"No Shepherd, No Pastoral" and Other Genre Hallmarks

Terry Gifford, a prominent literary theorist, defines pastoral in three ways in his critical book Pastoral. The first way emphasizes the historical literary perspective of the pastoral in which authors recognize and discuss life in the country and in particular the life of a shepherd. This is summed up by Leo Marx with the phrase "No shepherd, no pastoral."

NO CARNIVAL, NO BAKHTIN

NO QUAD, NO CAMPUS NOVEL

NO ARMCHAIR, NO COZY MYSTERY

NO ESCAPADES, NO PICARESQUE

NO SHIPWRECK, NO ROBINSONADE

NO FOLLIES, NO SOCIAL SATIRE

NO EMPIRE WAISTS, NO REGENCY ROMANCE

NO COMING-OF-AGE, NO BILDUNGSROMAN

NO WIT, NO CONTE

NO PERIL, NO MELODRAMA

NO HOUSE, NO GOTHIC

NO FAÇADE, NO ROMAN À CLEF

NO CATTLE, NO TÁIN BÓ

NO MORLOCKS, NO TIME MACHINE

NO DRAGONS, NO FANTASY

NO CORPSE, NO ELEGY

NO SERIAL, NO PENNY DREADFUL

NO CODE OF CONDUCT, NO MIRROR FOR PRINCES

NO SIGN-OFF, NO EPISTOLARY

NO ALLEGORY, NO SHIP OF FOOLS

NO GLORIOUS EXPLOITS, NO HAMASAH

NO EROTIC ANTICLERICALISM, NO LIBERTINE NOVEL

NO MARCUS, NO MEDITATIONS

NO MENTAL ATTITUDES, NO MENIPPEAN SATIRE

NO SHIP, NO SAILOR’S YARN

NO SNOW, NO NORDIC NOIR

NO HUBRIS, NO TRAGEDY

NO WEDDING, NO COMEDY

NO IMPOSSIBLE ARCHITECTURE, NO MAGICAL REALISM

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