Genres Inside Genres. A Short Theory of Embedded Genre

The concept of the embedded genre is of crucial importance if we want to understand the way genres interact, within any given text, within any given genre, and in forming larger genre patterns. By discussing a tentative distinction between three kinds of embedding, “recontextualized embedding” (from Bakhtin), “contextualized embedding” (from Orlikowski & Yates), and “element genre” (from Swales and Martin), the present study initiates an unraveling of some of the intricacies involved in genre embedding. This demonstrates why genre research as well as studies of written communication can profit from integrating an expanded understanding of genre embedding in its theoretical deliberations and analytical work.