This is something I was only thinking about recently. It’s about the classification of Sunnyville Stories; in other words, I’m trying to figure out what genre it is.
What was that? You’re not familiar with the term “genre”? Well, that’s what we’ll talk about today. So what is genre?
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines genre as:
a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content
Okay, we have a working definition now. The genre is a type of category, a classification, a label and so forth.
Many works are often defined by what genre they are. Some are pretty obvious. The book Dracula by Bram Stoker is horror. Star Wars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Babylon 5 can be considered science fiction. The Lord of the Rings and the Shannara series by Terry Brooks can be considered fantasy.
Do you get the idea? Since we now have a basic idea of what genre is, let’s apply that to Sunnyville.
To be honest, I’ve been giving it thought. When I initially conceived the work, I intended it to be “slice of life”. It was meant to cover the everyday existence of Rusty in Sunnyville. But it’s also comedy as there is an emphasis on Rusty saying or doing something funny…with Sam reacting.
At the same time, there’s an autobiographical element. This work is partly autobiography because it does come from my own personal experiences. The very first story was based on what happened when I first moved into rural North Carolina. The fifth story where Rusty goes to a community dance is very much what happened to me. And remember when Rusty and his classmates performed that play? Again, that was my own life experiences.
So what does this mean for Sunnyville Stories? What genre can it be classified as? To be candid, I don’t think the series can be pigeonholed into one specific category. It’s hard to classify as it’s a combination of comedy, slice-of-life, and autobiography.
What does this mean for readers? Don’t worry about what Sunnyville is – just read it and enjoy it for what it is.
