Action fiction is a literary genre that focuses on stories that involve high-stakes, high-energy, and fast-paced events. This genre includes a wide range of subgenres, such as spy novels, adventure stories, tales of terror and intrigue ("cloak and dagger") and mysteries. This kind of story utilizes suspense, the tension that is built up when the reader wishes to know how the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is going to be resolved or what the solution to the puzzle of a thriller is.[1]
Genre fiction
[edit]Action genre is a form of fiction whose subject matter is characterized by emphasis on exciting action sequences. This does not always mean they exclude character development or story-telling. The action genre is also related to comic books and graphic novel formats such as manga, and non-literary media including anime, action film, action television series, and action games. It includes martial arts action, extreme sports action, car chases and vehicles, hand-to-hand combat, suspense action, and action comedy, with each focusing in more detail on its own type and flavor of action. It is usually possible to tell from the creative style of an action sequence, the emphasis of an entire work, so that, for example, the style of a combat sequence will indicate whether the entire work can be classified as action-adventure, or a martial work. Action is mainly defined by a central focus on any kind of exciting movement.[2][3][4][5]
Notable examples
[edit]Novels
[edit]- 58 Minutes (1987)
- The Bourne Identity (1980)
- The Chinaman (1992)
- First Blood (1972)
- Man on Fire (1980)
- Nothing Lasts Forever (1979)
Films
[edit]- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
- Dirty Harry (1971)
- Hanna (2011)
- The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Seven Samurai (1954)
- Top Gun (1986)
- The Villainess (2017)
Television series
[edit]- The A-Team (1983)
- Black Sails (2014)
- Counterstrike (1990)
- Fallout (2024)
- Highlander: The Series (1992)
- MacGyver (1985)
- My Name (2021)
- Nikita (2010)
Comics
[edit]- Action Comics (1938)
- Captain Easy (1933)
- Connie (1927)
- Corto Maltese (1967)
- Dick Tracy (1931)
- The Phantom (1936)
- Tarzan (1929)
- Terry and the Pirates (1934)
Animation
[edit]- Arcane (2021)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)
- Blue Eye Samurai (2023)
- Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
- The Legend of Korra (2012)
- The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Turco (1999, pp. 58, 116)
- ^ "Action". Literary Terms. October 21, 2016.
- ^ "A guide to comic book styles". BBC Maestro. BBC. 21 February 2023. Archived from the original on June 6, 2024.
- ^ Dow, Isabella (April 26, 2017). "The Appeal of the Action Genre". The Heights.
- ^ Hellerman, Jason (December 6, 2023). "The Action Genre in Film and TV". No Film School. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
Sources
[edit]- Turco, Lewis (1999). The Book of Literary Terms: The Genres of Fiction, Drama, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, and Scholarship (1st ed.). Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England. ISBN 978-0874519549.
External links
[edit]Media related to Action (genre) at Wikimedia Commons