{{short description|Genre that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres}} {{use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
A '''hybrid genre''' is a literary or film genre that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres. Hybrid genre works are also referred to as '''cross-genre''', '''multi-genre''', '''mixed genre''', or '''fusion genre'''. Some hybrid genres have acquired their own specialised names, such as comedy drama ("dramedy"), romantic comedy ("rom-com"), horror Western, and docudrama.
''A Dictionary of Media and Communication'' describes hybrid genre as "the combination of two or more genres", which may combine elements of more than one genre and/or which may "cut across categories such as fact and fiction".<ref name="oxford">{{cite book|last1=Chandler |first1=Daniel |last2=Munday |first2=Rod |title=A Dictionary of Media and Communication |date=2020 |edition=3rd |chapter=hybrid genre |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0198841838 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20111108103413377 |access-date=21 July 2023 |via=Oxford Reference}}</ref>
Hybrid genres are a longstanding element in the fictional process. An early literature example is William Blake's ''Marriage of Heaven and Hell'', with its blend of poetry, prose, and engravings.<ref>M. Singer/W. Walker, ''Bending Genre'' (2013) p. 21-2</ref> In cinema, the merging of two or more separate genres attracts a broader range of audience type.<ref name="Aldredge">{{cite web|last1=Aldredge |first1=Jourdan |title=A Guide to the Basic Film Genres (and How to Use Them) |url=https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/guide-to-basic-film-genres/ |website=PremiumBeat |publisher=Shutterstock |date=August 29, 2022 |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="Stylesphere">{{cite web |title=The Psychology of Jumping Genres: Why Audiences Love Hybrid Films |url=https://stylespheresource.com.in/the-psychology-of-jumping-genres-why-audiences-love-hybrid-films/ |website=Stylesphere Source |date=May 8, 2024 |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref>
==Examples== ===Literature=== In contemporary literature, Dimitris Lyacos's trilogy ''Poena Damni'' combines fictional prose with drama and poetry in a multilayered narrative developing through the different characters of the work.<ref>{{cite web|date=2011-03-14|title=Reviews: Z213: Exit by Dimitris Lyacos|website= Write From Wrong Literary Magazine|url=http://writefromwrongmag.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/reviews-march/|access-date=2015-11-07|publisher=Writefromwrongmag.wordpress.com}}</ref>
Many contemporary women of color have published cross-genre works, including Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Giannina Braschi, Guadalupe Nettel, and Bhanu Kapil.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How I Learned To Love Experimental Fiction As A Brown Girl By Seeking Out Books By Women Of Color|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/how-i-learned-to-love-experimental-fiction-as-a-brown-girl-by-seeking-out-books-by-women-of-color-15863937|access-date=2020-10-11|website=Bustle|date=25 January 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Giannina Braschi creates linguistic and structural hybrids of comic fantasy and tragic comedy in Spanish, Spanglish, and English prose and poetry.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-08-06|title="What to Read Now: Mixed-Genre Literature," Giannina Braschi|url=https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2012/september/what-read-now-mixed-genre-literature-giannina-braschi|access-date=2020-10-11|website=World Literature Today|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marting|first=Diane E.|date=2010|title=New/Nueva York in Giannina Braschi's "Poetic Egg": Fragile Identity, Postmodernism, and Globalization|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/gso.2010.4.1.167|journal=The Global South|volume=4|issue=1|pages=167–182|doi=10.2979/gso.2010.4.1.167|jstor=10.2979/gso.2010.4.1.167 |issn=1932-8648|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Carmen Maria Machado mixes psychological realism and science fiction with both humor and elements of gothic horror.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-09|title=13 Latina Fantasy Books For the Sci-Fi Lover in Your Life|url=https://fierce.wearemitu.com/things-that-matter/these-13-latinx-sci-fi-books-make-the-most-magical-christmas-gifts/|access-date=2020-10-11|website=Fierce|language=en-US}}</ref>
Dean Koontz considers himself a cross-genre writer, not a horror writer: "I write cross-genre books-suspense mixed with love story, with humor, sometimes with two tablespoons of science fiction, sometimes with a pinch of horror, sometimes with a sprinkle of paprika..."<ref>Koontz, Dean. "Afterword", ''Lightning'', G.P. Putnam's Sons hardcover edition, January 1988. Berkley Publishing Group, mass market edition, May 1989. p. 360</ref>
===Film=== Examples of hybrid genre films include: *''Grease'' (1978; musical, comedy, romance, coming-of-age)<ref name="farout">{{cite web|last1=Tibbs |first1=Ros |date=4 August 2022 |title=10 essential films that define genre-hybridity |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/10-essential-films-genre-hybridity/ |access-date=21 July 2023 |website=Far Out}}</ref> *''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988; live action, animation, mystery)<ref name=farout/> *''Back to the Future 3'' (1990; science fiction and western)<ref name=oxford/> *''Punch-Drunk Love'' (2002; rom-com, psychological drama, musical, screwball comedy) *''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004; horror, survival, comedy)<ref name=farout/> *''Let the Right One In'' (2008; horror (vampire), romance, coming-of-age, Nordic noir)<ref name=ding2017a>{{cite web | title=The 20 Best Genre-Hybrid Movies of The 21st Century (1) | website=Taste of Cinema |first=Kevin |last=Ding | date=13 July 2017 | url=http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2017/the-20-best-genre-hybrid-movies-of-the-21st-century/ | access-date=21 July 2023}}</ref> *''Drive'' (2011; art-house drama, B-movie)<ref name=ding2017c/> *''Deadpool'' (2016; superhero, action, comedy)''<ref name="farout" />'' *''Elle'' (2016; erotic thriller, Black comedy, satire)<ref name=ding2017b>{{cite web | title=The 20 Best Genre-Hybrid Movies of The 21st Century (2) | website=Taste of Cinema |first=Kevin |last=Ding | date=13 July 2017 | url=http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2017/the-20-best-genre-hybrid-movies-of-the-21st-century/2/ | access-date=21 July 2023}}</ref> *''Logan'' (2017; superhero, Western)<ref name=ding2017b/><ref name=farout/> *''The Killing of a Sacred Deer'' (2017; horror, Greek tragedy, dark comedy)<ref name=ding2017c>{{cite web | title=The 20 Best Genre-Hybrid Movies of The 21st Century (3) | website=Taste of Cinema |first=Kevin |last=Ding | date=13 July 2017 | url=http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2017/the-20-best-genre-hybrid-movies-of-the-21st-century/3/ | access-date=21 July 2023}}</ref> *''Parasite'' (2019; comedy, drama, thriller)''<ref name="farout" />'' * ''Bones and All'' (2022; road film, coming-of-age, romance, horror)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bones and All review: Timothée Chalamet turns cannibal in gruesome love story |url=https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/bones-and-all-review-timothee-chalamet-turns-cannibal-in-gruesome-love-story-1943273/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Dexerto |language=en}}</ref> *''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' (2022; action, fantasy, sci-fi) *''Sinners'' (2025; horror (vampire), revisionist Western, musical)<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-04-24 |title='Sinners' Is a Black Musical |url=https://www.autostraddle.com/sinners-is-a-black-musical/ |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=Autostraddle |language=en-US |archive-date=April 29, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250429162439/https://www.autostraddle.com/sinners-is-a-black-musical/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Paul A. |date=2025-04-22 |title=Sinners Review: Finally, A Transcendental Southern Gothic Vampire Musical Blockbuster |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/sinners-movie-review/ |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref>
===TV series=== *''Lost'' (2004–2010; adventure, mystery, science fiction, serial drama, supernatural, survival, thriller)<ref name="Lost">{{Cite web |last=VanDerWerff |first=Todd |title=The Lost Interviews |url=https://www.vox.com/a/lost-damon-lindelof-interviews |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=Vox}}</ref>
==List of named hybrid genres== {{div col|colwidth=25em}} *Action comedy (action and comedy) *Action drama (action and drama) *Action thriller (action and thriller) *Action horror (action and horror) *Comedy drama (comedy and drama) *Comedy horror (comedy and horror) *Comedy thriller (comedy and thriller) *Comic fantasy (comedy and fantasy) *Comic science fiction (comedy and science fiction) *Crime drama (crime and drama) *Crime fantasy (crime and fantasy)<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-05-15|title=When crime meets fantasy in fiction|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/15/crime-fantasy-literature-crimefest-bristol-literary-genres|access-date=2022-02-18|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> *Dark fantasy (horror and fantasy) *Docudrama (dramatised documentary) *Docufiction (documentary and fiction) *Ethnofiction (ethnography and fiction) *Fantasy Western (fantasy and Western) *Horror Western (horror and Western) *Mannerpunk (comedy of manners and fantasy) *Romantic comedy (romance and comedy) *Romantic fantasy (romance and fantasy) *Science fantasy (science fiction and fantasy) *Science fiction Western (science fiction and Western) *Tragicomedy (tragedy and comedy) *Zombie comedy (zombie fiction and comedy) {{div col end}}
==See also== *Genre-busting *Menippean satire *Northrop Frye *''Orlando: A Biography''
==References== {{Reflist|2|}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last1=Freedman |first1=Diane P. |title=An Alchemy of Genres: Cross-Genre Writing by American Feminist Poet-Critics |date=1992 |edition=1st |publisher=University of Virginia Press |location=Charlottesville, Virginia |isbn=978-0813913773}}
==External links== * [https://www.filmsite.org/filmgenres.html Film Genres] at Filmsite
Category:Fiction Category:Genres Category:Literary genres Category:Theme Category:Film genres