Exant Cybergenres: Variants and Replications
by Marilina Fontana

Michael Shepherd and Carolyn Watters look at how genres may be transferred from one medium to the Internet and how cybergenres may evolve due to technology. They write that there are two main groups of subgenres: exant and novel. The class that concerns us here is the former. Shepherd and Watters describe exant subgenres as “those based on genres existing in other media, such as paper or video, that have migrated to this new medium.” (Shepherd & Watters: 1998, p.99) This subgenre takes on two forms: variant and replicated cybergenres.

Variant cybergenres demonstrate a genre’s evolution as it is transferred to the new medium. These usually include such elements like video and audio clips, search engines and elaborate graphics ultimately exploring the new medium’s functionality. (Shepherd & Watters: 1998, p.99) Examples of variant subgenres include the on-line versions of the Louvre and Guggenheim serving as cyber-extensions to the physical museums. Replicated cybergenres, on the other hand, are characterized as reproductions of the original genre, they usually lack any elaborate functionality and most often there is little change in either form or content. In this analysis, such sites are divided into two groups according to their purpose, form and structure. These four example sites are otherwise known as either Private Projects or Public Missions.

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