definition of a hybrid essay

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Writing in Context: a “hybrid” essay

February 5, 2014

In “Section B: creating and presenting” you will encounter various themes and relate them to a variety of texts. Inspired discussions may revolve around conflict, identity, landscapes and whose reality. Typical prompts that you will encounter are: “Conflict brings out the best or worst in people. “We grow through change”. “People’s true spirit is revealed in difficult times.” “There’s two ways of seeing our world – a right way and a wrong way.”

When writing expository essays relating to these themes you may wish to write a feature article or adopt “hybrid” format. A feature article can be compared with an expository essay with narrative and creative components. Feature writers often take a narrative approach and draw on dialogue, descriptive scenes and varying tones of voice to tell stories. Anecdotes and “people” stories are common and help to bring the theme alive.

Think about an interesting persona: hybrid/feature texts

• Choose an authentic but fresh context/persona. It should be simple and straightforward, but have the potential to include sophisticated examples and quotes. For example, Jason Smith, Youth Leader at the Kyneton Youth Voices Program. Use the “I” as a linking device and one who signposts the key ideas. Exploit the personal dimension. Once you get confident, inject a dash of personality into your persona.
• Make sure you show a progression of ideas. Divide your article into three sections with a beginning, middle (development) and end (food for thought; a complex or ambivalent, contradictory idea.)
• Once you choose a context/persona that you are comfortable with think about how you can link to the set text. This can often be done through a speaker, lecturer, presenter etc.
• Write out your key ideas/points/ paragraphs from the set text that you tend to use for a variety of prompts.
• Then think about some parallel examples that suit your persona and the text.  Make sure you have a variety of quotes, real-life examples and sources (poems/people) etc.
• Finally, create an interesting beginning that also suits the persona and foreshadows the text.

The author:  feature writers may be newspaper staff writers who have investigated an issue, or they may be freelance writers with particular expertise and seek to contribute to a debate. Personal journalism, or the use of the first-person pronoun, is common. This means that writers, drawing upon their personal or professional observations, often include personal references and their own feelings and attitudes to the subject — sometimes with a “before” and “after” perspective.

The audience:  feature articles should appeal to the target audience. For example if a magazine targets middle-aged women, then the articles, advertisements and pictures would reflect the women’s interest in lifestyle, career, money, health and relationships.

The facts:  Writers must research their facts and present them in a compelling and interesting manner, including quotes to give a sense of immediacy. They must choose a range of sources to give a balanced perspective. Use a combination of evidence.

Who are you?  You must choose a “persona”, that is you may be an expert or professional in the field, or represent an organisation. Or you may be a staff writer. Your persona is critical to your message. It is also critical to your writing style. If you wish to include a personal slant, establish the “I” persona near the beginning of your article.

Making a start: a template for your first “hybrid” (feature) article Follow the guidelines below to write a “hybrid” article. As you gain confidence, you can vary your persona, become more sophisticated or model your style on your favourite newspaper writer. (For example, refer to Martin Flanagan, Saturday Reflection,  The Age (Insight).   

See Sample Plan/Format for expository/ hybrid/ persona-style : Hybrid essay

Also see Writing in Context. Joey Bloomsfield, Community Reporter, Meredith News

Take on the role of a community reporter at a local magazine and report on the Shire’s Cultural Week. Include some stories about people in the (local) community and refer to your novel or film. Write down your key points/arguments, starting with the most obvious point. Think about your most compelling evidence for each point. Be sure to establish an emotional and/or a logical context. You must show a progression of ideas: include a problem or a different angle to show the issue’s complexity.

Here we go. Start with an interesting beginning: a short anecdote or a quote. Set the scene. Explain your purpose: to cover Meredith Shire’s Cultural Week.

• Show a link to the prompt.
• Refer to a speaker/discussion at the Meredith Library. This is an opportunity for you to discuss aspects of your chosen text and similar examples that shed light on the prompt. For example, you may focus on a discussion by Mr Donavan regarding a relevant theme in your novel.
• Make a comment. Ask a question. Perhaps include a relevant comment from a member of the audience.
• If you wish to refer to a film or a play, include a reference to the Meredith Theatre Company or the Meredith Film Society.
• Ask a question to prompt reflection.
• You may conclude with a reference to a local “people” story, or a reference to your favourite poem that provides another interesting angle on the prompt.
• Round off your discussion.
• Conclude with a final example or refer back to the opening anecdote or quote. Encourage readers to reflect on a problem.

See a sample of Joey’s essay. See  Writing Better Essays  for a model essay: pp 70-71.

For sample “hybrid” essays and a variety of styles and contexts, see:

“Different versions of reality”  (Whose Reality)  (Student Magazine)

Our place in the world and us: Reflection in The Meredith Gazette  (“Death of a Salesman”, Two essays on Whose Reality from different persona/context)

How we live in a world created by others, Student Representative (Whose Reality: Death of a Salesman)

Trapped in our subjective world:  A prison with no bars (Literary reviewer, Spies)

Looking back can alter our reality: Spencers Film Festival by reviewer Hayden Crong

Speech: Sally Dalton, new age health consultant; How much reality is healthy?  (Speech to Spencer Grammar School, The Lot, Death of a Salesman)

Also a Speech by the Author of “Getting a Grip” (Jeremy Springer, who addresses a group of wannabes: Death of a Salesman)

Remembering and forgetting: life-style counsellor and health guide (Death of a Salesman)

See “A Series of Open Letters” (Based on the The Lot/ Whose Reality)

Illusions and dealing with loss: psychologist, Jimmy Swanson   (Death of a Salesman) Spencer News Reflection: what determines our realities? : Column Reflection

Misrepresenting Reality: an insurance evaluator takes stock: Willy Loman

See Evading Reality, a personal reflection   (Death of a Salesman) To get involved or not: Weekly Reflection Column by Student Representative (Conflict)

See Relationships with Place and Community By Jason Smith Youth Leader (The Mind of a Thief)

Dilemmas and choices: a reflection of ourselves  (Conflict)  (Spencer News)

See “Doing the Right Thing”, by Janie Fitzpatrick, Youth Global Voices Group (Melbourne) and Galileo

See A Clash of views and values and conflict , by Kristy Mendelson (Student representative Hampton Park University) “The world in which we live shapes us”  History Lecturer at Southern Cross University (Imaginary Landscapes)

See Identity as a Story (Mind of a Thief)

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What Is Hybrid Writing: Exploring Blended World of Hybrid Genres

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

The Evolution of Hybrid Writing: Understanding the Roots and Growth of Blended Genres

Hybrid writing has emerged as a fascinating and influential concept in literature, blending elements from multiple genres to create a unique and immersive reading experience. The evolution of Integrated writing reflects a rich tapestry of literary innovation, where writers have continually pushed the boundaries of genre definitions.

The Journey Begins: A Brief History of Hybrid Writing

The origins of Integrated writing are as old as literature itself. From the ancient Greek tragedies, which often blended elements of drama and philosophy, to the Renaissance works that fused poetry with prose, the seeds of hybrid writing have always been present. However, in the modern era, this concept began to take a more defined shape.

Notable Milestones in Integrated Writing

• Early 20th Century: Writers began experimenting with blending narrative styles, leading to works that straddled the lines between fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
• Postmodern Era: This period saw a surge in genre-blending, with authors like Jorge Luis Borges and Kurt Vonnegut creating works that defied traditional categorizations.
• Contemporary Scene: Today, Integrated writing has become a prominent fixture in literature, with books that merge memoirs with fiction or combine science fiction with historical narratives.

Influential Authors and Their Contributions

• Virginia Woolf: Known for her stream-of-consciousness technique, Woolf’s works often blend introspective narrative with fictional elements.
• Gabriel García Márquez: His magical realism combines the real and the fantastical, creating a unique hybrid narrative style.

Quote from a Renowned Author

“The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.” – Anaïs Nin

The Impact of Integrated Writing on Literature

The evolution of Integrated writing has profoundly impacted how stories are told and experienced. It has allowed authors to explore themes and ideas that might be constrained by the boundaries of a single genre. Blending genres has not only given writers creative freedom but also offered readers new ways to engage with literature.

Table: Landmark Works in Integrated Writing

The Historical Significance of Integrated Writing

The historical journey of Integrated writing is a testament to the endless possibilities of storytelling. It challenges traditional literary conventions and opens up a world where the only limit is the author’s imagination. This evolution reflects the changing landscape of literature and mirrors the dynamic and multifaceted nature of human experience.

Characteristics of Hybrid Writing: Identifying the Hallmarks of Genre Blending

Integrated writing, a unique blend of various literary genres, stands out for its ability to transcend traditional storytelling boundaries. This section delves into the distinctive features that define Integrated writing, setting it apart from conventional genre classifications.

Defining the Essence of Integrated Writing

At its core, Integrated writing is characterized by the fusion of elements from different genres to create a rich, complex, and often groundbreaking narrative. This blending can occur in various forms – from combining narrative techniques to merging thematic elements.

Key Features of Integrated Writing

• Narrative Fusion: Merging of different storytelling methods, such as combining first-person memoirs with third-person narratives.
• Thematic Blending: Incorporation of themes from different genres, like infusing a romance novel with elements of science fiction.
• Structural Innovation: Innovative use of structure, such as non-linear timelines or mixed-media formats.

Hybrid Writing vs. Traditional Genre Writing

Unlike traditional genre writing, which often follows established conventions and boundaries, Integrated writing is defined by its fluidity and innovation. It allows for a more expansive and creative exploration of themes and narratives.

Table: Comparing Integrated Writing with Traditional Genres

Quote Emphasizing the Significance of Integrated Writing

“Literature is a blend of reality and fiction, a fusion of different genres. It’s where the magical can be mundane and the ordinary can be extraordinary.” – Contemporary Literary Critic

The Uniqueness of Hybrid Writing

The characteristics of Integrated writing highlight its role as a revolutionary force in literature. Blurring the lines between genres offers a fresh perspective and challenges readers to engage with narratives in novel and often more complex ways. The distinctiveness of Integrated writing lies in its limitless potential to redefine what a story can be and how it can be told.

Hybrid Writing in Practice: Exploring Examples and Techniques in Integrated Genres

The practical application of Integrated writing showcases its versatility and creative potential. This section explores real-world examples of Integrated writing and authors’ techniques to blend genres effectively.

Vivid Examples of Hybrid Writing

Hybrid writing has given birth to many literary works that challenge and enrich the traditional reading experience. These examples illustrate the concept of Integrated writing and demonstrate its impact on storytelling.

• “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern: A mesmerizing blend of fantasy, romance, and historical fiction.
• “Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders: An innovative mix of historical writing, fiction, and spiritual exploration.
• “Beloved” by Toni Morrison: A powerful fusion of African American history, supernatural elements, and deep emotional narrative.

Techniques Used in Crafting Hybrid Genres

Authors of Integrated writing employ various techniques to blend genres seamlessly:

• Interweaving Narratives: Combining multiple storylines from different genres creates a cohesive narrative.
• Genre Elements Fusion: Melding elements like science fiction technology with historical settings.
• Thematic Overlapping: Integrating themes from different genres to enrich the narrative depth.

Table: Analysis of Hybrid Writing Techniques

Quote Reflecting the Art of Hybrid Writing

“In the world of hybrid genres, the only rule is that there are no rules. It’s a canvas where imagination meets the boundless sky of creativity.” – Literary Scholar

The Creative Potential of Hybrid Writing Techniques

The practice of Integrated writing is more than just a literary trend; it’s a testament to the endless possibilities of storytelling. By breaking free from the constraints of traditional genres, Integrated writing offers a unique and enriching experience for both the writer and the reader. It’s a genre that entertains and broadens our understanding of narrative possibilities.

Hybrid Writing and Reader Engagement: How Blended Genres Resonate with Modern Readers

The allure of Integrated writing in engaging contemporary readers lies in its ability to offer diverse and enriched narrative experiences. This section explores how hybrid genres captivate and resonate with today’s audience .

The Appeal of Hybrid Writing to Contemporary Readers

With its blend of multiple genres, Integrated writing appeals to a wide array of readers by offering something unique and unexpected. It caters to varied tastes and preferences, often providing a more relatable and immersive experience.

Reasons Behind the Popularity of Hybrid Genres

• Diverse Narrative Elements: Combining different genres satisfies a broader range of reader interests.
• Unique Reading Experiences: Hybrid works often provide novel and unexpected storytelling approaches.
• Emotional and Intellectual Engagement: The complexity and depth of Integrated writing offer a more engaging experience.

Impact of Hybrid Writing on Reader Engagement

Integrated writing has redefined reader expectations and engagement by offering narratives that are entertaining, intellectually stimulating, and emotionally resonant.

Table: Survey Data on Reader Preferences for Hybrid Genres

Quote Highlighting Reader Engagement in Hybrid Writing

“Hybrid writing invites readers into a world where the familiar meets the unexpected, creating a reading experience that is both comforting and thrilling.” – Literary Critic

The Growing Significance of Hybrid Writing in Reader Engagement

The role of hybrid writing in engaging modern readers is significant. By presenting stories that defy conventional genre boundaries , Integrated writing entertains, challenges, and enriches the reader’s experience. Its growing popularity is a testament to its ability to connect with readers on multiple levels, making it an indispensable part of the contemporary literary landscape.

Hybrid Writing FAQ

Hybrid writing refers to a literary form that blends elements from multiple genres, often combining fiction , prose , poetry , or memoir to create a unique and innovative work. This type of writing can blend different genres, combine diverse styles, and explore unconventional structures and concepts.

Hybrid writing challenges genre boundaries by defying the conventions of traditional literary categories. Instead of fitting into a specific category or structure , hybrid works often explore new perspectives and push the boundaries of what is considered literary .

Works that fall under the category of Integrated writing may include Integrated memoirs , Integrated genres such as historical fiction or psychological thrillers, and novels that combine elements of science fiction with poetic language. These pieces often blend conventions from different genres to create a unique reading experience.

Writers delving into Integrated writing can combine elements from different genres, experiment with structure and narrative perspective , and explore innovative ways to blend various storytelling techniques. It is a form of literary fusion that offers the author creative freedom and expression.

Hybrid Writing and the Future of Literature: Anticipating the Next Wave of Genre Blending

As we look towards the future, hybrid writing promises to transform the literary world further. This section discusses the anticipated trends and potential developments in genre blending.

Predictions for the Future of Hybrid Writing

The ever-evolving landscape of literature suggests that hybrid writing will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping future narratives. The flexibility and creative freedom it offers will likely inspire even more innovative blends of genres.

Emerging Trends in Hybrid Genres

• Digital and Interactive Narratives: The rise of digital media may lead to hybrid genres incorporating interactive elements.
• Cross-Cultural Blends: There’s a growing interest in combining narratives from different cultural backgrounds, enriching the global literary tapestry.
• Experimental Formats: Expect to see more books that defy traditional formats, using visual and auditory elements to enhance storytelling.

The Potential of Hybrid Writing in Shaping Future Literature

Hybrid writing is not just a trend; it’s a movement that reflects the dynamic and complex nature of human stories. Its potential to evolve and adapt makes it a powerful tool in the future development of literature.

Table: Forecast of Evolving Trends in Hybrid Writing

Quote Envisioning the Future of Hybrid Writing

“The future of literature lies in breaking the mold, in creating stories that are as diverse and complex as the world we live in. Hybrid writing is at the forefront of this revolution.” – Futurist Literary Scholar

Conclusion: The Exciting Possibilities for the Future of Hybrid Writing

The future of Integrated writing is bright and full of possibilities. It stands as a beacon of creativity and innovation, continually pushing the boundaries of what literature can be. As we move forward, hybrid writing is poised to redefine storytelling, offering readers and writers alike a canvas to explore the limitless potential of the written word.

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Matt Wesolowski is the author behind Six Stories and Hydra . In today’s episode we talk to him about the notion of ‘hybrid writing’ – incorporating other forms such as podcasts, emails and Reddit threads into novels. Also discussed: pink glue sticks.

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Lower secondary Writing Series 1 – E04: Hybrid writing

Following Tr Rachael previous lessons about  analysing your essay questions ,   narrative writing  and  expository writing , here is a new lesson for you showcasing the Hybrid Writing technique.

Hybrid writing technique

In this lesson 4, the learning objectives are:

1. Be familiar with the structure of a hybrid essay 2. Know how to signpost your essay to show you have addressed both genres

What is a hybrid essay?

It refers to combination of 2 genres of writing in 1 essay.

What are the two types of hybrid essay?

Descriptive and reflective (expository).

• Describe some school-wide events that are held in your school. What are some lessons you can learn from them?
• Describe your experience of working with others. How has it helped develop you as an individual and team player?

Personal recount and reflective (expository)

• Write about a conflict you had with a close friend or loved one. What are some lessons you learnt from the experience?
• Write about a time someone inspired you to be courageous. In what ways did this experience grow you as an individual?

How do you organise/structure a hybrid essay?

Detailed explanation & hybrid essay example

In the video below, Teacher Rachael gives more details about this technique and shows an hybrid essay example (Option A).

DOWNLOAD THE LESSON’S HANDOUT (PDF FILE)

Hybrid writing assignment

If you would like more practice on narrative writing, download the assignment below.

DOWNLOAD THE ASSIGNMENT (PDF FILE)

Check the other articles from this section

• Tackling the Situational Essay (Part 3): Making Your Feature Article an Engaging Read
• Taking the Leap from Primary to Secondary English with Confidence!
• Secondary English Paper 1 components: Diagnosing your strengths and weaknesses
• Lower secondary Writing Series 1 – E05: Avoiding writing pitfalls
• Tackling the Situational Essay: Using persuasive speech techniques
• How to write a good Situational Essay: Analyse, Amplify and Apply the appropriate tone
• Narrative Writing: Tips and Tricks
• Post-Exam Reality Check in 3Rs
• From primary to secondary English: What’s new and challenging?
• Lower secondary Writing Series 1 – E03: Expository writing
• Discursive essay: Writing a well-developed body Paragraph
• 3 tips for tackling the summary Question
• Secondary 1 English: An introduction on how to create interesting characters
• Secondary 2 English – Editing through clue-finding
• A Sneak Preview of the Secondary English Writing in the Sec 2 class
• Lower secondary Writing Series 1 – E02: Narrative writing practice
• Lower secondary Writing Series 1 – E02: Narrative writing (or how to write good essays)
• Lower secondary Writing Series 1 – E01: How to analyse essay questions
• Sec 2: 5 tips to help you write great English expository essays

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An Introduction to the Lyric Essay

Rebecca Hussey

Rebecca holds a PhD in English and is a professor at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. She teaches courses in composition, literature, and the arts. When she’s not reading or grading papers, she’s hanging out with her husband and son and/or riding her bike and/or buying books. She can't get enough of reading and writing about books, so she writes the bookish newsletter "Reading Indie," focusing on small press books and translations. Newsletter: Reading Indie Twitter: @ofbooksandbikes

View All posts by Rebecca Hussey

Essays come in a bewildering variety of shapes and forms: they can be the five paragraph essays you wrote in school — maybe for or against gun control or on symbolism in The Great Gatsby . Essays can be personal narratives or argumentative pieces that appear on blogs or as newspaper editorials. They can be funny takes on modern life or works of literary criticism. They can even be book-length instead of short. Essays can be so many things!

Perhaps you’ve heard the term “lyric essay” and are wondering what that means. I’m here to help.

What is the Lyric Essay?

A quick definition of the term “lyric essay” is that it’s a hybrid genre that combines essay and poetry. Lyric essays are prose, but written in a manner that might remind you of reading a poem.

Before we go any further, let me step back with some more definitions. If you want to know the difference between poetry and prose, it’s simply that in poetry the line breaks matter, and in prose they don’t. That’s it! So the lyric essay is prose, meaning where the line breaks fall doesn’t matter, but it has other similarities to what you find in poems.

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Lyric essays have what we call “poetic” prose. This kind of prose draws attention to its own use of language. Lyric essays set out to create certain effects with words, often, although not necessarily, aiming to create beauty. They are often condensed in the way poetry is, communicating depth and complexity in few words. Chances are, you will take your time reading them, to fully absorb what they are trying to say. They may be more suggestive than argumentative and communicate multiple meanings, maybe even contradictory ones.

Lyric essays often have lots of white space on their pages, as poems do. Sometimes they use the space of the page in creative ways, arranging chunks of text differently than regular paragraphs, or using only part of the page, for example. They sometimes include photos, drawings, documents, or other images to add to (or have some other relationship to) the meaning of the words.

Lyric essays can be about any subject. Often, they are memoiristic, but they don’t have to be. They can be philosophical or about nature or history or culture, or any combination of these things. What distinguishes them from other essays, which can also be about any subject, is their heightened attention to language. Also, they tend to deemphasize argument and carefully-researched explanations of the kind you find in expository essays . Lyric essays can argue and use research, but they are more likely to explore and suggest than explain and defend.

Now, you may be familiar with the term “ prose poem .” Even if you’re not, the term “prose poem” might sound exactly like what I’m describing here: a mix of poetry and prose. Prose poems are poetic pieces of writing without line breaks. So what is the difference between the lyric essay and the prose poem?

Honestly, I’m not sure. You could call some pieces of writing either term and both would be accurate. My sense, though, is that if you put prose and poetry on a continuum, with prose on one end and poetry on the other, and with prose poetry and the lyric essay somewhere in the middle, the prose poem would be closer to the poetry side and the lyric essay closer to the prose side.

Some pieces of writing just defy categorization, however. In the end, I think it’s best to call a work what the author wants it to be called, if it’s possible to determine what that is. If not, take your best guess.

Four Examples of the Lyric Essay

Below are some examples of my favorite lyric essays. The best way to learn about a genre is to read in it, after all, so consider giving one of these books a try!

Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Claudia Rankine’s book Citizen counts as a lyric essay, but I want to highlight her lesser-known 2004 work. In Don’t Let Me Be Lonely , Rankine explores isolation, depression, death, and violence from the perspective of post-9/11 America. It combines words and images, particularly television images, to ponder our relationship to media and culture. Rankine writes in short sections, surrounded by lots of white space, that are personal, meditative, beautiful, and achingly sad.

Calamities by Renee Gladman

Calamities is a collection of lyric essays exploring language, imagination, and the writing life. All of the pieces, up until the last 14, open with “I began the day…” and then describe what she is thinking and experiencing as a writer, teacher, thinker, and person in the world. Many of the essays are straightforward, while some become dreamlike and poetic. The last 14 essays are the “calamities” of the title. Together, the essays capture the artistic mind at work, processing experience and slowly turning it into writing.

The Self Unstable by Elisa Gabbert

The Self Unstable is a collection of short essays — or are they prose poems? — each about the length of a paragraph, one per page. Gabbert’s sentences read like aphorisms. They are short and declarative, and part of the fun of the book is thinking about how the ideas fit together. The essays are divided into sections with titles such as “The Self is Unstable: Humans & Other Animals” and “Enjoyment of Adversity: Love & Sex.” The book is sharp, surprising, and delightful.

Bluets by Maggie Nelson

Bluets is made up of short essayistic, poetic paragraphs, organized in a numbered list. Maggie Nelson’s subjects are many and include the color blue, in which she finds so much interest and meaning it will take your breath away. It’s also about suffering: she writes about a friend who became a quadriplegic after an accident, and she tells about her heartbreak after a difficult break-up. Bluets is meditative and philosophical, vulnerable and personal. It’s gorgeous, a book lovers of The Argonauts shouldn’t miss.

It’s probably no surprise that all of these books are published by small presses. Lyric essays are weird and genre-defying enough that the big publishers generally avoid them. This is just one more reason, among many, to read small presses!

If you’re looking for more essay recommendations, check out our list of 100 must-read essay collections and these 25 great essays you can read online for free .

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Hybrid texts and where we’re headed

As we move into an age when digital and print can simultaneously exist, publishers and writers are experimenting with hybrid forms to create multimodal, interactive stories. Here we take a look at some recent examples of digital-print hybrid forms…

THE GATHERING CLOUD

2016 New Media Writing Prize award-winner, J. R. Carpenter continues to push at the boundaries of the hybrid form. Her recent project , The Gathering Cloud (commissioned by NEoN Digital Arts and launched at a Pecha Kucha Night in Dundee) explores the complex relationship between biological and digital memory and collates research into the history and language of meteorology with current thinking about data storage and climate change.

Via archival material from the Met Office Archive and Library in Exeter, along with classical, medieval, and Victorian sources, including, in particular, Luke Howard’s classic essay On the Modifications of Clouds, first published in 1803 she fuses technology and classical literature together. Carpenter’s work questions how we store data today and it’s impact on the environment.

In May 2017, a print book based on The Gathering Cloud was published by Uniformbooks and collates and extends the research that went into the web iteration.

INSTAPOETRY

Poets too are finding new platforms to showcase their work. Dubbed the “Instapoets” – a new generation of poets are challenging preconceptions and turning to Instagram. The hashtag #Instapoet has over 900k posts alone.

Taking photos of their poems – often typed out or handwritten – they’re uploaded and shared with hundreds of thousands of fans.

And this form is transferring to print. Writer and artist, Rupi Kaur shares her poetry on Instagram, with over 1.4m followers. In 2014, she self-published her collection, accompanied by her sketches and it was re-released in 2015 by Andrews McMeel Publishing. Today, it’s the number one-bestselling-poetry collection on Amazon.

Another Instapoet, Tyler Knott Gregson , based in Montana, has accrued fame on Instagram (currently 323k followers) for his freeform poetry as part of his Typewriter Series and Daily Haiku on love. He published his first book of poetry, Chasers of the Light in 2014, which collates poems from the Instagram Typewriter Series and follows the same aesthetic and freeform style. It was a national bestseller with more than 120,000 copies in print.

This new generation of poets are not only bringing poetry to the masses, but also inspiring creativity in new forms.

NEXT GENERATION PAPER

Earlier this year, the University of Surrey ’s Professor David Frohlich won £1.17m funding from the  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council  (EPSRC) to research paper materials that would allow readers to “interact” with printed materials in a new project, “Next Generation Paper”.

Although projects have toyed with this concept before, including Melville House’s The HybridBook Project , which takes the concept of the enhanced eBook and integrates it with print media. Each book in the HybridBook project features not only the core text of the novel, but extensive additional material rendered in digital form—the Melville House Illuminations. The Illuminations consist of highly curated text, maps, photographs and illustrations related to the original book. Smart phone owners simply scan the QR code to receive a download of the material.

Focussing on the tourism sector, “Next Generation Paper” will go beyond this into full document recognition. Readers will be able to obtain related information on nearby digital devices, just by turning a page or touching the surface of paper documents, photographs, posters or books. This could lead to documents “interacting” with their readers as they impart information through links to video clips, animations, sound recordings or music, which play at the touch of a printed button.  These would appear on TVs, music players, smartphones, tablets and computers, with documents effectively paired with a device using the project technology.

SPANNING REALITIES

Over the past decade, publishers have been experimenting with and enhancing print books with technology, including Augmented Reality.

Since 2010 Carlton Books , the London-based publishing house, have been using AR to create interactive experiences for children in their Digital Magic series. The series brings to life off-the-page celebrated brands like My Little Pony and Transformers and works through downloading the relevant app on a mobile device.

And in 2012, Penguin Books partnered with Zappar to bring four novels including  Moby Dick and Great Expectations to life. They were enhanced with AR elements when a reader pointed their phone camera over the pages.

This April, Sourcebooks released the first in a trilogy of picture books, The Dragon Hunters by James Russell and illustrated by Link Choi aims. Readers have the option to read without AR or of downloading the AR Reads app on their iPhone or iPad that makes the maps of the island setting on the books’ endpapers come alive in three dimensions when held above the endpapers.

With Apple’s new ARKit in iOS 11 and many others, including Google and Microsoft jostling for position, it seems AR could be brought into the mainstream soon. We’re not there yet, but it certainly gives an indication of what’s to come…

How to Write a Hybrid Memoir

Today’s post is by author Adriana Barton ( @AdrianaBarton ).

I didn’t plan on writing a science memoir.

My first outline of  Wired for Music  (published in October 2022) focused on the neurology, anthropology and health benefits of music. In my mind, these elements held more than enough fascination to carry a book. But before my agent inked the deal, my publisher had one major request: “Can you put more of yourself in the book?”

“Sure,” I said, envisioning extra scenes from my childhood music lessons sprinkled in the first chapter or two. I sent a revised outline … and got the same feedback. “More of you.”

Readers of early drafts echoed the publisher’s words: “Your stories are so compelling. Can you add more of them?”

This more-of-you refrain was the last thing I wanted to hear.

As a science journalist, I was mainly interested in the geeky side of music—its effects on our brainwaves, neurochemicals, mental and physical health. I didn’t want to write about my sad-sack story as a failed cellist who no longer played the instrument I had studied for 17 years. Decades had passed since those painful days, and I had no desire to relive them.

Yet my tormented story with music was the one people wanted most. The injuries, the self-doubt.   The high points, including a performance at Carnegie Hall, and the rigid training that had turned me away from classical music for good.

Maybe mining the past, I told myself, was the best way to draw readers to a book in the increasingly saturated music-on-the-brain vein.

Even as I assured my publisher I was up to the task, inwardly, I balked.  Wired for Music  would be   my first attempt to write anything longer than a 4,000-word magazine feature. How was I supposed to graft a memoir onto chapters of popular science?

I found little in the way of useful instruction online, and no one I asked could offer a clear roadmap. Months, nay years, of frustration lay ahead.

And so, I offer my trial-and-error tale in hopes it will shorten the learning curve for other hybrid memoirists (reluctant or not).

To be clear, there is still an appetite for straight-up science books. Recent bestsellers include  An Immense World ,  The Song of the Cell , Stolen Focus ,  The Insect Crisis . The list goes on.

More and more, though, we’re seeing hybrid memoirs such as  Lab Girl  (botany blended with the author’s coming-of-age as a scientist),  The Invisible Kingdom  (a fusion of memoir and reportage on chronic illness),  The Soul of an Octopus  (in which a naturalist ponders the nature of consciousness through communion with cephalopods) and the recent  Heartbreak  (a divorced journalist’s science-based exploration of heartache and grief).

All are great books, and in many cases, the personal angle might have been the author’s choice.

But nonfiction authors are under increasing pressure to permeate their books with their own experiences and emotions. Publishers seem convinced it’s not enough to distill research into well-written prose. Readers want an intimate story, too.

Like it or not, publishers may be right.

As the author-anthropologist Barbara J. King admitted on  NPR , “I write science, but I read memoir.” Combining the two can turbo-charge the message, she wrote: “What may strike a reader as somewhat abstract in science writing may become more real when encountered in a searing narrative of a person’s own highly specific experience.”

Much as we are wired for music,  humans are wired for story . (This wiring helps explain why even highly intelligent people get sucked in by conspiracy theories.) As conduits for informing, convincing and entertaining us, stories trump facts every time.

Unfortunately for authors, the hybrid memoir is tough to pull off. In my case, the structural demands of blending science with memoir became the defining challenge of my book—one I did not overcome until the final edit.

From the start, I knew my personal story didn’t have enough drama to sustain a narrative arc. I was never a child prodigy, nor did I quit classical music only to later catapult to fame as a rockstar. So, I decided a progression of science topics should be the backbone of the book.

I modeled my new outline after Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs.” Maslow ( likely inspired by Blackfoot teachings ) proposed that psychological growth depended on fulfilling a series of needs, starting with the necessities of survival and culminating in self-actualization. Using this framework, I started with a chapter on the evolutionary roots of music and ended with one on music’s role in the universal search for meaning.

So far, so good. But where did my story fit in?

I kept hoping to find the perfect hybrid structure and then fill in the blanks. But creative writing doesn’t work that way. A control-freak approach to structure can drain writing of its spark, leaving it as lifeless as the dully competent books churned out by ChatGPT. On the flip side, too little attention to structure makes for a hot mess.

During my second year of full-time work on the book, I followed an author friend’s advice: “Write first thing in the morning, stream of consciousness, and see what kinds of connections your mind comes up with.”

I gave myself several months to sink in to old memories, even when it felt like wallowing. At one point, I spent two weeks reading old news reports and weeping about a tragic loss, jotting down words for a passage that ended up occupying just two pages of my book. I didn’t always enjoy the process (I was already past deadline and needed to get cracking) but this suspended-animation phase was a crucial step in allowing my book to find its rhythm.

In between bursts of writing, I spoke with authors who had tackled the hybrid genre. Inevitably, they warned, some readers will complain about too much science while others will grouse about too much memoir. “You will never please everyone.”

But I could try to please myself.

For more than a year, I read hybrid memoirs including  Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear ;  Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person ; First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety ; and  Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Tamed Food . 

I noticed three things about hybrid memoirs that I liked most:

• The memoir elements were tightly integrated with the science passages, without dragging the reader through superfluous details and unrelated periods in the author’s life.
• While the book’s main topic (science, mental health, etc.) took center stage, the informational passages never droned on for more than four or five pages without a story break.
• Even if the memoir element was subservient to the science, the author experienced some kind of epiphany or personal transformation by the end.

In contrast, many of the less successful books did a bait-and-switch, hooking the reader with a compelling personal story at the start of the book and then hammering them with chapter after chapter of non-stop science.

With these points in mind, I began to plot my memoir passages in a loose progression, independent of the science sections. Then, using the index-card feature in Scrivener, I looked at the different ways the science and memoir passages could intersect. This process was often maddening, since the same anecdote could dovetail with any number of science concepts, depending on how the anecdote was framed. Gradually, though, the weighting of science and story became more balanced. Or so I thought.

When I delivered my manuscript (after two years of full-time writing and many more of research), none of the passages was boring or long-winded. My book was well on its way to publication, right?

My editor wrote back describing my narrative as choppy and emotionally unsatisfying. I’d welded the science passages together with personal stories without paying enough attention to chronology. The timeline was confusing, my editor said, and major scenes lacked the scaffolding needed to reach emotional heights.

Back to the drawing board—this time under intense stress. I had eight weeks to overhaul the manuscript.

Fortunately, my editor offered a structural solution: start and end each chapter with a personal passage, giving readers a touchstone to orient themselves in my story. I could still zip back and forth in time within each chapter, my editor said, but at least one thread of the book needed to be chronological.

At first, I resisted this plan. How could I summon meaningful anecdotes to illustrate the science concepts while ensuring these memories were in the right timeline for each chapter? This dilemma reminded me of the structural challenges Rebecca Skloot  detailed  about her bestselling book  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks . After years of tearing her hair out, she too decided that one of the narrative threads had to be chronological.

At the same time, my book needed a more emotionally satisfying conclusion. I reread notes from a webinar on memoir structure taught by  Allison K Williams  via Jane Friedman’s website (worth every penny). Williams emphasized that a memoir needs to build towards a personal transformation or resolution. If you don’t have a resolution to the fundamental problem or pain point presented at the start of the book, she said, you need to figure it out (or live the experiences you need to figure it out) before the writing is complete. Hybrid memoirs were no exception.

Brainstorming, I tried mapping my experiences onto the archetypical hero’s journey plot found in movies ranging from  Star Wars  to  The Wizard of Oz . (Time was tight, so why try to reinvent the wheel?)

In this age-old story template, the “hero” (or average person like me) faces an untenable situation (in my case, an unresolved relationship to music). After a period of struggle, the hero learns a lesson, wins a victory with that knowledge and then returns to the starting point, transformed.

While my book is mostly chronological,  Wired for Music  starts in medias res, with me in my thirties haunted by the cello hiding in a battered case behind the couch. My hero’s journey involves a burning need to confront the forces that severed my relationship to music, understand where music comes from in our species, along with its therapeutic effects, and then grapple with my inner barriers to creating a healthier relationship with music—and myself.

After frantic weeks of rearranging chunks of narrative and writing new passages to bookend each chapter, I managed to meet my deadline. This time, my editor gave  Wired for Music  the green light.

Months later, the blend of science and memoir became my book’s calling card.  “Thoroughly researched and tenderly written,” wrote The Globe and Mail. “Witty and soulful,” Publishers Weekly declared.  Wired for Music  has been featured in The Boston Globe, a BBC science podcast, CTV’s daytime talk show “The Social” and many other media outlets.

I would never recommend writing a hybrid memoir as a first book. But now that the heavy lifting is done, I can confirm that bridging the gap between research and personal experience can become a book’s greatest strength—as long as the author is prepared for a Herculean endeavor.

P.S. I highly recommend the following resources:

• Jane Friedman ’s site and classes (naturally! I’ve signed up for webinars on marketing, writing, self-editing, etc)
• Pandemic University  (a “pop-up” writing school; I learned a lot from a webinar on the role of tension in writing by  Ayelet Tsabari )
• Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative  (a liberating argument against sticking to predictable story progressions)
• The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative  (in which Vivian Gornick explains the difference between a chronicle of personal facts and an insightful narrative with a strong angle and voice)
• Book coaches (I worked with the lovely and astute writer-editor  Marial Shea )

Adriana Barton is a journalist, a former staff reporter at Canada’s national newspaper ,   The Globe and Mail , and the author of   Wired for Music: A Search for Health and Joy Through the Science of Sound . She lives in Vancouver with her husband and son. Follow her at AdrianaBarton.com .

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Wow. Excellent. Answered so Many writing and memoir questions. Thank you for sharing yourself.

Thanks, Carol! Glad to help.

When I first spotted “Hybrid Memoir” in the headline, I thought, uh-oh, the writer is gonna justify some post-modern construct of facts and fiction and call it a more authentic form of memoir. Thankfully, she did not.

Instead, she describes a tortuous process very similar to the one I navigated in writing my investigative memoir What They Didn’t Burn , about uncovering a hidden Nazi paper trail that revealed my father’s Holocaust secrets.

I had been a reporter of hard news for some 20 years, much of it as a foreign correspondent for NBC News and United Press International. From the get-go, I knew whatever I wrote would be nonfiction — not an “inspired by” or “based on” novel, or a well-researched historical fiction. Because even with good historical fiction, you never know where history leaves off and fiction begins. The rare material I had uncovered was too important for those kinds of doubts.

Like Adriana, I airily dismissed suggestions that I would have to explore my innermost motives and feelings about my father, who died in 1985. Writing how I felt was simply not what reporters did. I saw the book essentially as an exercise in investigative journalism 101: I had uncovered startling documents, interviewed witnesses, and corroborated facts. T he story would tell itself.

Once I started writing, I gradually realized everybody was right and I was wrong. To be compelling (and marketable), the book would have to be more than, as the libel lawyers say, a fair and true report. Personal motives matter. Exploring them publicly was hard. 

Yet, the bottom line for these kinds of memoir is sticking to facts, resisting the urge to dramatize the undramatic, insinuate significance into the insignificant, draw sharp conclusions from vague evidence, or, conversely, ignore hard evidence in favor of facts I might reasonably presume to improve the narrative.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Despite the discomfort writing from a personal perspective (typical of journalists), in cases like ours, a refusal to reveal or explore a lifelong connection to the material would be a glaring omission.

However, as you rightly point out, personal disclosure in researched non-fiction isn’t license to ignore hard evidence or “dramatize the undramatic.” (Otherwise known as milking the material!)

It sounds like we took a similar approach, applying the same rigor to the personal passages as to the investigations. In my case, I combed through diaries from my childhood, interviewed family members and characters from my mother’s past, looked up old news clippings of my activities and dug up stashes of memorabilia. (In a box in the garage, I discovered the program from Carnegie Hall bearing my name in small print, along with the album cover that Yo-Yo Ma signed for me on my 16th birthday, just before he invited me to try his Stradivarius cello.)

None of my personal passages were fabricated for narrative effect.

In my case, the memoir angle was absolutely appropriate for my material, and made for a better book. But I don’t think this approach should become the default for non-fiction.

A few writers in a private message group pointed out that the straight-up science books I listed in my post were all written by people who identify as men, while the hybrid memoirs I cited were mainly by authors who identify as women. Several writers expressed concern that there might be a gendered component to the “hybrid memoir” trend.

I don’t know enough about the publishing industry to confirm this fear. But I firmly believe that the personal element should only be included if it truly enhances the reader’s understanding of the material (never for marketing purposes alone).

By the way, your investigative memoir “What They Didn’t Burn” sounds like a fascinating read. Thanks for describing it!

When I read non-fiction or “self help” books, I’m always drawn to the personal anecdotes the most. They are the most enticing as I feel many topics touch on common sense and stuff that I know – and practice – already. Your hybrid memoir sounds intriguing – combining science and personal anecdotes is also a great way to teach the “average reader” a thing or two. Thanks for this article!

Thanks, Liesbet. I do think the personal angle can increase emotional resonance for readers, as long as it’s not added only for marketing purposes. It works better if it’s a genuine exploration of the writer’s connection to the material, not a superficial tacking-on of personal anecdotes.

I’m glad you like the sound of my book! “Wired for Music” is not self-help, but some of the research does offer handy health hacks for readers paying attention. 😉

This is such a helpful essay. Thank you.

Nice to hear, Maureen!

Thank you, Adriana. Your post here provides me with a roadmap to the structure that I needed clarity on. I’m writing my first book, a hybrid memoir (was so relieved to see that term because to just say “memoir” or “nonfiction” felt incomplete) and have structured and restructured the chapter outlines before writing too much material. I’m a fiction/nonfiction book editor by trade and I knew this upfront work would save me months of revisions. But I was missing the application of the Hero’s Journey, something I tell my fiction authors to utilize, but not something I thought would apply to my story because I’m still wrestling with the ultimate lesson learned. I don’t have resolution…I have the ongoing pursuit to keep refining and a strengthening of the resiliency muscle that will continue until the end. I don’t think we ever fully end our “grappling with the inner barriers” and find peace until we take our last breath. So I have to keep noodling on how to find a satisfying “end” that isn’t quite so neat as Dorothy getting on the hot air balloon and heading back to Kansas.

Thank you for sharing your story Adriana Barton. I had organically decided to write a memoir weaving in the science of Positive Psychology and thought naively that it would be smooth. I have recently learned the term ‘hybrid memoir’. The more I learn about it, the more I get its complexity. It gives me pause. Reading your story is inspiring. I know this will be a long journey of learning. I am open.

This was both reassuring and practical. Thank you Adriana and Jane!

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Chapter 8: Redefining Nonfiction Writing

8.3 On Being a Hybrid Writer—A Student’s Perspective

I recently asked Elizabeth, a former fourth grade student now in sixth grade, why she thought the work we had done in fourth grade with nonfiction writing was important.  Without hesitation, she rattled off a few things.

When you write nonfiction, you can’t just make things up.  You have to think about it and make it realistic.  It has to be true.  It makes you review the information you are learning because you are repeating it in your mind.

When I pressed further and asked if she felt the nonfiction literary writing she had done during the two years I was her teacher were beneficial to her, she continued:

  When I write in a different style, it helps me think about the information I am learning in two different ways.  I have to think about what the article says and then how I am going to write about it. My writing has to make sense.  I have to make sure it has the right information, so I have to think about it.

When I worked on the radio ad [a social studies project] with my group, I learned from others.  I learned the answers to some questions about our empire.  Sometimes I was like, ‘Oh, that’s what that meant, and then I understood it better.’ Or maybe I hadn’t thought about the question someone asked, and then I learned the answer to it.  As more people added their perspectives to the answer, I understood it even better.

My conversation with Elizabeth confirmed my belief that infusing creative expression into nonfiction writing experiences is truly advantageous for my students but in more ways than I had even imagined.  They are able to wrestle with ideas and concepts and grapple with the best way to express what it is they want to say.  They have the opportunity to collaborate and learn from their peers. They are immersed in the learning process on a deeper level. Using writing genres generally associated with fiction to convey information requires something more from them as students. It requires them to think in a whole new way.

My students have become hybrid writers – connecting their learning in ways that suit them and their learning preferences.  They tangle with nonfiction information as they read it and analyze it, and then they assimilate what they have learned into various forms of writing. Through the struggle that comes with these writing experiences, they ponder, they learn, and they become better writers and better thinkers.  What is the best way to express the information in this article?  A poem?  A Readers’ Theater?  A monologue?  What is the most important information I need to share?  What do I want my audience to learn?  These are just a few of the many essential questions students must consider they write nonfiction. 

There are other surprises and less obvious benefits that have come from these writing practices too.  New friendships have developed as a result of collaborative experiences. Quiet students have stepped out of their comfort zone to sing a song that they have written in front of the class!  A close classroom community has developed as students have shared their talents, personalities, and interests through their writing. I have gotten to know my students better which has helped me to better meet their needs. And my students have become more reflective about their own learning process as they have opportunities to see what they know and what it is they still need to find out in order to grasp a new concept.          

I realize that I have not officially redefined the meaning of nonfiction writing; what I refer to in this chapter is often referred to as literary nonfiction. However, I have redefined what nonfiction writing means to me and my students. For us it is the chance to think “out of the box” as we learn about and communicate new content and ideas.  It is the chance to show our understanding in ways that suit our individual learning styles.  It is a chance to fuse all of the subjects together as we deepen our comprehension and thinking about content material. So, yes, I enjoy blurring the lines between fiction and nonfiction as I stretch my students’ thinking. I am happy to be a hybrid teacher guiding students to become hybrid writers.

Curiosity, Complexity and Conversations Copyright © by Edited by Melissa Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

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Memoirs with Benefits: A Reading List of Hybrid Narratives

Courtney maum recommends memoirs that seesaw from past to present, personal to universal.

To determine what defies the memoir genre, we first need to agree what memoir is. Originally stemming from the Latin memoria —to remember—in the broadest terms, memoirs see us committing our memories to paper. But a memoir isn’t a diary—it’s a curation of past experiences; an intimate collage. Though life is lived chronologically, a memoir rarely progresses in sequential order, but rather moves in shifts between the narrative present and past experiences to better replicate how memory works, and to provide a richer, more emotional glimpse into the author’s life.

I love reading nonfiction that seesaws in this way. When I set out to write a memoir, I knew I wanted this back-and-forth motion in my own book. But I also wanted to offer my readers a little something extra: the main event plus sideshows. To pull this off, I started revisiting memoirs with benefits, the kind of hybrid projects that educate or call to action, incriminate or shout—books that take you up close and personal with the author, then zoom out to visit the larger world that the story is taking place in.

While I imagined my journey back to mental wellness as the principle narrative arc in The Year of the Horses , I also wanted to explore the patriarchy’s attempts to keep women away from horses so that I could give my reader a little breathing room while also paying homage to the women who broke gender barriers so that I could ride. I found solace and inspiration in the diverse timelines and educational material that pushes the following titles out of memoir territory into something wilder. I hope that you do, too.

Alicia Kopf, Brother in Ice

I’m not the only person who thought this prize-winning book should have had the moniker “autobiographical” in front of “novel” (the author herself has talked about her discomfort with the book’s genre in interviews), but whatever you want to call it, this collage of arctic expedition notes, photographs, reported research, and excerpts from Kopf’s diaries—both fictionalized and not—ice picks at the narrator’s relationship with her brother, whose autism keeps him at a remove, and at the frozen walls us humans sometimes choose to live behind.

Matthew Specktor, Always Crashing in the Same Car: On Art, Crisis, and Los Angeles, California

This enchanting genre-buster has something for everyone. Are you an east coaster wondering what life is really like in LA? Suffering from imposter syndrome as an artist or a writer? Wondering whatever happened to the brainy author behind the cult favorite Speedboat ? Using the darker moments of Hollywood darlings such as Tuesday Weld, Renata Adler, and Thomas McGuane to shed light on his own upbringing in Tinseltown, Specktor has crafted a mesmerizing exploration of ambition, popularity, and real life after fame.

Chloe Caldwell, The Red Zone

A mix of memoir, medical investigation, and group therapy, Caldwell’s latest is a red-hot probe into the biology, ramifications, and politics of menstruation. Using her personal struggles with premenstrual dysphoric disorder as a vehicle to explore the way that other women experience their periods, Caldwell takes us from Reddit threads to the halls of her own marriage with the candidness and bravery that has made her a standout memoirist and teacher.

Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

This prize-studded graphic memoir guides us through Bechdel’s childhood interactions with “The Fun Home,” the euphemism her family used for the funeral home her father, Bruce, was a director at—a profession that encouraged Bechdel to think deeply about life’s meaning even as a child. When the college-aged Bechdel finally summons the courage to disclose her queerness to her parents via letter, her father one-ups her by admitting his own gayness, and dies unexpectedly shortly thereafter. A heartbreaking look at love, identity, and family firmly buttressed by Bechdel’s generous humor and artistic talent.

Dr. Rebecca Hall, Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts

This tribute to the unsung women who fought back against their enslavers is also a testament to the basement heroism of academic researchers. Candid, rageful, educational, and ground-breaking, this hybrid text sees Dr. Hall forced to fictionalize the lives of some of her heroines because so many of her research efforts were thwarted by the very institutions that kept most of these womens’ existences from being documented at all. Hall found a perfect partner in illustrator Hugo Martinez, whose own fury and tenderness bursts forth from the page.

Geoff Dyer, Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling with D.H. Lawrence

In much the same way that filmmaker Charlie Kauffman’s inability to properly adapt Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief into a screenplay turned into a movie of its own, this hilarious book sees Dyer traveling around the world to research, plan, and write a D.H. Lawrence biopic that he just can’t seem to nail. Irreverent and deeply human, this memoir speaks volumes to the creative byproducts of procrastination.

Annabel Abbs, Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women

While Geoff Dyer was wrestling with D.H. Lawrence, journalist and author Annabel Abbs was walking in the footsteps of Lawrence’s long-suffering wife, Frieda. Part travelogue, biography, memoir, and feminist call-to-arms, this warmhearted book follows in the actual footsteps of five women celebrated by the world for many things, but never for their walking. Did you know that Simone de Beauvoir hiked for miles in espadrilles because outdoorsy footwear wasn’t available for women? You do now.

Nuar Alsadir, Animal Joy: A Book of Laughter and Resuscitation

As a survivor of Clown School myself, Alsadir’s Granta essay on the emotional flagellation of clowning is one of the best pieces of writing I have ever read, and her longer interrogation into the act—and release—of laughing is equally powerful and moving. Using her professional background as a psychoanalyst and a poet, Alsadir shares the many ways that laughter is provoked and experienced around the world.

Rebecca Solnit, Recollections of My Nonexistence

Tracking Solnit’s coming of age as an artist and feminist in a San Francisco that was changing just as much as she was, this memoir explores Solnit’s moral formation—and erasure—while also acting as a biography of an American city that silences women, still.

Ada Calhoun, Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me

In her last book, Calhoun explored why women have such a hard time sleeping. In her latest, Calhoun navigates equally fraught territory: her relationship with her father and their shared obsession with the poet Frank O’Hara. After finding recorded interviews with O’Hara for a biography on the poet that her art critic father never finished, Calhoun decides to finish the book herself. What starts as a behind-the-scenes look at the art of ghostwriting soon veers into the landscape of an emotional whodunnit, weaving literary criticism with a nearly archeological excavation of a complicated father/daughter bond.

Taylor Harris, This Boy We’ve Made: A Memoir of Motherhood, Genetics, and Facing the Unknown

A radiantly urgent look at the way the American medical system has treated—and continues to treat—black women and black mothers, this stirring memoir shows Harris discovering a vital secret about her own chemical makeup that changes the way she thinks about the mysterious illness affecting her toddler. As moving as it is educational about the emotional and physical repercussions of endurance, this memoir explores the stamina it takes to successfully navigate medical bureaucracy, systemic racism, and the churning seas of motherhood.

_________________________

Courtney Maum’s The Year of the Horses is out now from Tin House.

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What Is Hybrid Genre? Multi-Genre Hybrid Texts in Literature, Film and Game Writing

Last Updated on

May 1st, 2024 09:07 pm

If you’ve ever wondered what two random genres would look like if someone put them together, then chances are you’re into hybrid genres. Whether hybrid texts in literature or crossover themes in mobile games, engaging different discourse types, blending a traditional form or two to create multi-modal texts and cinematic masterpieces.

So if you’re looking for a new and exciting way to read, write or be entertained, then hybrid genre is the perfect option for you! This type of fiction combines the best of both worlds, giving you the opportunity to explore a variety of topics and settings and see what you can learn.

Table of Contents

What is Hybrid Genre?

The term hybrid genre is used to describe texts, mobile games and films that combine two or more genres. The common features in hybrid texts is that two genres often co-exist in their traditional form, rather than blend into one. These multi-modal texts can be a mix of mystery and romance, science fiction and fantasy, or any other number of genres. The idea behind a hybrid genre film is to combine the best aspects of both worlds and create a new, unique form of storytelling.

Marriage between the real world and imagination has always been at the heart of storytelling. It’s what allows us to explore different possibilities and see the world in a different light. With hybrids, we’re getting closer to capturing this essence than ever before.

What are the Benefits of Multi-Genre Hybrid Texts?

For starters, this type of fiction offers a wide range of options, making it perfect for people who want to explore different topics and settings. Additionally, hybrids can be difficult to define because of their multifariousness, polymorphous nature, and promiscuity. This makes it an interesting read for critics and readers alike.

In addition, hybrids offer readers a greater experience than traditional genres. They allow readers to explore different cultures and backgrounds in a way that is both enjoyable and informative. Furthermore, they help to break down the barriers between genres by combining aspects of multiple types of writing into one cohesive work.

Ultimately, hybrid genre allows writers more freedom in terms of style and content. This results in books that are both unique and engaging. They’re perfect for those looking for something new!

What are the Different Types of Hybrid Genre?

There are many types of hybrid genres, but some of the most popular include:

Literary Fiction / Genre Fiction

This is a type of fiction that combines elements of multiple niches within fiction. It is often seen as more complex and sophisticated than regular genre fiction, but it also contains elements that are appealing to genre readers. Some major genres used in crossovers include crime, fantasy, romance, and science fiction. However, the notion of genre means there are many other subcategories that can be divided into different groups.

For example, Back To The Future 3 focuses on blending disparate genres together, focusing on sci-fi with western themes. Soft science fiction is a type of science fiction that focuses on the social effects of scientific innovation, while hard science fiction is a type of science fiction that focuses on the physical or technological effects of scientific innovation. Done right, and it becomes a work of art. Done wrong, and it creates a promotional conundrum that means a literary piece can lose all forms of identity.

Another popular category, especially in the film genre, is called magical realism. This genre combines elements from both fantasy and realism, often blurring the line between the two genres. Magical realism typically includes fantastical events in a realistic setting and often explores the clash between magic and reality. Game of Thrones would be a great example of this in the world of television.

Finally, there are also horror genre hybrid texts. This genre combines elements from both horror and suspense genres to create a spooky, thrilling experience for readers. Horror hybrids often focus on creating an atmosphere of fear and suspense, making readers feel scared or uneasy as they read. Stephen King masters this to perfection.

Literary Non-Fiction / Informational Texts

Non-fiction multi-genre hybrid texts combine facts about a particular subject with literary works. These types of texts are usually written by experts in their field, and they use information from academic journals, newspapers, and magazines, to provide context for their stories. Think about hybrid texts such as a history textbook for example, where often characters are used to portray real-life events of yesteryear in informational texts.

Very often, these multi-genre hybrid texts can embody the life experiences of the author and their social life. A great example of this would be works where the author tells their own true story with a heavy narrative that’s almost fictional. A great example of this is the true stories presented by British comedian Danny Wallace in “Join Me” and “Yes Man”, the latter becoming a Hollywood film starring Jim Carrey.

Hybrid-Genre Games such as AFK Arena

Games are another form of entertainment that has been taking over the internet. There are so many games out there now that it’s easy to get lost in them all. But, what if you could play a game that blends elements of several genres? For instance, what if you played a role – playing game (RPG) that blended elements of adventure, strategy, and RPG such as AFK Arena? Or, what if you played a point-and-click that blended elements of first-person shooters and RPGs?

There are many examples of hybrid games out there today, and some of them have even become very successful. One of the best known examples of hybrid genre games is the Monkey Island series, a point-and-click comedy-adventure game that features puzzles and battles such as Insult Sword Fighting. These games later evolved into more cinematic experiences such as the Telltale series.

Mobile Games 

The mobile industry has taken off recently, and it’s only going to keep growing. All you have to do is look at the app store rankings to see how many hybrid games are at the top of the charts. Mobile gaming is one of the fastest growing industries right now, and it’s only getting bigger.

It’s no surprise why: people love to play games on their phones ! People want to play games anywhere, anytime, and on any device. And because of this, we’re seeing a lot of new genres being developed specifically for mobile devices.

We’re also seeing micro-hybrids within games as players create their own worlds. Take games like Roblox and Fortnite, for example, that offer a sandbox experience to players to be able to create their own worlds and play in them, whether hybrid games involve a traditional third-person shooter mixed with an obstacle course and even elements of real-world simulation in some cases.

Hybrid Genre bringing families together playing video games

Fortnite in particular is a perfect example of the hybrid genre. A game that’s evolved over time to appease everyone from hardcore gamers, to hybrid gamers, and even casual gamers. Much of that is thanks to its ability to blend multiple themes, whether that’s in the technical gameplay to please hardcore gamers, the narrative storyline that hybrid gamers enjoy, or being able to play as either your favorite soccer player or superhero to something as ridiculous as a toothbrush head.

How to Write Hybrid Genre Texts

There is no one formula for how to write hybrid texts and games. However, it is important to be clear about the genre you are writing in and to make sure that the elements of the other genres you are incorporating are done in a way that supports the story you are telling, whether that’s sharing social life experiences or pure fiction.

Some people may not consider hybrid genre novels to be literature, but they can still provide an important perspective on society. By definition, these require input from both sides of the author-reader relationship and a mutual understanding of what’s being shared. As with any form of writing, it’s important that both parties feel comfortable with the process and understand what’s going on behind-the-scenes.

How to Market Hybrid Genre Texts

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best way to market a hybrid genre novel will vary depending on the particular novel and its genre combination. However, some tips on how to market a hybrid genre novel include creating a strong social media presence, targeting book bloggers and reviewers, and using PR and advertising.

Consider your niche and target market in working out how you want to market your book. If you’re looking for a more targeted approach, then consider using social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. Alternatively, if you want a more general approach, consider using advertising platforms like Google Adsense. Whichever route you decide to take, make sure that you tailor your marketing strategy specifically for your hybrid genre novel.

Hybrid genre has been popularised by the cinematic experience

Hybrid Genre Keeps Our Imagination Alive!

The world we live in today is full of different types of texts. It is impossible to separate them all into neat categories. In many respects, hybrid genre throws the notion of genre out of the window altogether. On the other hand, it can give birth to new fusion elements (for example, science + fiction = sci-fi!)

The only thing that matters is that each text has its own style and purpose. What we call hybrid genre perfectly encapsulates cross-overs and multi-genre pieces of art in a way that allows us to analyse and scrutinise, but most importantly, enjoy, the works of the finest minds.

For a great example of hybrid genre literature, check out Barking Sycamores , a publication from this website’s former owners!

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This website is dedicated to English Literature, Literary Criticism, Literary Theory, English Language and its teaching and learning.

Hybridity in Literature & Literary Theory

Hybridity is a theoretical concept that signifies the blending, intermixing, or convergence of distinct cultural, social, or linguistic elements, resulting in the formation of novel, multifaceted identities or cultural expressions.

Etymology of Hybridity

Table of Contents

The term “hybridity” derives from the Greek word “hybris,” which originally denoted an act of violence, excess, or outrage.

Its etymological journey evolved to include the notion of mixing or crossbreeding different elements or species. In contemporary usage, “hybridity” has broadened its scope beyond biology to describe the blending or intermingling of diverse cultural, social, or technological components, reflecting the interconnected and diverse nature of the modern world.

This concept is frequently applied to domains such as culture, identity, and technology to capture the intricate interactions and amalgamations that arise when different elements converge, resulting in novel and distinctive phenomena.

Meanings of Hybridity

Definition of Hybridity as a Theoretical Term

Hybridity is a theoretical concept that signifies the blending, intermixing, or convergence of distinct cultural, social, or linguistic elements, resulting in the formation of novel, multifaceted identities or cultural expressions. It often arises within postcolonial, cultural, and identity studies, illuminating the dynamic and transformative nature of interactions between diverse cultural and social contexts.

Hybridity: Theorists, Works, and Arguments

Theorists on hybridity:.

• Homi K. Bhabha : Bhabha’s concept as articulated in his work The Location of Culture (1994), explores the cultural and identity intersections in postcolonial contexts. He argues that hybridity challenges traditional notions of fixed identities and highlights the dynamic interplay of cultures.
• Stuart Hall : Hall, in his writings on cultural identity, particularly in Cultural Identity and Diaspora (1990), discusses how hybridity emerges in multicultural societies, emphasizing the fluid and shifting nature of identities as people navigate multiple cultural influences.
• Gloria Anzaldúa : Anzaldúa, in Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987), examines the concept of the “new mestiza” and the hybrid identity of individuals living on the U.S.-Mexico border. She contends that hybrid identities emerge from the collision of different cultural worlds.

Key Works on Hybridity:

• The Location of Cultur e (1994) by Homi K. Bhabha : This influential work explores the concept of hybridity and its implications for postcolonial identities and cultural representation.
• Cultural Identity and Diaspora (1990) by Stuart Hall : Hall’s essay investigates how hybrid identities are formed in diasporic contexts and the role of cultural diversity in shaping identities.
• Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987) by Gloria Anzaldúa : Anzaldúa’s book delves into the complex experience of living on the border and the hybrid identities that emerge in this liminal space.

Arguments Surrounding Hybridity:

• Hybridity as Resistance : Scholars argue that hybridity serves as a form of resistance to dominant cultural norms and power structures. By blending and remixing elements from different cultures, individuals and communities challenge hegemonic forces.
• Fluidity of Identity : Hybridity challenges the notion of fixed identities, highlighting the fluid and dynamic nature of identity formation. This argument emphasizes the ability of individuals to adopt multiple cultural facets.
• Cultural Appropriation vs. Cultural Hybridity : There is an ongoing debate about the distinction between cultural appropriation and cultural hybridity. Critics argue that hybridity can sometimes be misinterpreted as appropriation, emphasizing the need for nuanced discussions.
• Globalization and Hybridity : Globalization is seen as a catalyst for hybridity, as it facilitates the flow of ideas, cultures, and people across borders. Some argue that globalization has led to both cultural homogenization and hybridization.
• Postcolonial Hybridities : In postcolonial contexts, hybridity is often examined as a response to colonialism’s cultural imposition. Scholars explore how colonized societies have adapted and transformed their cultures through hybridization processes.

Hybridity and Literary Theories

Hybridity in Literary Criticism

• Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie: Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is a seminal work of postcolonial literature that explores the complexities of India’s post-independence identity. Critics have highlighted how the novel exemplifies hybridity in both its narrative style and thematic content. Rushdie’s blending of magical realism with historical events and his portrayal of characters with mixed cultural backgrounds reflect the hybrid nature of postcolonial identities. The novel underscores how colonialism and the subsequent struggle for independence have led to a hybrid Indian identity, shaped by a fusion of various cultures, languages, and histories.
• The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende: Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits is a Chilean novel that intertwines the personal and political histories of a family over generations. Critics have examined the novel through the lens of hybridity, emphasizing how Allende blends elements of magical realism with historical and political themes. The novel’s narrative structure, which merges familial tales with political allegory, reflects the hybrid nature of Latin American literature. The characters in the novel also embody hybrid identities, reflecting the cultural mixing that occurs in a postcolonial context.
• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy: Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things explores the lives of a family in India, particularly the twins Estha and Rahel, in the context of a changing society. Critics have analyzed the novel as a representation of hybridity in postcolonial India. The narrative style, which blends English and Malayalam languages, reflects the linguistic hybridity of the characters. Additionally, the novel delves into the clash between traditional Indian customs and Western modernity, highlighting the hybrid cultural landscape in which the characters must navigate.
• The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami: Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a Japanese novel known for its surreal and multifaceted narrative. Critics have examined the novel through the lens of hybridity in Japanese literature. Murakami’s blending of Western literary influences with Japanese cultural elements demonstrates a hybrid literary style. Moreover, the protagonist’s journey through a dreamlike world filled with diverse characters and experiences reflects a hybrid sense of reality and identity, challenging traditional notions of Japanese literature and culture.

Suggested Readings

• Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture . Routledge, 1994.
• Clifford, James. Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century . Harvard University Press, 1997.
• Gilroy, Paul. The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness . Harvard University Press, 1993.
• Hall, Stuart. “ Cultural Identity and Diaspora .” In Identity: Community, Culture, Difference , edited by Jonathan Rutherford, Lawrence & Wishart, 1990.
• Haraway, Donna J. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature . Routledge, 1991.
• Puar, Jasbir K. The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability . Duke University Press, 2017.
• Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. A Critique of Postcolonial Reason: Toward a History of the Vanishing Present . Harvard University Press, 1999.
• Young, Robert J. C. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction . Wiley-Blackwell, 2001.
• Zizek, Slavoj. The Plague of Fantasies . Verso, 1997.

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Genre as Network & Hybridity’s State of Matter : An Utterance About Literary Terminology

The word hybrid and its variants have been used in literary studies to mean something different in terms of theory, poetics, theme, literary device. Writers, scholars, and publishers— all the audience for this essay—in their varied agendas, perhaps fueled by the expansiveness of the media available on the internet, too often perpetuate a definitional confusion around this word. A work that utilizes hybridity or is of a hybrid genre cannot be placed into one singular generic category with all other works that do so—works must be qualified and more specifically categorized when possible. If all hybrid texts are allowed to simply be called such, the future of literary scholarship hangs on a retroactive thread, wherein too much of literary history would have to be re-imagined and redefined. Suddenly, Moby Dick is no longer a novel, but a hybrid text. T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land ? A hybrid text. Everything Gertrude Stein ever penned—hybrid. Proponents of hybrid writing often acknowledge this fact, such as in the introduction to Family Resemblance: An Anthology of 8 Hybrid Literary Genres penned by Susanne Paola Antonetta, when she says, “Where we find literature, we find hybridity.” However, not all do the work to solve the problem they raise in this admission with the breadth that the word hybrid would then cover.

Many works of the past combine concepts that are key to our understanding of genres in the early twenty-first century, and different genres contemporary to past works have gone in and out of vogue. On the other hand, looking back at works and seeing them as works that utilize hybridity as a tool can help scholars in their discussions of previously undefinable, generically multi-dimensional works that might be abandoned due to scholars’ and bookstores’ inabilities to place them into teachable, shelvable, or otherwise relevant categories [1] . Classification of genre situates works historically and clues in readers on how to read or approach a text. A text that purposely obfuscates this relationship does not necessarily combine more than one specific, fixed form or generic template, as genre itself is fluid. All works that incorporate hybridity, at the very least, should not be classified under the same banner. More specifically, the term hybrid genre may be used as a subcategory of genre, not a genre in and of itself; and additionally, the concept of hybridity may benefit from being seen as a tool instead of a genre.

/// ASIDE : HOW “TO GENRE” A BOOK: First, make genre into a verb. Force it to comply to its new boundaries and shed its old. As “to genre,” you can fly , you say, you can swim and dance. You can also just be or note or shrug. Most importantly, you can move or you can have moved or you could have been moving all along . Genre insists on being kept a noun, but only to help you perhaps better address it, but it agrees to try out being a verb simultaneously.

Next, examine a book or the idea of a book. Try a few categories out for it, genre it poetry. Book spits up its breakfast. That’s all I am to you? Genre it prose. Too broad. Entirely too broad. Book starts to list examples of writers who have written in prose, but whose work could be classified in a variety of different ways. Baudelaire and Bakhtin. Joyce and Jameson. Stein. Genre it hybrid. Book bites its tongue. Did I not just accuse you of entirely too much breadth, you’re wasting your breadth… get it ? Book laughs a little and then recomposes itself, remembers it’s annoyed. And then you go and — clearly you’re not fit for the task . Book turns to leave.

Genre grows sulky. I was so much happier as a noun . Wait! You cry. I’m sorry! you say. Book and Genre look up at you, patiently. I just—it’s so hard without context to… You trail off. You crack the spine, open to the first page. You begin reading. /// BLACKOUT

In the Afterword to a 2007 PMLA special topics issue on Remapping Genre, Bruce Robbins says, “Ideally, each text would be its own genre,” and I concur. In that vein, a hybrid, ideally and broadly, would combine two or more of what Caroline Levine would call bounded wholes, two or more solids. Texts that are being referred to or promoted as hybrid are often gaseous— they flow, float, smoke, steam. They cover more than one territory, claim their grounds, stake their ground in multiplicity. They work to redefine and redraw boundaries that are drawn in the sand, not formed by tall, insurmountable walls. These works seem to burst from the limits of their front and back covers, though their authors have done something to corral the materials they are working with together and into the space where the work is available to be read. There are eleven known gases on the periodic table, and when elements combine in the right setting, others are named and created. This is not to say that scientists have discovered all known gases or all known combinations of elements that create new gases, but that to name them all the same name simply because they are combinations, without giving the individual parts credit or the combination-as-a-whole a new identifier, likely might be bad for science, bad for language.

Writing that pushes generic limits—in its inventing new ways to tell stories, bending or insisting upon truths, and playing with the way language is used creatively considering variable contexts— has been modified using a variety of terms, such as experimental , avant-garde , postmodern . Each of these terms do not indicate a genre, though, but often an era or context. The term hybrid has been used recently in a similar way to these terms’ past usage, with its etymology largely bypassed. The term, as a modifier of literary texts, is of the twenty-first century era, in many ways, when fluidity is in—and borders and formalism are out.

/// ASIDE : WILD: The way the internet has reshaped the page is worth noting in terms of formalism. With writers composing/composting works written for and on a computer screen, the portrait orientation of a traditional book’s page is out . The landscape orientation of a laptop or computer screen is in . Poetic lines are trending longer. Prose writers refuse indentation in favor of a blank space between paragraphs. Digital printing has made it easier for work to scatter itself across the page, wilding out in ways previously difficult to print off-set. Strict adherence to the left-hand wall of a page is no longer necessary. Wilding out is in . /// BLACKOUT

The nineteenth century saw the introduction of the term hybrid to the English language from the Latin hybrida , which referred to the offspring of wild and domestic pigs. Its use widened in the nineteenth century to mean “The offspring of two animals or plants of different species, or (less strictly) varieties; a half-breed, cross-breed, or mongrel” (“hybrid”). The term’s scientific roots aid in understanding the term’s current, broader use— especially considering that debates in the field of biology have raged in scientific discussions surrounding the term for decades, particularly about the role and effects of defining hybridity within plants. In Hybrid Zones and the Evolutionary Process , a biology anthology edited by Richard G. Harrison, he asks:

Are hybrid populations an important source of evolutionary novelties, or are they evolutionary dead-ends? Under what circumstances are hybrids produced? Should hybrid populations be recognized as distinct species? Although many evolutionary botanists believe that hybridization and introgression are important sources of new variation, the issues are far from resolved.

Harrison goes on to explain how certain scientists use hybridization synonymously with the word “evolution,” a term that many affiliate with progress rather than merely change. Botanists and zoologists take different angles when it comes to this; botanists promote evolution (and therefore hybridity) as progress, while zoologists promote a separation between hybridization and any ideas of evolutionary progress. Harrison says:

Nineteenth century evolutionary biologists [like Darwin] wrote extensively about hybridization, although they focused on experimental studies and the results of plant and animal breeding. Of particular concern was the distinction between “varieties” and “species.” A commonly held view was that crosses between varieties produced mongrel offspring that were perfectly fertile, whereas crosses between species produced sterile hybrid offspring.

Because some of these experiments resulted in sterile animal species, hybridization was initially glossed as a negative, likely reinforcing racist scientific practices and beliefs of the time. Harrison agrees, then, that the best working meaning of the term hybridization for his time (1993) and context (science) would be “the interbreeding of individuals from two populations, or groups of populations, which are distinguishable on the basis of one or more heritable characters… although the parents of a hybrid need differ only in one heritable trait, they must be drawn from populations that are diagnosably distinct for that character.” The more scientists learn about different species and varieties in plants and animals, the more difficult it is to determine how different two breeders must be to produce a hybrid offspring. Not to mention how much more difficult it becomes to separate terms of classification like species and variety .

A definition problem akin to the biological one haunts the term hybrid in literary scholarship. The term’s biological use, despite early racist overtones and still-raging disagreements of what it is exactly referencing in science, eventually broadened so much that twentieth century literary theorists began to use it to refer to certain aspects of their subjects. M.M. Bakhtin uses the term hybrid utterance in his 1934 essay “Discourse in the Novel” to describe the polyphony and heteroglossia existing within the novel that gave it its distinct characteristics unifying form and content. In postcolonial theory, Homi K. Bhabha in his 1994 The Location of Culture argues that the reality of any post-colonial culture is one of hybridity—rather than cultures being linguistically divided or placed in otherwise separate spheres, cultures are overlapping, hybrid. Ideas of hybridity, like his, were used more generally to combat essentialist and nationalist viewpoints, though others argued that they reinforced them due to the term’s emphasis on the combination of that which is fixed. These are leftover ideas from the word’s initial meaning and, as is evident from Harrison’s modified biological definition, largely brushed aside scientific roots. Some linguists argue that all languages are hybrid, challenging the tree model wherein languages developing from similar roots are grouped together separate from those developing from other roots. The word has had many histories and has been through many battles, most of which come down to defining the components of the other components that make up the hybrid—how much they are allowed to have in common and/or what constitutes these components.

The use of the term hybrid is still relatively new in discussions of its relationship to literary genre in particular, and this essay is an attempt to join the discussion within the fields of English Studies and Creative Writing, working through some of the similar definitional problems that its use has caused biology and other fields. Genre is definitionally malleable, in flux, molten, unfixed in time and space, and this creates chaos for anyone who wants to perceive specific genres as fixed notions or bounded wholes. Tantamount to the issue are questions, some answerable and others not: Do the parents of a hybrid work need to be stable, fixed forms for a work to be hybrid? What purpose can a term like hybrid serve now that it is a part of literary vocabulary? If the parent terms being considered as the two (or more) distinct genres that might come together to create a hybrid genre are unstable themselves in definition, can the hybrid itself as a genre exist? Perhaps it can exist, but it cannot stand alone or unqualified. Considering these questions will help the literary world to develop and promote a more sustainable definition of literary hybridity in relation to genre.

In literary works, as in science, because of the sheer amount of works that would fall under its umbrella if it were allowed to do so, the term hybrid is unable to stand on its own without explicit reference to that which it combines; therefore, anyone using hybrid as a word to describe a text’s genre must understand that the elements the text combines as well as the word genre itself are kinetic and tied to their contexts. Just like biologists, as new ideas emerge, struggle to separate terms like species from variety , anyone discussing a literary text might do the same with terms like genre , form ,and mode . There seems to be little agreement and consistency in how these concepts are differentiated. Elizabeth Hirsh in her essay “Another Look at Genre: Diving into the Wreck of Ethics with Rich and Irigaray” says:

In these studies, as in literary criticism generally, the term genre is unstable and maybe be associated not only with different levels of generality but also with different and incommensurable criteria of classification. It may denote the most basic categories of literary expression (poetry, narrative, drama), or much more specialized subkinds as defined by form, function, or both (ode or sonnet, elegy or epithalamion); and it may be used either interchangeably with or in contradistinction to modal and stylistic terms such as realism, metafiction, or the sublime. It may be identified with authorial strategies, with inherent properties of a text, or with an aspect of reading competence, a working hypothesis for the production of interpretations.

Genre theorist John Frow would agree with Hirsh, as in his 2006 work, Genre , he says, “One of the inherent problems with working with genre theory is of course the lack of an agreed and coherent terminology.” Because of truth behind statements like these, it is even more important that discussions of hybrid genres and hybridity in literary texts are qualified sustainably, and that the terms scholars use to discuss these aspects of a text are explained when any conversation around genre or form is taking place.

In this essay, I use genre to mean the broad way a culture or society understands a text in relation to other texts. Other genre theorists have attempted to define this term before presenting their work in the field. “Genres are essentially literary institutions, or social contracts between a writer and a specific public, whose function is to specify the proper use of a particular cultural artifact,” Frederic Jameson asserts in The Political Unconscious , a statement I largely agree with. Another, albeit longer, definition of genre that I find no quarrel with comes from Caroline Levine via Forms: Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network:

Genre involves acts of classifying texts. An ensemble of characteristics, including styles, themes, and marketing conventions, allows both producers and audiences to group texts into certain kinds. Innovations can alter those expectations: an experimental epic might invite readers to expand their sense of the genre’s themes, while the introduction of print extends and transforms a folktale’s audience. Thus any attempt to recognize a work’s genre is a historically specific and interpretive act: one might not be able to tell the historically specific difference between a traditional folktale and a story recently composed for children or to recognize a satire from a distant historical moment.

However, Frow says, “Genre, as I use the term here, is a universal dimension of textuality,” which is a bit too broad for my liking, a broadness his text reflects at times, creating some confusion despite his attempts to provide stability for something he admits is unstable. Using my definition and considering those I have identified as being in agreement with, the four best-known literary genres in twenty-first century America [2] are poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and drama, the same four identified by Marcela Sulak in the preface to Family Resemblances and likely the same four most Creative Writing and Literature students in English Studies departments would answer with when prompted. There are, of course, other literary and non-literary genres possible in Western and non-Western cultures, and even more from the past and I suspect into the future. The more accurately a text’s relationship to its contemporary reading public has been historically recorded, the more easily scholars can name the text’s specific genre—considering its genre in context to its time as well as what we might now call its genre. For example, Cervantes’ Don Quixote is considered literature’s first novel, though it was understood as a romance or a parody of chivalric romance at the time. There are also genres, even contemporary ones, that fall outside of those four major categories or are culturally known combinations of them—the verse novel (Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire ) and lyric essay (Maggie Nelson’s Bluets ) both come to mind, as does Eileen Myles’ Inferno , subtitled “a poet’s novel”. These are good examples of categorically hybrid genres, as they combine elements from two or more genres and have thus created a genre of their own in doing so. Length also plays a role in genre, as a short story, novella, and novel are all fiction genres, yet their lengths—and therefore their cultural and social purpose—differ. Because genre is social and cultural, it is unstable and fluid and shifts across time and geography.

When I use the term form , I mean the structural aspects of a text and the words that may have been used to describe these aspects in part and when combined. In poetry, for example, form involves combinations of meter, line length, rhyme, and whether or not a work is in prose or verse. Most fiction is prose in paragraphs, but works of fiction may formally exist as all one paragraph ( Dies: A Sentence by Vanessa Place) or be in verse form ( The Emperor’s Babe by Bernardine Evaristo or, again, Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov). A sonnet is a form of the genre poetry, for example, in that it combines a variety of structural aspects. Drama may take the form of a stage play or a screenplay. It is notable that Levine uses the word form in the title of her critical work Forms: Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network and within the critical text itself to describe different organizing principles more generally and call for a reboot of formalist thinking. Formalism implies attention to structure, and form is often more generally used to imply any sort of structure—physical structures, spatial ones, abstract organizing principles, and combinations of these. The word form , then, has a larger meaning outside of its use when discussing literary form, and a distinction must be made. Though Levine’s book discusses both literary and non-literary forms (novels as well as gender, for example), her use of the word form understandably differs from mine in its breadth; that being said, I find her work as a New Formalist helpful in understanding how genre is a form (in her sense), what category of form it might be (a network), and how others have misunderstood it as something else (a bounded whole or hierarchy). However, excluding quotations from others or when I am working with Levine’s ideas, I use form in this critical essay to mean structural aspects within a larger text, as described above.

Subgenres are primarily used in discussions of the novel, and when so they comprise of categories more widely used to make up what is called, confusingly, genre fiction . Subgenres are smaller categories of genre that indicate a specificity, usually a theme apparent to a certain group of texts that fall under a larger genre category. In relation to this, Frow says:

Whilst any genre (the novel, say) can subsume smaller sets within it (sub-genres such as the novel of manners or ideas, the detective novel, the picaresque, or the historical novel), there can be no such hierarchical relation between modes and genres, since [as Gerard Genette says,] “mode neither includes nor implies theme; theme neither includes nor implies mode.”

The pre-fix sub , Frow argues here, does not indicate lesser. For example, a novel does not exist as a superior genre to a novel of manners—a novel of manners, though, is a category of a type of novel that exists under the umbrella of different subgenres of the novel. Every novel of manners is a novel, but not every novel is a novel of manners.

Mode , on the other hand, is more likely to be used in relationship to poetry. Frow says, “Rather than standing alone, modes are usually qualifications or modifications of particular genres”; in other words, a mode is a more specific aspect of genre. The major difference, then, between mode and subgenre would be that subgenre implies theme and mode implies idea. As for the major difference between mode and form, form implies structure and mode does not. The best example is how poetry is often divided into three modes: lyric, epic, and dramatic. Each of these three poetic modes functions under the umbrella of poetry, yet they have different functions from each other. This begins with Aristotle and moves forward through time, with the modes acquiring and discharging ideas as they change context, illustrating how malleability of genre is also present in mode—and providing clarification for why confusion between the two terms exists. Additionally, terms that might be called modes today were in past contexts understood as genres, due to the way they were defined against one another and their larger importance to society and culture. [3] Based on these definitions, hybridity, I argue, makes the most sense when understood as an instrument used to combine forms, modes, subgenres, and genres themselves— or as a category of genre , and genre more broadly is best understood as a network that allows for these crossovers and for shifts through time and geography.

It’s clear that hybrid isn’t the only term with a definition problem. Perhaps this is the strongest argument for its careful use in literary contexts moving forward. To provide an example of another existing term used frequently by literary theorists, one that is crucial to this essay’s larger conversations about poetry, and one with its own definition problem, scholars and writers alike have been debating for over a century about the history of, and how to define, the lyric mode of poetry. In their General Introduction to The Lyric Theory Reader , editorsVirginia Jackson and Yopie Prins admit, “perhaps the lyric has become so difficult to define because we need it to be blurry around the edges.” Lyric theory thrives within the dialectic between wanting to define lyric coherently and admitting the nature of genre is volatile. College freshmen today, asked to define lyric , would most likely answer something along the lines of, “you mean, like, the words to a song?” The history of the constructed nature of the best-known triumvirate of poetic modes is complicated to say the least.

Though the three modes are typically seen as having roots in his Poetics , Aristotle defines the different principles of poetry as, “Epic poetry and tragedy, comedy also and dithyrambic poetry, and the music of the flute and of the lyre in most of their forms, are all in their general conception modes of imitation.” Some genre theorists argue that dithyrambic poetry, which gets little attention in what survives of the Poetics , morphed over time into what we today call lyric poetry. Dithyrambic poetry, from what we can tell considering Aristotle’s context, was that which was written with a meter and set to music, and this positions these generic distinctions on an even more slippery slope, as today’s music is not always studied alongside its literary works [4] . Genette dismantles arguments likening dithyrambic and lyric poetry in his 1979 essay, “The Architext,” tracing the false history of lyric poetry in search of the truth of how contemporary genre scholars came to include it in place of “dithyramb” as one of Aristotle’s three modes of poetry along with dramatic and epic. Genette refuses to give a clear definition of lyric , preferring instead to look at the various ways it had been used over time. He positions modern literary critics as those who have been re- historicizing the lyric rather than looking at how the word was being used in its different contexts over time. Genette doesn’t see the emergence of a definition of lyric that looks anything close to what we understand it as today until the seventeenth century in Spain. He believes there to be “no natural privilege” to the idea that there are three archetypal genres, stating that “any genre can always contain several genres”. Genette’s study and conclusion can be read as a tale of caution.

Jackson and Prins trace the lyric’s history, false or not, and locate a turning point in the defining of generic modes of poetry in Goethe, who in 1819—quite some time after Aristotle—labels the “three natural forms of poetry” as narrative, lyric, and dramatic, departing from traditional inclusion of epic in favor of simply narrative and replacing Aristotle’s dithyramb with the lyric. Most distinctions in Western poetics followed suit, funneling poetry (rather than all of literary writing) into one of three categories, according to The Lyric Theory Reader ’s introduction.

Jackson and Prins work their way through the Romantics’ generic triumvirates to more recent meanings of the lyric specifically. In the 1820s-1830s, Hegel defines it as a difficult-to-produce work into which the poet must pour his whole self. In 1833, John Stuart Mill elevates it, positioning it as “more eminently and peculiarly poetry than any other”. Lyric, from Hegel to Mill, shifts from that which “would move civilization forward” to that which “would have to be the representative of both original nature and acquired culture”. Mill’s lyric poetry was overheard , unconscious, transcendent—nearly an impossible feat to produce: to write verse that was so close to a poet’s self that expressing it meant the poet was unaware of having an audience.

This definition invites poetry, specifically lyric poetry, to be more inclusive of different forms, leaving Jackson and Prins to declare in their introduction that when most people in the twentieth century said poetry they meant lyric poetry . Yet the lyric as a specific type of poetry lives on despite that idea, as in “The Arena in the Garden: Some Thoughts on the Late Lyric,” where Elizabeth Willis defines lyric against Language poetry: “Lyric is conventionally defined first by length (under one hundred lines and usually less than fifty), but even the stodgiest sources then acknowledge other more mysterious qualities: its privileging of sound over meaning; its difference in time signature; its divergence from mimesis.”

As such the lyric is subsumed into poetry as a whole but still maintains some sort of integrity as its own mode of poetry, and new definitional problems arise as time moves on, such as the great Language/lyric divide of the late twentieth century or today’s issues with the breadth that the term hybrid is too often expected to cover.

With the advent of a new way to use an old term, many questions arise. Is a poem utilizing hybridity if it utilizes dramatic monologue and lyric modes to create its verse? Or must it reach outside of the genre of poetry all together? Does dramatic monologue exist separately from lyric altogether as a mode in twenty-first century poetry? Dramatic poetry seems to be the least discussed mode in the twentieth century, yet scholars and teachers still cling to it as “the” third poetic mode. Has dramatic poetry been handed over to dramatists, who have used it to create something like William Wallace’s speech in Braveheart or Audrey’s in Little Shop of Horrors ? Perhaps these modes and ways of distinguishing form—the difference, for example, between a Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet—are best reserved for pedagogical purposes. The Modernist writers and thinkers of the twentieth century, in their efforts to “make it new,” as Ezra Pound famously espoused, created poetry more broadly, defying the confining, institutional definitions that tried to enclose the modes as bounded wholes and deny their history as genres whose contexts and therefore meanings shifted with the times.

The nineteenth century gave the world photography, and the twentieth century set those pictures in motion with film and didn’t stop there. Radios and televisions arrived in many, even most, American homes by its end, and the beginning of the twenty-first century saw the proliferation of the internet, which has only exploded its expanse of power and influence since its inception. With each new medium came many different ways to “make it new”: new forms, new modes, new categories altogether. Writers previously bound to the page took their talents to scripts and the invention of singular ways of creating, such as GIF poetry or podcasting. Many new categories do not stop with their creators and the limitations of one person’s audience; globalization continues to foster a new, unprecedented level of connectivity, with border-crossing happening in more than form and genre. Ideas travelled the world more quickly at first with faster transportation of materials and finally with the ability for someone to publish something online, giving it the potential for an international audience nearly instantaneously.

With new ways to communicate being invented almost every year, it seems, problems of naming would likely increase more rapidly—amongst other more serious problems. American literary history teaches that what is distinct is what sticks—imitation perhaps begets innovation— but initial derivative forms, for example poems in strict rhyme and meter copying the British books available to the first American colonists, are not celebrated for their inventiveness. Only those who bring something new to the world could be considered true to the American Voice, or so F. O. Matthiessen has had scholars believe. Postmodernism, however, insists that there is no such thing as new, let alone anything real, everything a ctrl/alt/del followed by a copy/paste atop a simulacrum, nothing original possible.

How, then, to marry these two ideas: nothing new possible within American art and the idea that American art is not tenable without making something new?

Perhaps poets and writers see this possibility in promotion of works that are of distinctly hybrid genres (the emergence lately of the lyric essay or writers who give their works distinct genres in subtitles) and in works that overtly utilize and promote hybridity as an important tool—or the most important tool used to create the work. Amy Moorman Robbins in American Hybrid Poetics: Gender, Mass Culture, and Form , hypothesizes that “claims to the newness of hybrid poetics decontextualizes” the roots of such works, which she claims “have a firm foundation and a distinct history in the work of radical women poets from throughout the past century…poets who have created such mixings as part of a resistance to being fixed in any particular school of camp.” While I agree that the way hybridity is discussed as a twenty-first century fad does a disservice to its history, I extend what that history is, and what the definition of hybrid poetries are moving forward, not limiting it to work by politically motivated women writers.

The overused and under-defined nature of the word hybrid beckons for a sustainable use. This should be of interest to scholars, poets, and publishers alike, considering that some terminologies have the opposite problem as hybrid and lyric —they are proposed and then vanish. For example, Mark Wallace conjures the term “free multiplicity of form”:                       

Any promotion of a free multiplicity of form cannot be restrained to a discussion of boundary crossings, permutations, and multiplicities solely in literature. Rather, a free multiplicity of form extends past and opens the boundaries between various art forms, exploring the relations between the visual arts and literature, music and literature, any form of art with any other form of art.

The no-boundaries poetry that Wallace is proposing here sounds much like works that today might be called hybrid. Another term that went extinct before it could gain traction is “cyberpoetry,” synonymous with Electronic poetry, which Christopher Funkhouser describes as having hybrid qualities: “Cyberpoetry is a nonparticular, hybrid form, a form that is not yet whole, comprising many parts, authorial energies, and nascent technological capabilities.” The word hybrid , though, has an etymology and a history to back up its continued use, unlike these terms that have fallen out of fashion before ever gaining traction.

Deploying the term hybrid as a genre creates more confusion than clarity. Hybridity should be understood not as a genre but as a tool, one that has been utilized in all literary and popular genres. Hybridity could also be considered a sub-category of genre rather than a genre of its own. Acknowledging the roots of a hybrid when discussing its genre will help to alleviate the confusion that is created by too many diverse works having the same generic appellation. Those most invested in literature—writers, editors, scholars, and publishers—know how important words—the way they travel and make light, pulse, shimmer, fade, and carry on—can be.

[1] A good example of this is Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee , about which Brian Kim Stefans in “Remote Parsee: An Alternative Grammar of Asian North American Poetry” says, “Cha’s work had gotten limited exposure in Asian American literary communities because of its deconstructionist and hybrid formal characteristics, which seemed to make it unassimilable to the social-realist paradigms then ascendant.”

[2] Due to the reach of internet, it is even more difficult to confine genre to one country or culture—borders are out—but scholars have been known to draw lines in the sand, and as long as one admits the waves will come and wash those lines away, leaving a trace of what once and making space for what will be, we will continue to draw lines in the sand.

[3] More on how genres have become modes and modes can be come genres can be found within the discussion of the lyric below.

[4] The Nobel Prize committee did award Bob Dylan their 2016 award in Literature, though, bringing attention to how other media outside of text on a page, despite utilization of words and language in a creative way, often does not get studied alongside literature in English collegiate programs. When it does, it is often trivialized due to the media of its origin not being “literary.” E.g. pop music or Broadway shows are not given the same critical attention in literature classes offered by English departments as poetry or novels.

Bibliography

Antonetta, Susanne Paola. “Riddling the Sphinx: An Introduction to Hybridity.” Family Resemblance: An Anthology and Exploration of 8 Hybrid Genres . Ed. Marcela Sulak and Jacqueline Kolosov, Rose Metal Press, 2015, pp. xix-xxxiii.

Aristotle. “Poetics.” Critical Theory Since Plato . Ed. Hazard Adams, Revised Edition, Heinle & Heinle, 1992, pp. 50-66.

Bakhtin, M.M. “Discourse in the Novel.” The Dialogic Imagination . Translated by Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist, Ed. Michael Holquist, University of Texas Press, 1981, pp. 259-422.

Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994.

Frow, John. Genre . 2 nd edition, Routledge, 2015.

Funkhouser, Christopher. “A cyber-Editor’s statement.” Telling it Slant: Avant-Garde Poetics of the 1990s. The University of Alabama Press, 2002, pp. 132-144.

Genette, Gerard. “The Architext.” The Lyric Theory Reader , edited by Virginia Jackson and Yopie Prins, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014, pp. 15-30.

Harrison, Richard G. editor. Hybrid Zones and the Evolutionary Process . Oxford University Press, 1993.

Hirsh, Elizabeth. “Another Look at Genre: Diving into the Wreck of Ethics with Rich and Irigaray.” Feminist Measures: Soundings in Poetry and Theory . The University of Michigan Press, 1994, pp.117-138.

Jackson, Virginia, and Yopie Prins. “General Introduction.” The Lyric Theory Reader: A Critical Anthology. Ed. Virginia Jackson and Yopie Prins, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014, pp. 1-8.

Jameson, Frederic. The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act. Cornell University Press, 1981.

“hybrid, n. and adj.”  OED Online . Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 2 September 2017.

Levine, Carolyn. Forms: Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network . Princeton University Press, 2015.

Robbins, Bruce. “Afterward.” “Introduction: Genres as Fields of Knowledge.” PMLA , vol. 122, no. 5, 2007, pp. 1644-1651.

Robbins, Amy Moorman. American Hybrid Poetics: Gender, Mass Culture, and Form . 2014, Rutgers University Press.

Stefans, Kim Brian. “Remote Parsee: An Alternative Grammar of Asian North American Poetry.” Wallace, Mark and Stephen Marks, editors. Telling it Slant: Avant-Garde Poetics of the 1990s. The University of Alabama Press, 2002.

Wallace, Mark. “Towards a Free Multiplicity of Form.” Wallace, Mark and Stephen Marks, editors. Telling it Slant: Avant-Garde Poetics of the 1990s. The University of Alabama Press, 2002, pp. 191-203.

Willis, Elizabeth. “The Arena in the Garden: Some Thoughts on the Late Lyric.” Wallace, Mark and Stephen Marks, editors. Telling it Slant: Avant-Garde Poetics of the 1990s. The University of Alabama Press, 2002, pp. 225-235.

About Kimberly Ann Southwick-Thompson

Kimberly Ann Southwick-Thompson is the founder and editor in chief of the literary arts journal Gigantic Sequins , which has been in print since 2009. Her full-length poetry collection, Orchid Alpha , is forthcoming from Trembling Pillow Press. Kimberly has been a featured reader at the Open Mouth Poetry Festival and Dogfish New Orleans Reading series. She graduated in May 2020 with her doctorate in English & Creative Writing at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, after successfully defending her dissertation "Aletheia: An original collection of poems and a play, with an essay exploring hybridity in works by contemporary American women poets via hybrid utterance." Her most recently published poetry chapbook is Efs & Vees from Hyacinth Girl Press, and her micro-chap Last to Bet: The Near Sonnets was published in Summer 2020 from Ghost City Press. Kimberly earned her MA in English from NYU and her BFA in Writing, Literature, & Publishing from Emerson College. She currently lives in Saks, Alabama, and is an Assistant Professor specializing in Poetry and Creative Writing at Jacksonville State University.

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What is meant by hybridity? An investigation of hybridity and related terms in genre studies

Anne Mäntynen received a PhD in Finnish language from the University of Helsinki. Her PhD thesis (2003) is a genre analysis of popular language columns. She is currently acting professor of Finnish at the University of Jyväskylä. She has published on discourse studies. She is the editor in chief of Virittäjä (the Finnish linguistic journal).

Susanna Shore received a PhD in linguistics from the School of English and Linguistics, Macquarie University, Sydney. Her PhD thesis (1992) is a systemic functional description of central grammatical features of Finnish. She is currently a senior lecturer and docent (adjunct professor) in Finnish at the University of Helsinki. She has published on various aspects of Finnish grammar and discourse analysis.

This article is an investigation and a discussion of hybridity and related terms as used in linguistic studies of genre. The theoretical points that are made are illustrated with data from empirical research done by others and with the authors’ own data. The focus is on written texts but hybridity in spoken interaction is also discussed. The article defines the notion of genre and discusses (proto)typicality in relation to genre and hybridity. Recontextualization is also discussed. This is followed by a discussion of terms that have been used to talk about the processes of hybridity, firstly, as used in research that has mainly been done on spoken interaction. The focus then turns to terms that have mainly been used in research on written texts: sequential intertextuality, genre embedding, genre appropriation, genre blending, as well as terms referring to pervasive trends such as commodification. Terms that take a product-like perspective on hybridity are then discussed. First there is a discussion of terms, such as “macrogenre,” which are used to describe the products of hybridization. This is followed by a discussion of genre chains and superordinate categories, such as “genre colonies,” grouped together because of the hybridizing forces that permeate them.

1 Introduction

Hybridity has been central to a lot of research in genre studies in recent years, and researchers have stressed its pervasiveness in the talk and in the written texts that surround us (e.g., Bhatia 2000 ; Bhatia 2004 ; Sarangi 2000 ; Sarangi 2011 ; Fairclough 2003 ; Östman and Simon-Vandenbergen 2004 ; Swales 2004 ; Varghese and Abraham 2004 ; Kong 2006 ; Martin and Rose 2008 ; Solin 2008 ; Solin 2009 ; Lähdesmäki 2009 ; Catenaccio 2008 ). While the terms and concepts used by different researchers working in different research traditions are incommensurable – they are tied to theoretical assumptions that underlie the research, the nature of the spoken or written data, and the purposes for which the research has been carried out – they nevertheless overlap. Making links between different traditions is particularly important in a field that is becoming more and more fragmented.

As used in the title and throughout this article, hybridity is an umbrella term for all kinds of blending, mixing, and combining that occur in genres and texts. The purpose of the article is to discuss hybridity and the different kinds of hybridizing processes and products that have been distinguished by linguists studying genres from various perspectives. Our approach is thus not tied to a particular theory. Our main focus is on written texts but we shall also discuss hybridity in spoken interaction. The points that are made will be illustrated with data from empirical research done by others and with our own data.

The article is organized as follows. In Section 2 , we shall define the notion of genre and discuss the notion of typicality, which underlies many discussions of genre and hybridity. We shall also briefly discuss the notion of recontextualization in relation to hybridity. Section 3 discusses terms used to talk about the processes of hybridity, firstly, as used in research that has mainly been done on spoken interaction, where the focus has recently been on simplicity versus complexity. Our discussion will then focus on terms that have mainly been used in research on written texts: sequential intertextuality, genre embedding, genre appropriation, and genre blending. In the remainder of the article, the focus is also on research that is based primarily on written texts and the perspective on hybridization is gradually widened. Section 4 discusses terms, such as “macrogenre,” which are used to describe the products of hybridization. Section 5 deals with genre chains, which could be viewed as processes or as products. Section 6 looks at superordinate categories of genres, such as “genre colonies,” grouped together because of the hybridizing forces that permeate them.

2 Preliminary considerations

Definitions of genre vary according to the focus of the research and the orientation of the researcher. The definition adopted in this article is one that underlies or is implied in many current views of genre in linguistics. From a linguistic point of view, a genre is a class or type of (spoken or written) text. From a social and collective point of view, a genre is a linguistically realized action or activity type or area of human activity (e.g., Bakhtin 1986 ; Miller 1984 ; Martin 1985 : 250 [1] ; Fairclough 1992 : 126). From an individual and cognitive point of view, texts representing the same genre have a similar communicative purpose (or purposes) (e.g., Swales 1990 ; Bhatia 1993 ; Bhatia 2004 : 23). Social and cognitive perspectives are complementary in that communicative purposes arise in (social) communities (cf. Swales 2004 : 68–74).

Halliday and Hasan (2006 ), on the other hand, do not use the term genre but differentiate between situation types and registers . A situation type is a generalization based on actual situations. A register is viewed from dual perspectives. From the perspective of language use, a register is a text type, that is, a generalization based on actual texts. From the perspective of the language system, a register is a subpotential of language as (an inherently variable and dynamic) meaning potential. Seen in this way, a register is often discussed in terms of the meanings that are “at risk” (i.e., likely to occur) in a particular situational context ( Halliday and Mathiessen 2013 ; Halliday and Hasan 2006 ; Hasan 2009 ). In a similar vein, Sarangi (e.g., 2011 ) distinguishes between activity types and discourse types , but for Sarangi discourse type covers not only registers but also interactional forms such as question–answer sequences, interruptions, and laughter.

Much of the research on written genres is centered on the overall organization or schematic structure of texts instantiating a genre (e.g., Eggins and Martin 1997 ; Martin and Rose 2008 ; Hasan 1989 ; Hasan 1996 ; Swales 1990 ; Paltridge 1997 ; Bhatia 1993 ), and many genre researchers have brought out the schematic structure variation associated with a particular genre (e.g., Ventola 1987 ; Hasan 1989 ; Hasan 1996 ; Nieminen 2010 ). Most researchers also focus on the semantic and lexicogrammatical features of texts, but there is variation in how this analysis is approached. Systemic functional linguists often present a detailed analysis of texts (e.g., Ventola 1987 ) or of a text instantiating a genre (e.g., Eggins and Martin 1997 : 236), although – for illustrative purposes – analyses can be selective (e.g., Martin and Rose 2007 ; Martin and Rose 2008 ). [2]

In work on genre done by other linguists, lexicogrammatical analysis is often more focused. Bhatia (1993) , Bhatia (2004) , and Swales (1990) , for example, concentrate on the linguistic features that are significant in distinguishing the moves (or stages) in the organization of a text. [3] The most selective lexicogrammatical analysis is done in computational and corpus-based studies, which generally focus on a few overall features of texts representing a genre ( Biber 1995 ; Marco 2000 ; Hiltunen 2010 ; cf. Flowerdew 2005 ).

Whatever emphasis is given to the lexicogrammatical features of texts instantiating a genre, there must be some common features, otherwise we would not be able to recognize genres. Moreover, any notion of hybridity presupposes that there is a recognition that something is being blended, mixed, or shifted (cf. Sarangi forthcoming ). For this reason, most genre researchers recognize or appeal to some notion of “typicality” or “prototypicality” in their discussion of genre and of hybridity (e.g., Sarangi 2000 : 23, Sarangi forthcoming ; Solin 2009 ; Lehti 2011 : 1610).

The notion of typicality has been seen to be particularly important for the applications of linguistics, for example, in educational linguistics. Much of the work in systemic functional genre studies has been carried out with a view to teaching literacy skills to school children ( Rose and Martin 2012 : 3–4). Systemic functional researchers interested in pedagogical applications have stressed the qualitative analysis of a few texts “typical” of a particular genre, drawing on the expertise of core members in a given field (e.g., Martin and Rose 2007 : 313). [4]

Martin and Rose (2007) use the term typical in an everyday sense; the term is not discussed nor is it listed in the index. Typicality as used by Martin and Rose can only be a cognitive notion in the sense that it is based on knowledge, since it is based on the teacher’s or the researcher’s notion of what is typical (and not on empirical research). In other words, language users have learnt to abstract from the variation associated with a genre and have some idea of what is at the core of genre (cf. Berkenkotter and Huckin [1993 ] for a sociocognitive perspective on typicality). [5]

Typicality as used by Martin and Rose corresponds to what is referred to as “prototypicality” in cognitive or cognitively based approaches, inspired by the work of cognitive psychologists like Rosch (1977) . Swales (1990 : 48–58) describes genres in terms of their prototypical content and form. Paltridge’s (1997 : 106) definition of genre – as such – relies on the notion of a prototype: a genre is based on prototypical idea(lization)s of human communication patterns; these idealizations are derived from our knowledge of the interactional and conceptual properties of similar events. Similar to Paltridge’s prototype is Nieminen’s notion (2010 ) of a “neutral stereotype”: a general image of what a lot of people believe to be typical of a particular genre. (The attribute “neutral” is used by Nieminen because the word “stereotype” has negative connotations.)

The notion of typicality, nevertheless, is also important for those who investigate texts in everyday and business (rather than educational) contexts and whose focus is on how genres mix and interact with each other. Bhatia (2004 : 133–135), for example, discusses the mixed genre of the advertorial (advertisement + editorial) with an example from a vacation magazine about a holiday destination for golf enthusiasts. The word “typical” is repeated in Bhatia’s analysis: the analysis is based on recognizing the typical characteristics of editorials and of advertisements.

In line with the scholars referred to in this section, we also see the need to refer to some notion of typicality in any discussion of genre and, indeed, of hybridity. On the other hand, like many of the scholars mentioned in this article, we also feel that an inherent property of many texts is the blending and mixing of genres in various ways (and this, in turn, is dependent on recognizing the features that are perceived to be typical of the genres that are represented in the blended text).

Another approach to hybridity and hybridization is to look at texts from the perspective of recontextualization . Bernstein (1996 ) originally used this term in his discussion of what happens in educational discourse, where academic research is transferred and transformed – selected, simplified, condensed, explained, and refocused – for pedagogic purposes. Linell (1998 : 144–148) extends the notion of recontextualization to the shifting across time and space that happens in all discourses: recontextualization is the dynamic transference and transformation of some part or some aspect of a text (or text type) tied to a particular context to another text tied to another context. Linell applies the notion of recontextualization to subtle shifts within a text, such as shifts in the problem being addressed in doctor–patient interaction, [6] and also to what are referred to as intertextual and interdiscursive phenomena (following Fairclough 1992 ). Intertextual recontextualization refers to the overt transfer and transformation of specific parts of one text to another; interdiscursive recontextualization refers to the transfer and transformation of more abstract features and conventions across texts or genres. These kinds of recontextualizations are reflected in hybridizing processes discussed in the next section.

3 Hybridizing processes

In this section we shall focus on how (parts of) a text representing one genre can be incorporated into another text representing another genre or mix of genres. We shall first consider hybridity as discussed in research that is mainly focused on spoken interaction. We include a section on spoken interaction because the phenomena studied are similar to those in written texts and they are interesting from the point of view of genre studies. We shall then deal with research that has been mainly focused on written texts and discuss what has been referred to as sequential intertextuality, genre embedding, and genre blending. We shall also deal with what has been referred to in systemic functional linguistics as a pretend genre or as contextual metaphor.

3.1 Hybridity in spoken interaction

Two early pioneers in genre research, Eija Ventola (1987) and Ruqaiya Hasan (1989) , briefly refer to the incorporation of snippets of casual conversation or “small talk” in a service encounter. The following example is taken from more recent research on service encounters in Finnish.

(1) Kiosk (translated and simplified, Raevaara and Sorjonen 2006 )

Ventola (1987 : 82–83) refers to small talk in service encounters as “genre-switching”; Hasan (1989) and Hasan (2009) refer to such elements as simply optional elements in the general structure potential. While it is relatively easy to distinguish small talk within a service encounter, it is not entirely clear how to characterize what is happening.

Raevaara and Sorjonen’s (2006 ) research indicates that small talk in service encounters is not simply a matter of moving from one kind of social activity into another. Their analysis of 160 service encounters indicates that the small talk in these encounters is constrained not only by how well the participants know each other but also by the field of discourse. In quantitative terms, there is more small talk in kiosk encounters. This seems to be motivated by the frequency of contact and the fact that the participants know each other.

Moreover, and more importantly, small talk is integrated into the encounter in different ways. In the kiosk encounters, small talk is typically a separate sidetrack, unrelated to what is going on, as seen in example (1). In the social security office, on the other hand, small talk is without exception integrated into the ongoing activity. The customer in the following example is completing the filling out of a form in the presence of the claims representative:

(2) (Social security office, translated and simplified, Raevaara and Sorjonen 2006 )

Example (2) illustrates how small talk in the social security office is tied into the actual service encounter. The customer is unsure about the date and the month, and this leads the claims representative to comment on the summer.

Examples (1) and (2) bring to mind the distinction that Hasan (1999 ; Hasan 2000 ) makes between independent and integrated “subtexts” in a “primary text” in her data on mother–child interaction: the small talk in (1) would be independent in Hasan’s terms and in (2) the small talk is integrated. As in example (2), a mother–child dialogue can shift seamlessly from caregiving talk concerned with getting a child dressed to go out, to instructive talk about the use of an idiomatic expression, such as “silly goose” in English. Hasan’s main distinction is between simple texts, such as a service encounter without small talk, and complex texts, such as examples (1) and (2). Hasan further distinguishes between various kinds of complexity.

Hasan (2000 : 43–44) rejects the use of terms such as genre switching, genre combination, and hybridity. The terms are rejected because, for Hasan, they imply a static view of language in use and a predetermined combining of objects, much in the same way as peaches and plums have been hybridized into nectarines.

While metaphors borrowed from one discipline to another are always problematic, particularly if they are understood literally, there are other researchers who nevertheless use the term hybridity as a cover term for the blending, dynamic shifts, and complexities involved in meaning making in an ongoing interaction (as we do in this article).

A dynamic view of hybridity is taken by Sarangi (2011 ; Sarangi forthcoming ), who has focused on interactional hybridity in professional healthcare settings. Sarangi distinguishes between simple and complex forms of hybridity . Simple and complex hybridity for Sarangi are tied to the number of roles activated in a role-set and the extent to which these roles align with the shifting roles of other participants in the interaction. An example of simple hybridity would be Hasan’s example, referred to above, of a mother’s caregiving talk shifting into instructive talk. In counseling encounters, hybridity is more likely to be complex. The role-set of a genetics counselor includes medical expert, therapist, educator, gatekeeper; the role-set of a client in a genetic counseling encounter may include woman, mother, single parent. Complexity arises when there are constant shifts in the role that is assumed by the counselor and constant adjustments to the role of the client. Sarangi’s simple and complex hybridity, thus, would be complex from Hasan’s perspective, since a primary text with even one subtext is regarded as a complex text by Hasan.

3.2 Sequential intertextuality

Hasan’s notion of independency (as illustrated in example [1]) is reminiscent of what Fairclough (1992 ; Fairclough 1995 ) has referred to as sequential intertextuality in his early work. Sequential intertextuality means that a text can contain more or less easily distinguishable snippets from different genres and the snippets may even occur in a predictable sequence. Solin (2006) analyzes cosmetics advice columns in a women’s magazine and demonstrates how they contain advice-giving and advertising stretches:

(3) Advice column (translated from Finnish, Solin 2006 ):

Sequential intertextuality is not mentioned in Fairclough’s later work ( 2003 ). The dropping of the term is understandable, since it is rare to find texts in which the snippets are, in fact, distinguishable and predictable (cf. blending, discussed in Section 3.5 ).

3.3 Genre embedding

A further step in the incorporation of a text representing one genre into a text representing another genre occurs when an entire text is incorporated as a clearly distinguishable part of another text. This is typical of school textbooks; for example, a foreign language textbook may contain (representations of) service encounter dialogues, newspaper articles, personal letters, etc. Indeed, educational discourse as a whole could be characterized by the importation of real-world genres into a pedagogic context, some of which are embedded, others incorporated and recontextualized in other ways (see Section 2 ).

Following Bhatia (1997) , Lähdesmäki (2009 : 378) refers to the incorporation of “blunder letters” from teenage magazines in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbook as genre embedding . Fairclough (1992 : 118) has referred to similar phenomena as embedded intertextuality . Embedding is also familiar from other genres. Figure 1 shows a familiar example of a recipe embedded in an advertisement, in this case a spaghetti recipe embedded in an advertisement for Crème Bonjour.

Recipe embedded in an advertisement (source: http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/creme-bonjour-cream-cheese-garlic-9500605 )

The use of the term embedding for examples like Figure 1 seems appropriate: genre embedding is analogous to the notion of syntactic embedding, where a clause functions as a part of another clause.

Embedding in texts, however, always involves recontextualization and the concomitant changes in meaning that is involved: a recipe in an advertisement with its references to the specific product being sold (Crème Bonjour) is put to the service of advertising. Embedding is often seen as a conventionalized and integral feature of many genres. Bhatia (2004 : 79–80), for example, points out that letters, dialogues, reports, reviews, etc., are also commonly embedded in advertisements.

3.4 Genre appropriation

In embedding, there is no conflict between the experiential semantic content and the schematic structure of the text. In what we shall refer to as genre appropriation , a text appropriates the schematic structure of another genre. The following is an example of a music review published in a Finnish newspaper:

(4) Music review translated from Finnish [7]

The features of a music review and a recipe are obvious (cf. Mäntynen and Shore 2008 ).

The introduction of a new term for texts like this is justified in that the term is fairly transparent. Moreover, genre appropriation pinpoints a particular kind of mixing and a particular kind of meaning making: an entire text appropriates the form of a text representing another genre in order to exploit the meanings related to a particular generic form for a particular purpose, often for an ironic purpose as in example (4).

Genre appropriation has been discussed using other terms. Hasan’s (1989 : 98, 115–116) term pretend genre is illustrated with an example of an entire advertisement written as a letter and discussed in terms of the disassociation of generic form and function. [8] Another term is Martin and Rose’s (2008 ) somewhat esoteric-sounding contextual metaphor . Contextual metaphor is used to refer to instances in which one genre is deployed to stand for another: the reader is offered “a literal ‘surface’ reading implicating one genre, but providing in addition ‘other genre’ indicators signalling the presence of a deeper genre lurking behind” ( Martin and Rose 2008 : 248). Martin and Rose’s example is of “Terra Nullius Pie,” an ironic article from a student magazine written in the form of a recipe and giving instructions on how to strip a land of its natural resources and people.

However, contextual metaphor is also used by Martin and Rose (2008 : 248) in reference to a text written by a primary school pupil in a Socratic question and answer format. The actual text is not included in Martin and Rose’s book but, according to them, the text was written as a report of a trip to the library. While a question and answer format does not constitute a genre and, thus, does not point to another genre “lurking behind,” the term contextual metaphor is used because the pupil’s report involves a recontextualization of a format that is typical of other contexts, which is the idea behind the notion on contextual metaphor. [9]

3.5 Genre blending

In addition to the processes of hybridization discussed so far, there are ways of deploying the resources of various genres in a text in such a way that the boundaries between the genres are not clear-cut. This process has been called genre mixing, blurring, bending, and hybridization ( Bhatia 1997 ; Bhatia 2004 ; Fairclough, 2003 ; Herring et al. 2004 ; Varghese and Abraham 2004 ; Kong 2006 ; Solin 2006 ; Catenaccio 2008 ). We shall use the term genre blending since we use hybridization and mixing as cover terms for all of the phenomena that are discussed in this article.

Genre switching, genre embedding, and genre appropriation generally result in texts that mix different genres but maintain their original genre identity: a service encounter with snippets of casual conversation is still a service encounter and not a casual conversation; an advertisement that has a recipe embedded in it is still an advertisement and not a recipe; and a music review written in the format of a recipe is still a review and not a recipe. Genre blending, on the other hand, results not only in texts that combine features of two or more genres, but it generally results in texts with an ambivalent generic status and/or it results in the development of new genres.

A good example is the following text excerpt from a series of books which the publishers refer to as a reference library for Finnish children. It is from an article entitled “Fertilization,” which in turn is included in the volume entitled “People.”

(5) (Children’s encyclopedia, translated from Finnish) [10]

Sex is part of adult life, but before you start to have sex, you need to be very aware of how to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

The text incorporates features that can be related to a number of genres. The genre of a scientific report is reflected, for example, in the use of the generic present tense to describe biological processes and the taxonomies that are set up (“two kinds of sex cells: X and Y”). The textbook as well as other school genres are reflected in the way in which factual scientific information is related to the everyday world (e.g., “sperm cells, which look a little bit like tadpoles”). Sex guides for children are drawn upon in the explicit description of sexual intercourse. This aspect of the text is reinforced by a separate text in a banner at the bottom of the page (“Sex is part of adult life, but before you start to have sex…”). The blending that occurs in the text reflects its multiple purposes and makes it hard to assign it to any one particular genre.

Genre blending can result in generic change and new genres, which in turn can gradually become established and conventionalized; thus, it is tied to issues related to the (relative) stability of genres ( Fairclough 1989 ; Fairclough 1992 ; Fairclough 2003 ; Bhatia 2004 ; Varghese and Abraham 2004 ; Kong 2006 ; Solin 2006 ; Solin 2009 ; Catenaccio 2008 ). Varghese and Abraham (2004) , for example, analyze what they refer to as “book-length scholarly essays,” such as Steven Pinker’s The Language Instinct and Howard Gardner’s Frames of Mind , in which academics make their research and their theories more accessible to the general public. The essays are directed not only at a lay audience, including academics who are not experts in the field in question, but also at students and colleagues within the same field.

The term hybridity (or mixing) has also been used in relation to intertextuality and interdiscursivity (discussed in Section 2 ). Kong (2006) applies the concept of intertextuality in an analysis of property transaction reports in newspapers: a hybrid genre is construed through the mixing of voices, intertextuality, and the mixing of two practices (journalistic reporting and selling properties).

Intertextuality in itself, however, does not necessarily lead to a hybrid genre. Ravotas and Berkenkotter (1998) , for example, deal with intertextuality in psychotherapeutic assessments, which are based on written notes taken by a psychotherapist when she interviewed a client. The assessment transforms the client’s life experiences, so that the voice of the client (relating the client’s life experiences) is subsumed into the voice of the therapist.

Ravotas and Berkenkotter (1998 : 217–218) do not use the term hybridity but they do refer to recontextualization as well as to the “blending of voices” and to the “integrating” of one text into another. The phenomenon discussed in Ravotas and Berkenkotter’s article takes us to limits of hybridity, at least from the point of view of genre studies. The incorporation of other texts into one’s own texts is a fundamental property of all texts. This is what Fairclough (1992) refers to as interdiscursivity (also referred to by Fairclough as constitutive intertextuality). Moreover, Ravotas and Berkenkotter are concerned with what has happened in the same professional practice (psychotherapy), whereas Kong (as discussed in the previous paragraph) deals with different practices (journalistic reporting and selling properties) and the development of new genres. [11]

General trends could also be seen in terms of blending. A particularly prevalent type of general blending is advertising: it takes over other genres so that genres that are not primarily concerned with selling goods (in a concrete sense) are produced as though they were. Bhatia’s (2004 : 57–58) examples include film reviews and company reports; Fairclough (1992 : 207–210) looks at a university prospectus. Various kinds of pervasive and expansive blending have been distinguished: colonization ( Fairclough 1992 ; Bhatia 2004 : 57–58), commodification , conversationalization , and technicalization ( Fairclough 1992 : Ch. 7).

4 The products of hybridization

In the previous section, we looked at terms that have been used to refer to hybridizing processes. The focus of this section is on terms that have been used primarily to refer to the products of hybridization in writing.

The term hybrid (or mixed ) genre is typically used for the products of genre blending (see Section 3.5 ) which constitute new and emerging genres: Varghese and Abraham’s (2004 ) book-length scholarly essay and Bhatia’s (2004 ) advertorial. Catenaccio (2008) , however, also regards a press release as a hybrid genre combining reporting and self-promotion (advertisement), even though advertising and promotion have long been common properties of press releases.

Hybrid genres can be distinguished from what Bakhtin (1986 : 62) in his classic essay on speech genres refers to as secondary or complex genres .

Secondary (complex) speech genres – novels, dramas, all kinds of scientific research, major genres of commentary, and so forth – arise in more complex and comparatively highly developed and organized cultural communication (primarily written) that is artistic, scientific, socio-political, and so on. During the process of their formation, they absorb and digest various primary (simple) genres that have taken form in unmediated speech communion. ( Bakhtin 1986 : 62)

The term complex genre corresponds to what Martin and Rose (2008) refer to as a macrogenre . Macrogenres are “larger texts” that are “made up of short genres” ( Martin and Rose 2008 ; Rose and Martin 2012 : 178, 331). Examples given by Martin and Rose (2008) include school textbooks; for example, the foreign language textbook mentioned earlier or a history textbook that may include sections that are biographical, explanatory, or descriptive. Martin (2009) also illustrates the notion of a macrogenre with an extract from Mandela’s autobiography, which starts as a report generalizing the cost of freedom and then turns into a story. A macrogenre, thus, results from both embedding and blending.

The term super-genre has also been used for what could be seen as a variant of a macrogenre or complex genre. In an analysis of blogs written by French politicians, Lehti (2011) regards the blog as a super-genre, a politician’s blog as a genre, and the types of texts that constitute the genre – diary, scrapbook, notice-board, essay, and polemic – as subgenres. This deploying of other genres as an integral and conventionalized feature of a particular genre is akin to the examples discussed in Section 3.4 , where texts are appropriated for ironic purposes (e.g., the review of Evanescence, Terra Nullius Pie) or to mislead a gullible reader (advertisement written as a letter).

5 Genre chains

The term hybridization (or mixing) has also been used in conjunction with what have been referred to as genre chains or intertextual chains . We discuss chains at this point in the article because they have been approached both as a process (the process of chaining texts in a chain) and as a product (a set of texts representing different genres forming a chain).

These chains occur when prior texts (representing one genre) get incorporated into other texts (representing other genres) so that there is a fairly large-scale recontextualization of (mostly experiential) semantic features from one text to another in temporal succession. For example, a news report, is often based on a press release, which in turn may be based on a report written by an expert. The genres involved in the chain are thus regularly dependent on each other ( Iedema 1999 ; Solin 2001 ; Solin 2004 ; Fairclough 2003 ; Berkenkotter and Hanganu-Bresch 2011 ).

In an analysis of genre chains of an environmental debate on air pollution risks in the United Kingdom, Solin (2004) demonstrates how micro-level meaning shifts are framed and constrained by genres and institutions in a genre chain. On the one hand, since the genres involved in genre chains are influenced by each other, they are products of constant hybridization. On the other hand, genre chains are also conventionalized sites for (inter)textual interaction between texts and genres, and therefore are also sites for processes of hybridization.

Genre change can result from the interdependence of genres in a chain, and in particular, from the fact that one genre anticipates another genre. For example, most press releases these days are written so that they can be easily rewritten as a news article ( Jacobs 1999 ; Kankaanpää 2001 ; Kankaanpää 2006 ).

A related phenomenon has been referred to as a genre suite by Berkenkotter and Hanganu-Bresch (2011) in their analysis of documents used in nineteenth-century psychiatry to confine people to mental asylums. The document in question consists of four texts written sequentially by different people, each of which “invites” the following text. The uptake of the entire genre suite depends on the uptake of each text in succession. This kind of genre suite seems to be typical of institutional genres.

6 Superordinate genre categories

Another perspective on hybridity is offered by superordinate categories. Superordinate categories have been proposed for both genres characterized by the kind of pervasive blending discussed at the end of Section 3.5 and for genres (e.g., stories) that become recontextualized in many contexts.

Bhatia (2004) uses the term genre colony to refer to the products of colonization (see the end of Section 3.5 ). Colonies of related genres include promotional genres (advertisement, sales promotion, book blurb, etc.) and reporting genres (annual report, newspaper report, medical report, scientific report, etc.). Grouping genres together in this way is an attempt to capture the dynamic nature of genres and the relations between them as well as to explain the way in which genres mix and interact with each other.

Fairclough talks about “pre-genres” such as narratives ( Fairclough 2003 : 68–69; cf. Swales 1990 : 61) and “disembedded genres” such as an interview, both of which occur in very many different contexts. These, particularly the latter, are like Bhatia’s colonies in that they are expansive.

A narrative is an abstract category that, according to Fairclough, “transcends” particular networks of social practices. It can be a story in a casual conversation, a story in the press, or a story told by a client in therapy, each of which is tied to specific social practices. [12] Distinct from a pre-genre, according to Fairclough, is a “disembedded genre,” such as an interview. A disembedded genre is less abstract than a pre-genre; rather than transcending particular networks of social practices it is borrowed from one set of practices to the next. If a job interview is taken as the paradigm case of an interview, then this could be described as a face-to-face situation designed to elicit information from a potential employee. This format has then been borrowed, inter alia, to celebrity interviews on television (i.e., interviews designed to elicit information about the interviewee) and to ethnographic interviews (i.e., interviews designed to elicit information from informants). They can also be recontextualized in the form of written texts in magazines and scientific articles.

7 Concluding remarks

This article has looked at terms and concepts related to hybridity and has attempted to tease out the different kinds of hybridizing processes and products that have been distinguished by researchers (primarily those working in genre studies). As terms are not always clearly defined in the original research, we have tried to give clear definitions and clear examples. In this way, we hope to make links among various research traditions.

Section 2 of this article defined the notion of genre and discussed the importance of (proto)typicality in any discussion of genre and of hybridity. The focus in Section 3 was on discussing the processes of hybridization as they have been identified in research on spoken interaction and written texts. This is not to deny that in any one text these processes may be combined as well as remain fuzzy or blurred. Section 4 discussed the terms that have been used to refer to the products of hybridization in research on written texts: hybrid genres, complex genres, macrogenres, and super-genres. Section 5 focused on genre chains. Finally in Section 6 we briefly discussed superordinate categories, which take a very broad perspective on the way in which texts and genres are mixed and become recontextualized.

As indicated in the introduction to this article, many of the differences not only stem from the theoretical orientation of the researcher, but are also dependent on the nature of the data. Researchers working on spoken data often focus on the dynamics of hybridity; researchers on written language are more likely to consider genres in terms of their relative stability, a perspective which is an essential basis for teaching genres in educational institutes. Our approach has been descriptive rather than prescriptive. However, we hope that an account of how the various terms related to hybridity have been employed in previous research will provide coordinates for the appropriate use of these terms in future research.

About the authors

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With the rise of education technology , schools have adopted teaching methods that diverge from the typical classroom environment. Distance learning is being used at a global scale, and many educational institutions are starting to implement hybrid learning models.

However, hybrid learning is more than just tossing half of your syllabus into a virtual classroom . Instead, it's a comprehensive approach to combining the best parts of face-to-face and online learning to create the ideal learning experience.

In This Post:

What Is Hybrid Learning?

Benefits of hybrid learning, hybrid learning model, how to create a successful hybrid learning environment, hybrid teaching tips.

Hybrid learning is an educational model where some students attend class in-person, while others join the class virtually from home. Educators teach remote and in-person students at the same time using tools like video conferencing hardware and software .

In some cases, hybrid classes include asynchronous learning elements, like online exercises and pre-recorded video instruction, to support face-to-face classroom sessions. When planned well, hybrid courses combine the best aspects of in-person and online learning while making education more attainable for many students.

For hybrid learning to be successful, the elements of your hybrid course need to be tailored to the learning format, whether it be in-person or online.

Hybrid vs. Blended Learning

Hybrid learning and blended learning can often be mistaken for one another, and both contain many of the same instructional elements. However, both are two distinct learning models.

Blended learning combines in-person teaching with asynchronous learning methods, where students work on online exercises and watch instructional videos during their own time.

Hybrid learning is a teaching method where teachers instruct in-person and remote students at the same time. In hybrid learning models, asynchronous teaching methods can be used to supplement synchronous, face-to-face instruction.

Hybrid Learning Consortium

The Hybrid Learning Consortium is a global learning community of independent schools that develops online courses for middle and upper school students. The HLC believes that online learning is here to stay, but face-to-face learning will never cease to be relevant.

By creating online academic experiences that are just as accessible as classroom lessons, HLC embraces the untapped possibilities of hybrid learning.

With partnering schools around the globe, students are exposed to teachers and classmates with an otherwise unattainable worldview. To learn more about the future of hybrid learning through the Hybrid Learning Consortium, click here .

Both face-to-face and online learning have their benefits and weaknesses. The goal of hybrid learning is to combine the two formats to create a singular learning experience without any weak spots. The benefits of hybrid learning are:

A flexible learning experience.

Many schools transition to hybrid learning for flexibility: a flexible learning schedule, flexibility in teaching modes, flexibility in how students engage with their learning materials, and flexibility in collaboration and communication between peers and their instructor. For students who aren't able to attend classes in-person, the hybrid learning environment allows them to learn remotely from home.

Synchronous communication opportunities.

Few learning experiences match the immediacy and intimacy of in-person academic discussions. The face-to-face aspect of hybrid learning benefits from the opportunity for real-time engagement between peers.

This time is best used for synchronous group work, presentations with a Q&A portion, and deep conversations. Take advantage of the in-person time you have together to form meaningful, academic relationships, and then take those relationships online.

The freedom of independent academic exploration.

Online learning comes with many freedoms. Those students who excel at self-management and independent learning will thrive under these freedoms: the freedom to learn from the location of their choosing, the freedom to revisit materials any number of times at any pace, and the freedom to develop an in-depth asynchronous discourse with your peers.

More efficient use of resources.

Just like when you attend a meeting that you know could have been an email, it can be frustrating to attend an in-person class where all the students are doing individual virtual work. When planning your syllabus and scheduling which classes will take place online and which are face-to-face, take into account what resources you will need for each lesson and plan accordingly, optimizing the use of resources.

Hybrid learning models come in many different forms, depending on the content and instructor's expectations for the course. The above example highlights one way to combine virtual and in-person learning, which was created by the Christensen Institute.

Source: Christensen Institute

When creating your own hybrid learning model, the College of DuPage offers a jumping-off point with its hybrid teaching workbook . This hybrid learning model provides you with a foundation and step-by-step instructions for setting up your hybrid class

Hybrid Learning Model Class Structure

When structuring your new hybrid course, be sure to give yourself ample time to plan your materials and activities. The focus of planning a hybrid class is to make sure that each assignment is done in the correct format, as opposed to a strictly in-person or online class where you know the medium of each assignment.

But, how do you determine which materials are best served through which medium? First, gather your course materials. Then, follow our step-by-step guide.

1. Set your semester goals.

What do you plan to accomplish with your hybrid class? By setting long and short term goals for yourself and your class, you can explain the key expectations to your students.

Determine these goals and their corresponding assessment, and work backward to structure the rest of your course. This backtracking from the end of the semester to your very first session will ensure that all of your assignments and materials serve your course directly.

2. Map it out.

Now that you've determined the goals of your course, and how your students will be assessed, you'll need to map out how they'll navigate your class. Create a chart, table, timeline, or another visual tool to outline your course modules, and their respective activities and resources, in chronological order. By mapping your course visually, it will be easier for you to spot any course holes or underdeveloped activities.

3. Determine which course objectives are best served as in-person activities.

Now that you've determined what your course will look like, it's time to factor in the hybrid element. Your face-to-face class time should be reserved for activities that require activities such as:

• Synchronous group brainstorming sessions
• Communicating class expectations and outlining individual responsibilities
• Establishing a collaborative, trust-based learning environment
• Call and response presentations
• Providing immediate feedback to students

Pro tip: Remember that synchronous, face-to-face time can happen in-person, or virtually. If some students are in the classroom, while others are learning from home, you can use video conferencing tools to connect with one another.

4. Determine the online portion of your course.

You'll notice that one main element of your hybrid course not mentioned in the face-to-face section is the deliverance of information. While in-person time is reserved for synchronous and group discussions, the majority of personal assignments will be done virtually. Additionally, the other activities that make up the online portion of your hybrid class can include:

• Self-paced learning and activity completion
• Automatic grading programs such as multiple choice of True/False quizzes
• Asynchronous group discussions
• Written critical analysis and thoughtful discourse
• Video or aural content consumption

5. Create and source content.

Once you've mapped out the modules in your course, you'll need to create and source the content that will be used by your students. This is the time for you to create assignments, find all reading materials, source your video content, and finalize your syllabus.

If your school has experience with hybrid classes, adapting archived resources and tailoring them to fit your class structure is a great place to start. Additionally, resources can be found on flagship education websites and managing discussion forums.

6. Give your hybrid learning plan a trial run.

Congratulations, you've created a successful hybrid learning environment! The only thing left to do, before your course begins, is to do a trial run of the online portion of your course. You want your course to be fluid and accessible, without encountering any surprise technology speed bumps along the way. If possible, have a fellow faculty member or trusted former student test the course for you. Having an extra set of eyes on your course is always a good idea, and those unfamiliar with the creation of your course will be more likely to spot gray areas.

To ensure your new hybrid course runs smoothly, here are some bonus hybrid teaching tips just for you:

• Don't be afraid to redesign. The course map you created is not set in stone, as you move through the semester, lean into the strengths that arise and redesign to accommodate for any weaknesses that get exposed.
• Use online work to offer targeted learning plans, extensions, or one-on-one teaching for individual students.
• Provide mobile learning options for the online portion of your course.
• Be open to feedback, and really learn from your student's experiences.
• Don't overload on online assignments, just because they can be completed anywhere doesn't mean they take any less time than face-to-face work.
• Integrate the online and the in-person. A successful hybrid course is only as strong as the relationship between its two halves.
• Embrace your hybrid community. If you find yourself stuck or frustrated, turn to other hybrid class instructors that you respect: their experience and wisdom are priceless.
• Explain the purpose and expectations of your hybrid class clearly and often. If this format is new to you, there is a good chance it is new to your students as well.
• Provide students with self and time management tips so they aren't left treading water as soon as they leave the classroom. This is especially helpful for students who have never completed online coursework before.
• Connect your students to a trusted IT hotline for any technical issues that may arise.

Just as academia has embraced the world of hybrid experiences, so has the modern workforce.

To transition your fully on-site or remote team to the hybrid world, here's everything you need to know .

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Hybrid Learning: What is it & What Does it Mean For K-12 Schools?

Doug Bonderud is an award-winning writer capable of bridging the gap between complex and conversational across technology, innovation and the human condition. 

Faced with ongoing and unpredictable pandemic challenges, K–12 schools have been forced to get creative — finding new ways to facilitate learning at a distance, sustain student engagement and deliver consistent success.

It’s been no easy task. Data collected by  Education Week  highlights the continually changing, state-by-state nature of the U.S. COVID-19 response: Some school districts have been ordered open, others remain completely closed and many are left to find a functional balance between in-person and virtual learning on their own.

Given unfamiliarity of the U.S. K-12 system with virtual learning at this scale, substantial confusion remains around effective application across online environments — and what this solution means for schools going forward in 2021.

To help clarify what hybrid learning means, and how it might differ from similar terms that preceded it, we need to start by examining the definition of the term.

What Is the Hybrid Learning Model and How Has it Evolved?

At its most basic, “hybrid learning uses online components for teaching and learning that replaces face-to-face classroom time,” says Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs, chief transformation officer for the  National School Boards Association .

While initial hybrid learning approaches happened almost entirely at home — for both students and teachers — McCotter-Jacobs notes that in many cases, “teachers were in the classroom teaching both in-person and online as schools shifted from an all-remote approach to a combination of virtual and in-person classes.”

As a result, the hybrid model is now used to supplement multiple solutions for student success. In some schools, this means having students at home part time and in class part time; other districts have chosen to keep certain grade groups home full time and allow younger children to return in person.

How Does Hybrid Learning Differ from Blended Learning?

While the terms “hybrid learning” and “blended learning” are often used interchangeably, they’re not identical.

“It can be confusing, but when you think about blended learning, you’re not taking away from face time. Instead, it’s about providing online materials and tools that supplement learning rather than replacing the face-to-face experience,” says McCotter-Jacobs.

In practice, blended learning often takes the form of new initiatives such as project-based learning that add multimedia resources to common coursework and allow students to self-direct some of their learning to explore the holistic results of differing educational disciplines such as math, science or math and sciences.

Hybrid classes, meanwhile, take these online tools and provide them to students through remote learning portals and online learning management systems for use outside of the traditional school environment.

When it comes to hybrid learning vs. blended learning, here’s a good rule of thumb: If tools augment face-to-face frameworks, they’re blended learning models. If they facilitate the replacement of in-person instruction, they’re hybrid.

What Strategies Can Schools Use to Improve Hybrid Learning Models?

Recent research from the  Economic Policy Institute  suggests that online teaching and learning models can be effective “if students have consistent access to the Internet and computers and if teachers have received targeted training and supports for online instruction.”

McCotter-Jacobs echoes this sentiment, noting that “teachers in many cases are older and are not necessarily equipped for this technology.”

In fact, some of the biggest pain points that have emerged have less to do with the technology used to  facilitate remote learning  and hybrid learning itself and more to do with tech-challenged educators tasked with using that technology.

“The training and support they need is critical, and it’s not just for the software itself. How do they create lesson plans under this new model? How do they help students who are struggling? What happens when the software fails?” she says.

For McCotter-Jacobs, there’s one rule to follow when it comes to tapping the benefits of hybrid learning: Keep it simple. From streamlining the volume of applications and services students use to reducing the number of passwords and logins required to gain access, simplicity benefits students, teachers and parents alike.

DISCOVER:  5 tips for an effective hybrid instruction experience.

What Technologies Are Required for Effective Hybrid Learning Plans?

Hybrid classes are only effective when  backed by the right technologies . For McCotter-Jacobs, this starts with Wi-Fi in school buildings, especially as some kids head back to the classroom part time.

She also notes, however, that in-school Wi-Fi isn’t enough to create effective hybrid learning plans because many families lack access to reliable broadband internet at home. “There’s a vast deficiency here,” says McCotter-Jacobs, “with at least 17 million students lacking access to high-speed internet.”

To address this issue, McCotter-Jacobs notes, some districts equipped school buses with Wi-Fi and then drove these buses into underserved neighborhoods. Still, she says, there is a need for broader support to address the digital divide in education. As a result, she says, the NSBA has called for an additional  $12 billion  from the federal government to help deal with the homework gap and help facilitate effective hybrid learning.

What Does the Next Iteration of Hybrid Learning Look Like?

For those under the assumption that hybrid learning is a temporary stopgap, McCotter-Jacobs cautions that “the new normal is not going away.”

As schools prepare for a potential return to the classroom in fall 2021, several elements of hybrid learning will remain. This could take the form of families opting for at-home learning out of an abundance of caution until vaccine rollouts reach a certain threshold or schools choosing a partially hybrid model to reduce classroom overcrowding and improve one-on-one interaction.

That’s why it’s important for educators to embrace the hybrid learning shift as a foundational change to be absorbed and implemented into the broader plan and vision for the future of education.

“There’s an opportunity here for schools to get creative and shift the way students learn and the way teachers provide guidance,” says McCotter-Jacobs.

While she notes that this approach isn’t without its challenges, given “the many intangibles that we can’t put our finger on and the need for the right combination of funds, training and creative minds,” McCotter-Jacobs believes that hybrid learning can have a positive impact if it’s at the forefront of educational change.

“This shift can help take kids to the next iteration of learning,” she says, “and it’s not sitting in a classroom.”

MORE ON EDTECH:  Google for education offers an effective ecosystem for hybrid learning.

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‘Hybrid Warfare’: One Term, Many Meanings

By Tarik Solmaz

Introduction

Russia's recent aggression against Ukraine has brought renewed prominence to the debate around ‘hybrid warfare’ (see e.g., The Economist 2022; The Wall Street Journal 2022; The New York Times 2022). However, the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ is still as contested as it is popular. When scholars or practitioners mention the ‘hybrid model of warfare’ they do not always imply the same thing. Moreover, the definitions regarding ‘hybrid warfare’ adopted by Western states and institutions show significant differences. So, ultimately, the term ‘hybrid warfare’ obscures more than it explains. This essay argues that the ideational ambiguity regarding ‘hybrid warfare’ arises from two main reasons: First, the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ has been widely discussed, criticized, and reformulated comprising new elements that were lacking in the initial conception since it was first popularized by Frank Hoffman in his 2007 monograph Conflict in the 21 st Century: The Rise of Hybrid Wars . Second, the term ‘hybrid warfare’ has often been used to refer to inapplicable phenomena. That is, the term ‘hybrid warfare’ has been used to describe new cases that lack essential features of the original concept. As such, the idea of ‘hybrid warfare’ has continuously been subjected to conceptual stretching, and thus, today, it seems rather a vague and ambiguous concept. Yet still, a close investigation reveals that there are five major interpretations of the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ that are related yet different:

• ‘Hybrid Warfare’ as the employment of synergistic fusion of conventional weapons, irregular tactics, terrorism, and criminal activities in the same battlespace.
• ‘Hybrid Warfare’ as the combined use of regular and irregular forces under a unified direction.
• ‘Hybrid Warfare’ as the use of various military and non-military means to menace an enemy.
• ‘Hybrid Warfare’ as sub-threshold activities involving any mix of violent and non-violent means.
• ‘Hybrid Warfare’ as a way of achieving political goals by using non-violent subversive activities.

This essay has two purposes: to provide an overview of the different conceptual versions of ‘hybrid warfare’ within a historical context and to briefly discuss the possible implications of the lack of conceptual clarity surrounding ‘hybrid warfare’ for the West.

‘Hybrid Warfare’: An Ever-Stretching Concept

The use of the term ‘hybrid warfare’ dates to the 1990s. To our best knowledge, the term ‘hybrid warfare’ first appeared in Thomas Mockaitis’ book entitled British Counterinsurgency in the Post-imperial Era in 1995 (Mockaitis 1995, 14-39). In the years that followed, several authors used the term ‘hybrid warfare’ to refer to a diverse range of military campaigns (see e.g., Walker 1998, Nemeth 2002, Dupont 2003, Carayannis 2003, Simpson 2005). Indeed, the way these authors characterize ‘hybrid warfare’ was not that similar to each other. Nevertheless, in the final analyses, it seems right to argue that they have used the term ‘hybrid warfare’ to indicate a mode of warfare that can be simply classified as neither purely conventional nor irregular. Yet, in truth, on the subject of ‘hybrid warfare’, the theoretical and practical implications of the abovementioned authors were rather limited.  

The first widely disseminated articulation of the term 'hybrid warfare' was a speech by General James Mattis at Defence Forum backed by the Naval Institute and Marine Corps Association in September 2005 (Hoffman 2007, 14). Right after the conference, Mattis and Hoffman published a brief paper on ‘hybrid warfare’ in November 2005. In that paper, the authors argued that the future threats will be a merger of different modes of warfare, and they call this synthesis ‘hybrid warfare’. The concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ was not fully developed in that article, and the writers described the key characteristics of the ‘hybrid model of warfare’, rather than defining it (Mattis and Hoffman 2005, 18-19).

Two years later, Hoffman published his seminal monograph and formulated his own ‘hybrid warfare’ concept based on ‘fourth-generation warfare’, ‘compound warfare’, ‘unrestricted warfare’, and the ‘2005 National Defence Strategy’. This time, Hoffman provided a well-organized and detailed definition of ‘hybrid warfare’. Also, it was Hoffman’s monograph that popularized the term ‘hybrid warfare’ in the US academic and military-practitioner circles. Moreover, Hoffman’s definition has shaped the US Army’s understanding of ‘hybrid warfare’ to a notable extent (see e.g., Casey 2008, 28; US Army 2010, 1-1; US Army 2011, 1-5). Therefore, I tend to see his 2007 monograph as ‘the point of origin’ of the great debate on ‘hybrid warfare’ .

In his monograph, Hoffman (2007, 8) has stated that:

Hybrid Wars incorporate a range of different modes of warfare, including conventional capabilities, irregular tactics and formations, terrorist acts including indiscriminate violence and coercion, and criminal disorder.

According to Hoffman (2007, 36), Hezbollah’s method of warfare carried out in the face of the Israeli army during the 34-day war represents the most striking example of ‘hybrid warfare’. Hoffman (2007, 37) states that “Hezbollah’s use of C802 anti-ship cruise missiles and volley of rockets represents a sample of what ‘Hybrid Warfare’ might look like.” Arguably, he principally aims to raise awareness about the increasing state-like military capabilities of violent non-state actors in the post-Cold War era. Nevertheless, he has pointed out that ‘hybrid warfare’ can also be conducted by states (Hoffman 2007, 8). In this regard, Hoffman (2007, 28) has maintained that states can shift their regular forces to irregular units and employ non-traditional warfare tactics. So, in the final analysis, his notion of ‘hybrid warfare’, in substance, refers to non-state actors with high-tech weapons and states who adopt irregular tactics. Indeed, Hoffman’s idea of ‘hybrid warfare’ well describes what 21st century insurgents such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban, ISIS, and PKK have done over the last two decades. Also, it captures state-based irregular fighters such as Russia’s masked troops known as ‘little green men’, China’s maritime militias, and Iran’s Quds Force. So, although non-state actors with sophisticated weapons and states who employ irregular tactics are not completely new, today they seem dominant in today’s armed conflicts, as Hoffman forecasted correctly in 2007.

Shortly after Hoffman published his monograph, the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ gathered significant attention in the US military debates, and numerous military thinkers reviewed and reformulated it. Many scholars called into question the newness of ‘hybrid warfare’. However, an in-depth examination shows that unlike Hoffman, whose definition specifically focuses on the fusion of conventional and irregular forces in the same battlespace, some of them have characterized ‘hybrid warfare’ as the simultaneous use of regular and irregular forces in the same operation. For example, in a book entitled Hybrid Warfare: Fighting Complex Opponents from the Ancient World to the Present , which is one the most cited works in the existing ‘hybrid warfare’ literature, a group of military historians have maintained that the history of war is full of examples of ‘hybrid warfare’ (Murray and Mansoor 2012). Nevertheless, the authors define ‘hybrid warfare’ “as conflict involving a combination of conventional military forces and irregulars (guerrillas, insurgents, and terrorists), which could include both state and nonstate actors, aimed at achieving a common political purpose” (Mansoor 2012, 2). Namely, they primarily focus on the combined coordination of conventional and irregular forces without referring to Hoffman’s core idea that is, the merger of regular and irregular elements into a unified force. This line of argument has gained traction in the ‘hybrid warfare’ literature, and several authors have continued to characterize ‘hybrid warfare’ as the coordinated and combined use of regular and irregular forces under a unified strategic direction in the following years (see e.g., Deep 2015; Boot 2015; 15-18; Murray II 2017, 1).

On the other hand, another group of military thinkers such as McCuen (2008, 108), Jordan (2008, 20), Glenn (2009), Lasica (2009, 3), McWilliams (2009, 18-19), and Burbridge (2013, 11) has found the concept ‘hybrid warfare’ quite battlefield centric. According to these authors, ‘hybrid warfare’ is realized at all levels of war, and thus, the strategic use of ‘hybrid warfare’ is noteworthy as well. In that sense, they revised the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ by adding some non-kinetic elements to the scope of it.

For example, Glenn (2009) defines ‘hybrid threat’ as follows:

An adversary that simultaneously and adaptively employs some combination of (1) political, military, economic, social, and information means, and (2) conventional, irregular, catastrophic, terrorism, and disruptive/criminal warfare methods.

What distinguishes this conceptual version of ‘hybrid warfare’ from those discussed earlier is the stress on non-kinetic means and techniques . As such, unlike the tactical-operational understanding of ‘hybrid warfare’, which is inherently military-oriented, the two constituent parts of this conceptual version of ‘hybrid warfare’ have become military and non-military instruments.

After the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO preferred the term ‘hybrid warfare’ to refer to Russia’s so-called ‘new’ form of conflict in Ukraine. This choice, arguably, is the most crucial turning point in the evolution of the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’. First, the use and popularity of the term ‘hybrid warfare’ increased dramatically in the West’s military and strategic debates. Second, because Russia's activities in Ukraine did not fully fit the previous conceptualizations of ‘hybrid warfare’, the meaning of ‘hybrid warfare’ was subjected to conceptual stretching once again. Briefly speaking, Russia achieved its political goals in Ukraine by employing a mix of non-kinetic tools including cyber-attacks, propaganda, disinformation, economic coercion, and diplomatic pressure, and military methods such as conducting covert operations and empowering proxy warriors. In addition, Russia systemically denied its involvement in Ukraine. So, Russia’s so-called ‘hybrid warfare’ in Ukraine did not only consist of a combination of regular and irregular elements or the combination of military and non-military tools but also covert action and deception. So, the main defining characteristics of Russia’s subversive campaign in Ukraine were creating ambiguity and enabling plausible deniability. Therefore, in this context, the ‘hybrid model of warfare’ was largely associated with the so-called 'Gerasimov doctrine' that emphasizes the blurring distinctions between war and peace. As such, the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ was generally characterized by sub-threshold activities including kinetic and non-kinetic methods in both scholarly papers, and policy/strategy documents of Western institutions (see e.g., NATO 2014; NATO n.d., The European Commission 2016; Hybrid CoE n.d; Military Balance 2015, 5; Popescu 2015, 1). In truth, this understanding of ‘hybrid warfare’ appears to be a cocktail of previous conceptual versions. Namely, it captures nearly all categories included in ‘hybrid warfare’ literature: conventional and irregular; military and non-military. Nevertheless, as noted above, this formulation gives particular emphasis to plausible deniability and the notion of remaining the threshold of the outright act of war, and thus, represents a departure from previous conceptualizations of ‘hybrid warfare.

In the years that followed, the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ has continued to evolve and gain new meaning in the West’s strategic discourse. This is because Western politicians, scholars, think-tank experts, and media have often been used the term ‘hybrid warfare’ just to refer to non-violent subversive actions such as cyber-attacks, economic coercion, disinformation campaign, election meddling, and recently weaponization of migrants (See e.g., Der Spiegel 2016; Sahin 2017; Deni 2017; Kuczyński 2019; Shedd and Stradner 2020; Aslund 2021; EURACTIV 2017; BBC 2021). Obviously, this conceptual version of ‘hybrid warfare’ represents an extreme departure from the original approach to ‘hybrid warfare’ which has originally been included in the West’s military lexicon as a battlefield-centric concept.

As a result, clearly, the term ‘hybrid warfare’ has been used to describe a wide range of aggressive activities with different characteristics , and this makes it a highly ambiguous concept after all. Let us continue by asking the ‘so what’ question: Why does that matter?

Implications

Without a doubt, defining ‘hybrid warfare’ is not just a matter of intellectual debate. As discussed earlier, the term ‘hybrid warfare’ has already deeply been embedded in and part of the West’s military and strategic lexicon. Western governments and institutions have often used the term ‘hybrid warfare’ (or ‘hybrid threats’) to refer to contemporary security challenges. However, as already mentioned , this usage is not based on a mutual understanding of what ‘hybrid warfare’ entails.

In much of its doctrinal documents, the US Army has adopted Hoffman’s definition of ‘hybrid warfare’ or the slightly modified versions of it. For example, the US Army’s Training Circular (TC) 7-100 codifies ‘hybrid threats’ “as the diverse and dynamic combination of regular forces, irregular forces, and/or criminal elements all unified to achieve mutually benefitting effects” (The US Department of Army 2010, v). More recently, Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 3-0, defined a ‘hybrid threat’ as “the diverse and dynamic combination of regular forces, irregular forces, terrorists, or criminal elements acting in concert to achieve mutually benefitting effects” (The US Department of Army 2019, 1-3). These definitions reflect the battlefield-oriented understanding of ‘hybrid warfare’. However, one may encounter notably different definitions regarding ‘hybrid warfare’ in the US military documents. For example, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) G-2, defines ‘hybrid warfare’ as “ the use of political, social, criminal, and other non-kinetic means employed to overcome military limitations.” Obviously, non-kinetic means have come to the fore in this definition of ‘hybrid warfare’ (TRADOC 2015, 94).

On the other hand, currently, NATO and the EU, characterize ‘hybrid warfare’ as a way of achieving political objectives by employing a mix of kinetic and non-kinetic means while remaining below the threshold of traditional war in their official documents. For example, according to the NATO (n.d) website:

Hybrid threats combine military and non-military as well as covert and overt means, including disinformation, cyber-attacks, economic pressure, deployment of irregular armed groups and use of regular forces. Hybrid methods are used to blur the lines between war and peace and attempt to sow doubt in the minds of target populations. They aim to destabilise and undermine societies.

Likewise, the EU's 'Joint Framework on countering hybrid threats declares that:

The concept of hybrid threats aims to capture the mixture of conventional and unconventional, military and non-military, overt and covert actions that can be used in a coordinated manner by state or non-state actors to achieve specific objectives while remaining below the threshold of formally declared warfare (The European Commission 2016).

However, Western policymakers and practitioners have mostly associated the term ‘hybrid warfare’ with non-violent destabilization operations. In this regard, for example, alleged Russian interference in the 2016 United States election, Russia’s cyber-attacks against Western institutions, and Belarus’ weaponization of Middle Eastern refugees have been labeled an act of ‘hybrid warfare’ ( France24 2018; EURACTIV 2017 ; BBC 2021 ). This indicates that Western decision-makers use this term in a way that is inconsistent even with their own definitions, and this exacerbates the lack of conceptual clarity regarding ‘hybrid warfare’.

Today, Western states and organizations strongly emphasize that the West ought to be prepared to counter ‘hybrid threats’. Then, the question that should be asked is: How is that possible given that key actors/players in the West’s security architecture do not agree on the core meaning of the concept of ‘hybrid warfare’?

The term ‘hybrid warfare’ has drawn remarkable attention in the West’s strategic debates over the last fifteen years, and apparently, it will continue to draw attention. Nevertheless, it is still an extremely contested concept. The definitions concerning ‘hybrid warfare’ significantly differ from each other. Moreover, it has been used to describe a wide range of different phenomena that necessitate different countermeasures . The concept of ‘hybrid warfare’ has been so stretched that today hybrid warfare, which has originally been included in the West’s military lexicon as a battlefield-centric concept , has even been used to refer to just non-kinetic destabilization operations. Hence, alongside a poor understanding of such a concept, the ideational confusion weakens the capabilities of Western states and organizations to effectively deal with what they deem ‘hybrid threats’. As such, the concept of hybrid warfare seems to be suffering the same fate as ‘terrorism’ which is another contested term in the strategic lexicon. Hence, eliminating such a conceptual haziness should be prioritized by Western policymakers and defense intellectuals.

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Opponents from the Ancient World to the Present . Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

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NATO. 2010. “BI-SC Input to a New Capstone Concept for the Military Contribution to Countering Hybrid Threats”. https://www.act.nato.int/images/stories/events/2010/20100826_bi-sc_cht.pdf . Accessed on 10 February 2022.

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About the Author(s)

From 2014 to 2018, he served as a security specialist in the Undersecretariat of Public Order and Security (Turkey), whose main task is to develop counter-terrorism strategies. Currently, He is a PhD Candidate at the University of Exeter, Strategy and Security Institute. His thesis examines the changing character of warfare and, in particular, ‘hybrid warfare’. 

I really appreciated your…

I really appreciated your essay "Fighting and Learning Against Hybrid Threats," which demonstrated an excellent synthesis and analysis of a range of perspectives on hybrid warfare. Personally, I found the article to be incredibly informative when it comes to understanding the evolution of the concept of hybrid warfare over time, as well as its applications in different contexts. As an IR student, I am frequently tasked with preparing discussion board posts on various topics, including hybrid warfare, and I was fortunate to receive assistance from a discussion writer on a platform such as yours. Thanks to their help, I gained a better understanding of the key characteristics of hybrid warfare, most notably its ambiguity and the challenge of attributing responsibility to a specific actor. This aspect of hybrid warfare makes it an especially effective strategy for state actors looking to achieve their goals while avoiding direct confrontation and the risk of escalation.

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“The Cinema of In-Betweenness”: Hybrid film, its creative potential and the problem of its definition.

Emerging between Documentary film and Fiction film, “Hybrid” film attempts to bridge the divide that has long separated the two. Mixing reality with fiction, noticeably or sometimes less so, these hybrid narratives use filmic techniques from both sides of the divide to create a unique narrative that can serve quite varied storytelling purposes. From works like the Canadian films Stories We Tell (Polley 2012) or My Winnipeg (Maddin 2007), which apply fictional elements to personal stories experienced first-hand by the filmmakers as a means to comment on the unreliability of Memory or Sensation, to the films of several Iranian filmmakers, such as Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, or Mohsen Makhmalbaf, to name just a few, which poetically deconstruct the illusion of filmic narrative, through metacinematic devices that obliquely allude to the political censorship and control exerted by the Iranian authorities, to the magical realism of directors like Miguel Gomes or Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the Hybrid form offers a wide range of creative solutions for a filmmaker to address any subject matter. This essay will attempt to propose a general delimitation of what “hybrid film” is and is not. It will consist of a journey of sorts through some films which sit on what is generally considered to be the border line between Documentary film and Fiction film. By comparing and contrasting the stylistic elements in the chosen films, it is expectable that tensions will emerge and, consequently, offer valuable ideas towards a delimitation of the topic of the essay. As I will further expose below, there is a lack of clear, decisive academic knowledge about Hybrid films. This gap has spread to film criticism, journalism, and programming, realms in with the term “hybrid” is used indiscriminately. A few of the films analysed in this essay were taken directly from film reviews, film festival programmes, and articles where they were defined as hybrids; as argued below, most times wrongly so. Notwithstanding this, one must nevertheless recognize that these more informal texts reflect a tension that is deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of casual filmgoers when confronted with a film that defies characterization. Moreover, as proposed below, the way the audience engages and perceives these films is an aspect with an important contribution to the definition of “hybrid film”. Despite the lack of any substantial academic framework surrounding Hybrids, there is an outstanding number of authors working mostly from within the Documentary field who have written about the issues of Reality, Reconstruction, Intervention, and so on, in Documentary practice. One of these authors is Brian Winston, whose recap of the spectrum between fact and fiction (2013) has been central to the analysis present in this essay as a first step towards a taxonomy of documentary and fiction techniques that can be used to attempt a definition of “Hybrid film” At any rate, and due to the fact that, as I will begin by addressing in the next chapter, the Hybrid form is ever-changing, highly adaptable, and generally elusive, this essay cannot purport to be an exhaustive survey of the reach the Hybrid form has; rather, my intention is that it can offer a general road map on the subject, identifying the main questions that can, after further study, contribute to a definitive delimitation of the form, while leaving the door open for whatever the evolution of this subject might bring.

Related Papers

Maria do Rosário Lupi Bello

If film is a form of visual art, why does it rely mainly upon narrative text and is not more indebted to drama? Why are theatrical plays not so easily (and frequently) adapted for the screen as novels and short stories? Is it true, as Käte Hamburger suggests, that “filmed drama becomes epic”? In order to grasp the concept of film hybridism (both film theorists and film makers have long dealt with the natural tendency of film to absorb other art features and forms), in this paper I intend to address the issue of film genre by taking into account Jauss’s evolutional theory and confronting it with Frye’s concept of “radical of presentation”. André Bazin spoke of the impurity of film, whilst Manoel de Oliveira, who has been said to produce “theatrical films”, clearly states that “film adds to theatre the capacity of fixing the image in time”. Time is, in fact, a decisive factor in genre definition – as Hegel clearly demonstrated – and it is through the way that film deals with this factor that we are able to gauge either its distance from or its closeness to drama and/or to literature.

Ohad Landesman

Digital technology, often perceived as complicating evidential claims about docu- mentary representations, has been playing a significant role lately in formulating new aesthetic grounds for the long-lasting hybridity formed between fact and fiction in the genre. It has been doing so by cultivating a style of constructed camcorder realism, utilizing the technology’s immediacy and intimacy predicated upon the digital look in its various connotations of authenticity and credibility. This article discusses the ways by which digital cinematography contributes to the challenging interplay between reality and fiction in the new hybrid documentary form. Focusing on several unclassifiable blends of document and story shot on digital video (DV) and other hand-held cameras – Michael Winterbottom’s In This World (2002), Abbas Kiarostami’s Ten (2002), and Hany Abu-Assad’s Ford Transit (2002) – it accounts for how technologically oriented aesthetic variations become signifiers of an artificial generic distinction, and raise questions and concerns about the manufacturing of truth in documentaries.

Jill Daniels

In this case study Jill Daniels references several of her recent experimental documentary films that mediate memory, place and subjectivities: Not Reconciled (2009); The Border Crossing (2011); My Private Life (2013); My Private Life II (2015) and Journey to the South (2017). She proposes the notion that film communicates in a sensory mode that may defy written theorisation or interpretation, with a rigor and precision that is quite separate to that of written language, but that nevertheless films, like written language, may add to knowledge. She argues that film theory is essential to enable the filmmaker to raise their work above the narrow framework of craft. She interrogates the notion that experimentation in documentary films may avoid perceived constraints of certainty, evidence and veracity. She notes that as a practice researcher within the academy she has freedom to experiment, which has brought considerable benefits to her practice.

CINEJ Cinema Journal

Rowena Santos Aquino

Quarterly Review of Film and Video

Maria Elena de las Carreras

Fátima Chinita

Call for papers Ekphrasis. Images, Cinema, Theory, Media, Vol. 22, Issue 2/2019 Issue editors: Fátima Chinita and Liviu Lutas

Des O'Rawe

Regarding the real develops an original approach to documentary film, focusing on its aesthetic relations to visual arts such as animation, assemblage, photography, painting and architecture. Throughout, the book considers the work of figures whose preferred film language is associative and fragmentary, and for whom the documentary is an endlessly open form; an unstable expressive phenomenon that cannot help but interrogate its own narratives and intentions. Combining close analysis with cultural history, the book re-assesses the influence of the modern arts in subverting structures of realism typically associated with the documentary. In the course of its discussion, it charts a fascinating path that leads from Len Lye to Hiroshi Teshigahara, and includes along the way figures such as Joseph Cornell, Johan van der Keuken, William Klein, Jean-Luc Godard, Jonas Mekas and Raymond Depardon.

Cluj University Press

Judit Pieldner

Dennis Rothermel

mircea V deaca

The paper focuses on the supposed fundamental change in contemporary films. After a short survey of several points of view on the matter I discuss the case of mashup cinema. This genre is based on recycling of cinematic sequences in order to create new narrative and fictional discourses. Contrary to Dada's rhetoric, mashup cinema is prone to create narratives based on continuity. New semantic constructions are elaborated out of heterogeneous filmic scenes and sequences. Discontinuities, viewed as autonomous sequences, are enjoyed per se. Sequences are further bound by narrative roles, and by abstract and sensorial modifiers such as music, movement, shapes and colors. This characteristic has been, since its birth, an explanatory element of what we call film. Today's mashup cinema tends to become an audiovisual hieroglyphic language available to viewers and users situated at both ends of the spectrum, i.e. producers and addressees. Faced with this democratization of audiovisual use poststructuralist philosophical approaches have a gist of panic, and today's films and shorts are considered to be the epiphenomena announcing an apocalypse. Film analysts like David Bordwell, Roger Odin or Laurent Jullier adopt a more sober stance and study the new shifts in emphasis and the innovative use of new constructional schemas in a manner closer to the filmic text. Cinematic discourse, through the use of prefabricated chunks, cinematic topoi, is evolving towards a language which resembles the medieval literature and carnival where a common cultural thesaurus was available to users in order to create new conceptualizations and reality conceptions.

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Refining the definition and typologies of entrepreneurship in africa: a systematic review.

1. Introduction

2. literature review, 2.1. trends in entrepreneurship research, 2.2. entrepreneurial typologies, 2.3. the african entrepreneurial environment, 3. research methods, 3.1. rationale for selected approach, 3.2. the article search and selection strategy, 3.3. data extraction and synthesis.

• Metadata information—encompassing information regarding the data itself, such as the nature of the article (academic or practitioner), the year of publication, the utilised research methodology, the focus, and the scope of the article.
• Conceptual details—providing insights into key concepts and definitions utilised in entrepreneurship typologies and the expressed objective concerning African entrepreneurship (i.e., how can entrepreneurship be delineated and characterised within the African context).
• Thematic data—highlighting the principal themes evident in the research articles concerning the factors influencing entrepreneurial success in Africa, the drivers, and hindrances of entrepreneurship in Africa, and the conclusions drawn by the authors regarding the utilisation of entrepreneurship as a catalyst for economic advancement in Africa.

4. Findings

4.1. meta data findings, 4.1.1. the sequence of research on typologies and definitions in entrepreneurship, 4.1.2. research genres of the articles, 4.2. conceptual and thematic findings, 4.2.1. definitional characteristics of entrepreneurship.

“The entrepreneurial path is one of launching something new without much in the way of guidelines or a script, making misjudgements and errors, learning quickly, and adapting until a sustainable business model is realized, it isa path filled with novel events.”

“Every activity I complete and every goal I reach gives me incredible satisfaction and keeps me going.” This sense of fulfillment serves as a potent catalyst, nurturing resilience, fostering creativity, instilling a sense of purpose and ultimately leading to the sustained success of ventures led by women.”

“Some of the sustainability entrepreneurs even strategically searched for a problem that appeared worth solving, and that they considered to be solvable. “I followed debates on the so-called SDGs, you know, and there I identified education as a field where I really could make a contribution, could make a difference” (I20). “I did research in the field of social entrepreneurship. And I traveled. I went to India for a while and got into contact with different social entrepreneurs before I discovered my task, what I wanted to do” (I06).”

4.2.2. African Entrepreneurial Environment and Business Management Factors

5. discussions.

• Lifepreneurs are individuals who engage in entrepreneurship driven by a desire for self-employment. Their primary focus is on generating income, with minimal resources, mainly time, being allocated to their ventures. Unlike traditional businesses that aim for profit maximisation, Lifepreneurs do not typically pursue this objective. They often operate artisanal trades, like being handymen, plumbers, and carpenters, embodying leadership qualities geared towards accomplishing specific goals.
• Part-timers enter the business world to supplement their existing income. These entrepreneurs usually hold full-time jobs elsewhere, such as a university lecturer managing a student boarding house. Part-timers demonstrate entrepreneurial skills by identifying gaps in the market and leveraging their business and educational expertise to establish part-time ventures. Profit remains a key driver for this category of entrepreneurs.
• Hobbypreneurs, as the name suggests, are individuals who have transformed their hobbies into business endeavours. While profit is a motivating factor, their primary goal is to cover operational expenses and protect intellectual property rights. Hobbypreneurs tend to blur the lines between work and leisure, displaying a passion for their craft and a willingness to engage in it without monetary compensation. Examples include special types of social entrepreneurs from the selected papers who fall into the hobbypreneur category.
• Entremployees are mostly found in developing nations where individuals engage in both full-time employment and entrepreneurship concurrently. In contrast to developed countries, where individuals typically pursue one career path at a time, the rise of hybrid entrepreneurs is notable in developing economies. Entremployees manage their businesses alongside their primary jobs, utilising their employers’ resources like office space, telephones, and computers for personal ventures. This group often offers professional services, such as accounting, language editing, and consulting, with a significant presence in government and public sector organisations. The distinction between Entremployees and Part-timers lies in the former’s active involvement in their business operations during regular working hours at their primary workplace. Entrepreneurs exhibit a tendency to leverage their employers’ resources, such as office space, telephones, or computers, for their personal business endeavours. The Entrepremployee sector encompasses professional services like accounting, language editing, and consultancy. Within this sector, most individuals are situated in government agencies or public sector establishments.
• Empreneurs are the entrepreneurs sitting right at the centre of the matrix depicted in Figure 9 . (Empreneurs are the changeover point for most entrepreneurs. Those operating businesses below this level tend to be small and micro ventures. And beginning from the Empreneurs, the type of business moves more towards medium-sized enterprises.) Empreneurs have four distinguishing characteristics: (1) They are full-time entrepreneurs, and (2) they started their business careers as entrepreneurs. (3) Their businesses grew to levels requiring their full-time attention. (4) Empreneurs operate businesses within the same industry as their previous employment, such as a mechanic opening an automotive repair shop.
• Techpreneurs represent a distinct category of business enterprises that combine technology with family support. The entrepreneur falling under this classification possesses extensive technical knowledge but encounters obstacles related to securing capital resources.
• Carte-blanche demands a substantial amount of financial investment for its establishment. This financial input must be accompanied by the procurement of tangible infrastructure. Many franchise businesses align with this description, thus earning the classification title of Carte-blanche.
• Profeneurs encompass a group of specialised entrepreneurs who navigate through numerous legislative frameworks and require significant capital for their entrepreneurial pursuits. Individuals falling into this category typically engage in large capital procurements and are experts in providing classic services.
• Smartpreneurs constitute a category of businesses that heavily rely on capital, predominantly within the high-tech sectors. These enterprises commonly originate as medium-scale ventures with the potential to expand into large-scale operations. Generally, Smartpreneurs are characterised by ambitious and strategic personalities. Notable examples of Smartpreneurs include Econet by Strive Masiyiwa and Sephako by Aliko Dangote, with the individuals themselves often possessing high intellect and charisma.

6. Conclusions

Supplementary materials, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Chakuzira, W.; Okoche, J.M.M.; Mkansi, M. Refining the Definition and Typologies of Entrepreneurship in Africa: A Systematic Review. Adm. Sci. 2024 , 14 , 184. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14080184

Chakuzira W, Okoche JMM, Mkansi M. Refining the Definition and Typologies of Entrepreneurship in Africa: A Systematic Review. Administrative Sciences . 2024; 14(8):184. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14080184

Chakuzira, Wellington, John Michael Maxel Okoche, and Marcia Mkansi. 2024. "Refining the Definition and Typologies of Entrepreneurship in Africa: A Systematic Review" Administrative Sciences 14, no. 8: 184. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14080184

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