The Promise of Genres

Summary: When does an audiovisual document or a programme function as a genre and what does the word mean? In answering this question the author examines the articulation between interpretation, on the one hand, and programming and mediation acts, on the other. The genre as a category of reception is perceived as a promise specified by the type of flow, by an enunciatory mode or a tone. It is a promise of a relationship with a world, of which the mode or degree of existence conditions the viewer's adherence or participation, depending on his or her know-how, beliefs and emotions. By linking the know-how, beliefs and emotions attached to audiovisual documents, on the one hand, and to televisual documents, on the other, the article also shows how the identification of genres is based on the rejection of the viewer model in favour of the televiewer model, and how the age of television has given way to a culture of programmes.