genres, one to note is that the people should look at the distinction between traditional and modern theory. As generated in Frye’s archetypal criticism, the traditional method is strict to a particular structure. It is only the contents which are able to extend. The devices cannot be mixed to keep the ‘purity’ of the structure, such as being concerned on a certain theme and plot. The social rules in the characters are also apparent, such as in tragedy where the conflicts are mostly experienced by the noble men whereas in satire, the ordinary people the working class are mostly put as the leading characters. On the other hand, modern theory does not restrict the rules and the devices mixing in order to create a new blended genre, such as romantic-comedy. It is interested in the ‘uniqueness’ of each works which are constructed through the shared devices. In order to support this notion, Henry Wells in Wellek and Warren, 1948: 242-245 mentioned that no matter the works are associated they are still affected by the others.

C. Noir Thriller as a Literary Genre