Abstract In the present paper, we shall try to provide an approximation to a study of the genre to which In Cold Blood, Truman

Capote's masterpiece, could be assimilated. Our main concern is to determine whether this novel could be classified as conventional journalism or as detective novel. In order to accomplish this purpose, our point of departure will be based on the concept of genre and the characteristics of both conventional journalism and detective novel. Once we have dealt with these notions, we shall compile samples from the text that reflect the distinctive features of these genres. It is our aim to apply the chosen theoretical framewor to the study of genre analysis in the novel and to broaden our nowledge on this area.

Introduction Our point of concern is to ma e a study of genre of In Cold Blood, with the purpose of determining to which genre it belongs. To do this, we first need to define the concept of genre. !or this reason, we are going to use "wales, #ggins and $artin, and %ahtia's theory on this concept. "econdly, as we are faced with two opposite&leading paths 'those which would suggest that this text is a detective novel or a piece of traditional journalism(, we find appropriate to delve into the nature of each item in both levels. To describe the features of conventional journalism, we will use )an *ij and $artine+ ,lberto's theory- whereas to analy+e the characteristics of detective novel, we will base our study on Carolyn .ells, /. 0. Chesterton and T+vetan Todorov's ideas. .e depart from the hypothesis that the novel could be associated with conventional journalism.

Materials and Methods 1enre The concept of genre has been widely discussed by many authors. 2owever, for the purposes of this paper, we will concentrate on those definitions of genre provided by "wales '3445(, #ggins and $artin '3446(, and %ahtia '7558(. ,ccording to "wales, 9a genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which share some sets of communicative purposes: '3445;<=(. .hat shapes and constrains the choice of content and style of a given text is the rationale, which is recogni+ed by the discourse community members. That is to say that the function of the communicative purpose is to help the reader determine to which genre a particular text belongs. #ggins and $artin ma e a distinction between the use of genre in traditional literary studies and its use in linguistics. The former classifies genres according to the 9types of literary productions: ,and the latter defines genres functionally in terms of their social purpose and go on to conclude that 9different genres are different ways of using language to achieve different culturally established tas s, and texts of different genres are texts which are achieving different purposes in the culture: '3446;7>?(. !inally, %ahtia asserts that genres are the result of the constrained use of certain stable lexico&grammatical as well as discoursal resources that originate fixed structural forms which serve to achieve specific communicative purposes of a social institution. .hat all these definitions have in common is that they associate the notion of genre with the use of language to achieve social aims. This means that the purpose constrains the characteristics of the language to be used what in turn determines a particular genre. @i ewise, as the social purpose allows to predict language patterns, these patterns allow us to infer what the social purpose of a text is. Therefore, we will use a framewor which will help us identify the language features in Capote:s novel, what will in turn allow us to determine what genre this novel belongs to. Conventional journalism ,ccording to $artine+ ,lberto '3468( journalistic genres are those modalities of literary creation which are conceived as vehicles for the transmission of information through the written press. /ournalism deals with the finding and reporting of trends,

events, and various topics that are relevant or interesting to media professionals and individuals. )an *ij '34=5( claims that one of the main intentions in journalistic discourse is to attract the reader's attention, objective which is arrived at by means of a process of persuasion. /ournalists aim to convince readers, through an objective and impersonal style, that what they are reporting about what occurs in the world is true. There are certain characteristics which derive from this persuasive goal. These are; 1. The highlight of the factual nature of events to verify and corroborate journalists: claims by means of; a. direct descriptions of ongoing eventsb. testimonies submitted by close 'eye&( witnessesc. evidence provided by reliable sources 'authorities, socially respected people, professionals(d. elements of precision and accuracy, such as figures, dates, time, events, etc. e. direct Auotes from the sources, especially when those opinions play an important role. 2. The methodology to gather information, such as interviews not only to the police, but also to the witnesses. 3. The building up of a solid structure of relationships for the events; a. by mentioning previous events as conditions or causes, and describing or predicting the coming events as possible or real conseAuencesb. by placing facts within well& nown situational models which ma e them relatively familiar even when they are newc. by trying to organi+e events according to specific well& nown structures, e.g. narrative structures. 4. The provision of information with attitudinal and emotional dimensions, for instance, facts are better represented and memori+ed if they bring about strong emotions. , distinctive feature of news story is the reverse&chronological structure they follow. In the body of the story, news values overturn temporal seAuence and impose an order completely at odds with linear narrative. The main event comes as early as possible and the story moves bac wards and forwards in time, pic ing out different points on each

cycle or giving more detail on previously mentioned matters. )an *ij '34==( has called this the 9installment method:, by which an event is introduced then returned to in more detail two or more times. The earliest events are reported last of all because the story should be capable of ending at any sentence. *etective Bovel Carolyn .ells, in her article The Technique of the Mystery Story, claims that detective stories are those where the problem is invented and solved by the author and set forth in such a way as to give an astute reader opportunity for guessing or reasoning out the answer. This ind of story emerged in the 34 th century with Coe:s The Murderers in the Rue Morgue but the genre became more popular in #urope, mainly in %ritain, with the wor s of "ir ,rthur Conan *oyle, ,gatha Christie and /.0 Chesterton, among others. The detective story is a ind of intellectual game, in which the reader has eAual opportunity with the detective for solving the mystery. ,s the story unfolds, all clues are plainly stated and described. Bo willful tric s or deceptions are placed on the reader other than those played legitimately by the criminal on the detective himself. $ost detective stories follow the DwhodunitD format, that is, the events of the crime and the subseAuent events of the investigation are presented so that the reader is only provided clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced. ,t the end of the novel, the detective unmas s the murderer and sums up the case, explaining the crime and clearing up mysterious events. In an inverted detective story, the commission of the crime, and usually also the identity of the perpetrator, is shown or described at the beginning. The remainder of the story then describes the subseAuent investigation. Instead, the Dpu++leD presented to the reader is discovering the clues and evidence that the perpetrator left behind. The culprit usually turns out to be a person who has played a more or less prominent part in the story E that is, a person with whom the reader is familiar and in whom he ta es an interest. It is determined by logical deductions E not by accident or coincidence or unmotivated confession. There is only one culprit, no matter how many murders are committed, but they may, of course, have a minor helper or co&plotter. There is also only one detective E that is, one protagonist of deduction E one deus ex machina. ,ccording to T+vetan Todorov in FThe Typology of *etective !iction,D the novel Fcontains not one but two stories; the story of the crime and the story of the

investigation. In their purest form, these two stories have no point in common G...H The first story, that of the crime, ends before the second begins GIH The characters of the second story, the story of the investigation, do not act, they learn.J The story of the crime narrates Dwhat really happenedD while the story of the investigation is an account of Dhow the reader 'or the narrator( has come to now about it.J This author also states that in the traditional detective novel the interest of the reader is raised by curiosity. This curiosity is maintained by the unsolved mystery until the end of the novel.

Thriller The thriller is a particular type of detective novel which emerged in the Knited "tates just before and particularly after .orld .ar I. It was created in 3475 when /oseph "haw was appointed director of the pulp maga+ine Black Mask. This maga+ine had as its purpose to create a detective novel different from the classic detective novel. $any authors were attracted by this idea and started publishing a new type of detective novel. The most representative authors of this period are *ashiell 2ammett and Laymond Chandler. The thriller usually follows an inverted seAuence of events, that is, the commission of the crime is shown or described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator and the remainder of the story then describes the subseAuent investigation. This ind of detective fiction comprises the story of the crime and the story of the investigation, suppressing the first and vitali+ing the second. In TodorovMs terms; F.e are no longer told about a crime anterior to the moment of the narrative- the narrative coincides with the action. Bo thriller is presented in the form of memoirs; there is no point reached where the narrator comprehends all past events, we do not even now if he will reach the end of the story alive. Crospection ta es the place of retrospection.J Bow there is nothing to be discovered, no story to be guessed nor mystery to be solved. %ut the reader:s interest is not reduced- the two inds of detective fiction generate two different forms of interest. The first, curiosity, follows from effect to cause- starting from effect 'a corpse and certain clues( we must find its cause 'the culprit and his motives(. The second form is suspense, and here the movement is from

cause to effect; we are first shown the causes and our interest is sustained by the expectation of what will happen. "ome distinctive features of the thriller are; The figure of the detective is based on reality. 2e is no longer a deus ex machine, but a representative of the law triggered by his profession in pursue of a salary. ,t the same time, he is no longer passive, he ta es action. Crime is motivated by money; murder, theft, fraud, extortion, and idnap. The topics dwelled in thriller are; violence, crime, and the character:s amorality. *etached description of events; characters are the necessary elements to show how crime wor s in society- they are treated as objects, not as people. The purpose of these stories is to ma e a social critiAue and to report the role of money in this period of the Knited "tates characteri+ed by crisis, unemployment, stri es, the economic crisis of .all "treet and a crime wave.

Bew /ournalism Bew /ournalism was a style of 34?5s and 3465s news writing and journalism which used literary techniAues deemed unconventional at the time. The term was codified with its current meaning by Tom .olfe in a 346> collection of journalism articles he published as The New ournalism, which included wor s by himself, Truman Capote, 2unter ". Thompson, Borman $ailer, /oan *idion, Lobert Christgau, 1ay Talese and others. ,rticles in the Bew /ournalism style tended not to be found in newspapers, but rather in maga+ines such as The !tlantic Monthly, "ar#er$s, Co%&olution 'uarterly, %squire, New (ork, The New (orker, Rolling Stone, and for a short while in the early 3465s, Scanlan$s Monthly. 2ow and when the term Bew /ournalism began to refer to a genre has not been clear. Tom .olfe, a practitioner and principal advocate of the form, wrote in at least two articles in 3467 that he had no idea of where it began. ,s a literary genre, Bew /ournalism has certain technical characteristics. It is an artistic, creative, literary reporting form with three basic traits; dramatic literary

techniAues- intensive reporting- and reporting of generally ac nowledged subjectivity. It has been regarded as subjective journalism since "ubjectivism is a common element among many 'though not all( of its definitions. In contrast to a conventional journalistic striving for objectivity, subjective journalism allows for the writer's opinion, ideas or involvement to creep into the story. .olfe identified the four main devices Bew /ournalists borrowed from literary fiction; 1. Lepresentation of the events in full dramatic scenes instead of the usual account provided by most articles. The development of scenic representation rather than the historical summary is the novel distinctive feature. 2. !ull rendering of dialogues instead of Auotes, or anecdotes used by conventional journalism. ,lthough conventional news stories often Auote people, the space reAuirements of the newspaper do not allow the complete rendering of dialogue which has been used by the new journalist. 3. Lecord of 9details of status' and 9patterns of behaviour: by which people experience their position in the world. This is done to achieve psychological depth by recording the daily habits, customs, clothing, etc. through which people experience their position in the world. *etails of status have been widely used in fiction to achieve precision in the characteri+ation. 4. Complex and creative uses of the point of view to represent events in the way they develop. This mechanism of fiction used in new journalism consists in representing the character as if the reader could understand his mental process, or alternatively, representing him from the point of view of those important processes in his life.

Results Ta ing into account the distinctive features that conventional journalism and thriller present, we will now try to identify and to exemplify those that are present in In Cold Blood. Features of conventional journalism .e have found that the novel displays many strategies which are used by journalists to stress the factual nature of the information and ensure objectivity; & )irect* &i&id* descri#tions of the e&ents+ "he:d been shot in the bac of the head with a shotgun held maybe two inches away. "he was lying on her side, facing the wall, and the wall was covered with blood. The bed covers were drawn up to her shoulders 'p. ?5( & Testimonies su,mitted ,y the #ersons directly concerned+ D"o I did,D said "usan, in a statement made at a later date. DI called the house and let the phone ring & at least, I had the impression house and try to 'wa e them to do it. 1o because it was ringing & oh, a minute or more. Bobody answered, so '$r. #walt suggested that we go to the up.' %ut when we got there & I didn't want

to the house. I was frightened, and I don't now why, 'p.<6(. & %&idence #ro&ided ,y relia,le sources;

it never occurred to me & well, something li e that just doesn't.

*ewey 'I( read, on the first page of the 0ansas City "tar, a headline he had long awaited; die on rope for bloody crime. The story, written by an ,ssociated Cress reporter, began; DLichard #ugene 2ic oc and Cerry #dward "mith, partners in crime, died on the gallows at the state prison early today for one of the bloodiest murders in 0ansas criminal annals. 2ic oc , >>years old, died first, at 37; 83 a. m.- "mith, >?, died at 3; 34...D 'p. >74&>>5(

& %lements of #recision and accuracy+ , pair of semi&coded dossiers accompanied the photographs. The one for the fair&headed man read; 2ic oc , Lichard #ugene '.$( 7=. 0%I 46 54>- !%I =<4 76>,. ,ddress; #dgerton, 0ansas. %irth& date ?&?&>3. %irthplace; 0. C., 0ans. 2eight; <&35. .eight; 36<. 2air; %lond. #yes; %lue. %uild; "tout. Comp; Luddy. Occup; Car Cainter. Crime; Cheat N *efr. N %ad Chec s. Caroled; =&3>&<4. %y; "o. 0. C. 0. The second description read; "mith, Cerry #dward '.$( 76& <4. %irthplace; Bevada. 2eight; <&8. .eight; 3<?. 2air; *. %rn. Crime; %N#. ,rrested;'blan (. %y; 'blan (. *isposition; "ent 0"C >&3>&<? from Chil&lips Co .<&35 yrs. Lec .>&38&<?. Caroled; 6&?&<4. 'p.3<6( & )irect quotes from the sources+ D%ut then one mid&!ebruary morning Cerry received a letter. It was postmar ed Leading, $ass., and it read; *ear Cerry, I was sorry to hear about the trouble you are in and I decided to write and let you I remember you and would li e to help you in any now that

way that I can. In case you don't remember my name, *on Cullivan, I've enclosed a picture ta en at about the time we met. .hen I first read about you in the news recently I was startled and then I began to thin bac to those days when I new you. 'I(. Oou were short 'I'm not much taller(, solidly built, dar with a heavy shoc of blac hair and a grin on your face almost all the time. "ince you had lived in ,las a Auite a few of the fellows used to call you D#s imo.D One of my first recollections of you was at a Company inspection in which all the footloc ers were open for inspection. ,s I recall it all the footloc ers were in girlsD. 'p. 7<7( & The methodology to gather information; order, even yours, except that the inside cover of your footloc er was plastered with pictures of pin&up

DThat was a cold night,D 2ic oc said, tal ing to a journalist with whom he corresponded and who was periodically allowed to visit him. DCold and wet. It had been raining li e a bastard, and the baseball field was mud up to your co-ones. "o when they too ,ndy out to the warehouse, they had to wal him along the path. .e were all at our windows watching Cerry and me, Lonnie Oor , /immy @atham. It was just after midnight, and the warehouse was lit up li e a 2alloween pump in. The doors wide open. .e could see the witnesses, a lot of guards, the doctor and the warden & every damn thing but the gallows. It was off at an angle, but we could see its shadow. , shadow on the wall li e the shadow of a boxing ring.J 'p. >7>( & By mentioning #re&ious e&ents as conditions or causes* and descri,ing or #redicting the coming e&ents as #ossi,le or real consequences+ F'I(. $y mother was always drun , never in a fit condition to properly provide and care for us. I run as free N wild as a coyote. Their was no rule or discipline, or anyone to show me right from wrong I came N went as I pleased & until my first encounter with TroubleJ. 'p. 7??( & By trying to organi.e e&ents according to s#ecific well/known structures* e.g. narrati&e structures+ FIt was a couple of summers ago. Out in )egas. I was living in this old boarding house 'I(. "o did this nigger, his name was 0ing 'I(. %ut one night we were sitting in the attic, it was so hot you couldn:t sleep, so I said, Fcome on, 0ing, lets go for a drive.J 'I(. .e par ed and dran a few more beers. 0ing got out of the car and I followed after him. 2e didn:t see I:d pic ed up this chain. , bicycle chain I ept under the seat. ,ctually, I had no real idea to do it till I did it. I hit him across the face. %ro e his glasses. I ept right on. ,fterwards, I didn:t feel a thing, I left him there, I never heard a word about it.J 'p. 356(

0acts are ,etter re#resented and memori.ed if they ,ring a,out strong D"he G"usan 0idwellH was still contemplating the view when %obby, shadowed by his large little brother, became a part of it, the wobbly figure headed her way. "he went out on the porch to meet him. "he said, 'I wanted so much to tell you.' %obby began to cry. @arry lingered at the edge of the Teacherage yard, hunched against a tree. 2e couldn:t remember ever seeing %obby cry, and he didn:t want to, so he lowered his eyes.D 'p. 63(

emotions+

Features of Thriller & The figure of the detecti&e is ,ased on reality+ FThe 0ansas %ureau of Investigation, a state&wide organi+ation with head Auarters in Tope a, had a staff of nineteen experienced through the state, and the services of these men detectives scattered

are available whenever a case seems beyond the competence of local authorities. The %ureau's 1arden City representatives, an the agent responsible for the si+eable portion of western 0ansas, is a lean and handsome fourth&generation 0ansan of forty&seven named ,lvin ,dams *ewey.J 'p.6<( This characteristic applies to the novel where the figure of the detective has the Auality of an average citi+en. / The detecti&e* a re#resentati&e of the law* is triggered ,y his #rofession. F $oreover, his attitude towards the crime made it, as he later said, 'a personal proposition'. 2e went on to say that he and his wife 'were real fond of 2erb and %onnie', and ' saw them every "unday at church, visited a lot bac and forth', adding, ' but even if I hadn't nown the family, and li ed them so well, I wouldn't feel any different. %ecause I've seen some bad things, I sure as hell have. %ut nothing so vicious as this. 2owever long it ta es, it may be the rest of my life, I'm going to now what happened in that house; the why and the who'.J'p.6?(

In this case, his wor is not only triggered by money, but also by a personal motivation. / Crime is moti&ated ,y money+ F 'I( 2e was counting the money in $r Clutter's billfold. There was about thirty dollars. 2e threw the billfold on the bed and told him, ' Oou've got more money in this house than that. , rich man li e you. @iving on a spread li e this'.J 'p.7>3( The crime is motivated by a wish to obtain money and belong to a higher social class. & Crime and &iolence+ F "he'd been shot in the bac of the head with a shotgun held maybe two inches away. "he was lying on her side, facing the wall, and the wall was covered with blood. The bed covers were drawn up to her shoulders. 'I( 2er hands were tied behind her, and her an les were roped together with a ind of cord you see on )enetian blinds.J 'p.?5( The detailed description of the murder is intended to shoc the reader so as to ma e a clear picture in their minds of the ferocity of the scene. / Character1s amorality+ FThen he says to me, as we are heading along the hall towards Bancy's room, ' I'm gonna bust that little girl' 'I( ' 2ell, you can bust her, too.' 'p.7>?( ,lthough both of them are blamed guilty, *ic seems to lac moral limits as he intended to rape the girl. & In&erted sequence of e&ents+ The ind of mystery here is not based on who committed the crime, but rather on the reasons for doing it. Thus, the reader ac nowledges from the very beginning who are to blame.

Features of non-fiction / Re#resentation of the e&ents in full dramatic scenes.

FThat $onday, 3? Bovember 34<4, was still another specimen of pheasant weather on the high wheat plains of western 0ansas P a day gloriously bright&s ied, as glittery as mica. Often, on such days in years past, ,ndy #rhart had spent long pleasant&hunting afternoons at Liver )alley !arm, the home of his good friend 2erb Clutter, and often, on these sporting expeditions, he:d been accompanied by three more of 2erb:s closest friends; *r /. #. *ale, a veterinarian- Carl $yers, a dairy owner- and #verett Ogburn, a businessman.J 'p. 6>(

/ 0ull rendering of dialogues.

9$r ,. ,. *ewey, please. 0ansas City calling.: 9This is $r *ewey.: 91o ahead, 0ansas City. Oour party is on the line.: 9,lQ %rother Bye.: 9Oes, %rother.: 91et ready for some very big news.: 9I:m ready.: 9Our friends are here. Light here in 0ansas City.: 92ow do you nowQ: 9.ell, they aren:t exactly eeping it a secret. 2ic oc :s written cheAues from one side of town to the other. Ksing his own name.: 'p. 345(

/ Record of 2details of status$ and 2#atterns of ,eha&iour1 ,y which #eo#le ex#erience their #osition in the world. , year ago, when they first encountered each other, he:d thought Cerry 9a good guy:, if a bit 9stuc in himself:, 9sentimental:, too much 9the dreamer:. 2e had li ed him but not considered him especially worth cultivating until, one day, Cerry described a murder, telling how, simple for 'the hell of it', he had illed a coloured man in @as )egas P beaten him to death with a bicycle chain. The anecdote elevated *ic :s opinion of @ittle Cerry- he began to see more of him, and, li e, .illie&/ay, though for dissimilar reasons, gradually

decided that Cerry possessed unusual and valuable Aualities. "everal murderers, or men who boasted of murder or their willingness to commit it, circulated inside @ansing- but *ic , became convinced that Cerry was that rarity, 'a natural iller' P absolutely sane, but conscienceless, and capable of dealing, with or without motive the coldest&blooded deathblows. 'p. <>(

/ Com#lex and creati&e uses of the #oint of &iew to re#resent e&ents in the way they de&elo#.

2e was too tense to sleep, even if the telephone could be silenced P too fretful and frustrated. Bone of his 'leads' had led anywhere, except, perhaps, down a blind alley towards the blan est of walls. %obby LuppQ The polygraph machine had eliminated %obby. ,nd $r "mith, the farmer who tied rope nots identical with those used by the murderer & he, too, was a discarded suspect, having established that on the night of the crime he:d been 9off in O lahoma:. .hich left the /ohns, father and son, but they had also submitted provable alibis. 9"o,: to Auote 2arold Bye, 9it all adds up to a nice round number. Rero.: #ven the hunt for the grave of Bancy:s cat had come to nothing. 'p. 4=(

!iscussion Our point of departure was to consider In Cold Blood as a piece of conventional journalism. It is for this reason that we attempted to identify the main features that belong to the genre. ,fter having exemplified these features we arrived at the conclusion that the presence of most of them show that Capote wanted to highlight the veracity of events, so as to create a sense of objectivity in his wor . ConseAuently, we observed that Capote also applies the structure of the news story beginning by the main event, the murder, and answering most of the wh&Auestions in the first chapter of the novel. .hat is delayed is the answering of the why Auestion, in order to maintain the reader's intrigue. Bevertheless, we noticed the use of narrative resources throughout the novel, which led us to thin that his masterpiece is not a mere wor of edition and arrangement of the events that actually happened, but that it includes creation as well. Therefore, he uses a journalistic methodology to gather information, but arranges it in a literary way. 2aving concluded that, we moved on to a second assumption; In Cold Blood is a detective novel. Knder this light, we saw that the novel follows an inverted seAuence of events; from the very beginning we are told the identity of the perpetrators. The novelistic atmosphere is created and maintained throughout the novel by the existence of a crime whose motive is not revealed until the end. TodorovMs second story, the story of the investigation, generates suspense which attracts the readerMs attention. .e believe that, as in the thriller, the story of the investigation is the most relevant, but the story of the crime is also present since the boo opens with it and it emerges again with the confessions of the criminals. @i ewise, we thin that in this boo the two form of interest are present; suspense is generated by the race towards the culprits we do not now whether they are going to be caught and how they are going to be punished and curiosity is maintained because the motive behind the crime is delayed until the end. ,s readers of In Cold Blood we already now the outcome of the murderers, but we have to decode the reasons that motivated the crime. Capote reconstructs the motive by engaging the reader in the personal bac ground of the murderers, ma ing us reali+e that money is not enough to explain the murders. ,s regards characters, who in the case of this novel are real people, they are recreated by narrative techniAues. This made us see Capote as a mediator between the real people and their representation in the story as characters. .hat this implies is that there is a biased portrayal of these people, as occurs with Cerry, who is described in

such a way that made us believe that Capote was justifying his action. This shows a conscious intervention from Capote in the text which leads him to become a FmediatorJ between the real Cerry and the image of CerryMs character. In addition, we note the treatment of the characters is different both from the detective fiction and from the conventional journalism; here they are depicted as real people and are humani+ed. In fact, under this assumption, we cannot explain the presence of the features of conventional journalism. 2owever, the structure of the text made us frame it as a DnovelD even when we agreed it was not detective fiction since it reconstructs the story in a scene&by&scene manner, presents dialogue and is divided into chapters. ,t this stage of the discussion, we made a third and final assumption; In Cold Blood is a non&fiction novel. ,s the results section shows, the boo exhibits the main features of non&fiction and even though the text also displays properties of journalism and detective fiction, we can see that non&fiction features are more relevant as they ma e the text what it is. ,ccording to Todorov, we could state that every great boo determines the existence of two genres- the reality of two norms; the transcendent genre Sdominant in the precedent literatureE and the created one. .e consider that Capote transgresses not only a uniAue genre, but two; traditional journalism and detective novel. It is for this reason that Capote:s masterpiece is so particular and groundbrea ing. 2aving made this analysis, we return to the concept of communicative purpose '"wales, 3445(, which is signaled by the features of a text. ,s we have shown in the previous section, the novel indeed shares some features of these genres but also displays others that indicate that the novel follows a communicative purpose different from those of the above mentioned genres. On the one hand, the main purpose of conventional journalism is the transmission of information through the use of persuasive techniAues in order to attract the reader. One of the techniAues is to present information in such a way that appears to be objective. Thus, the reported events are carefully selected according to a set of values which ma e a piece of discourse newsworthy. On the other hand, the thriller has as its main aim to ma e a social critiAue of the conseAuences of the capitalist crisis and the post&war world in the ,merican society. ,s we have previously stated, the purpose of Capote:s boo is not to reveal the truth of the matter, nor to inform it, but to give an interpretation; a true account of the events that escape conventional journalism. 2is boo is in many ways a second trial, an

attempt to ma e the average reader sympathi+e with *ic and Cerry, or at least, to ma e the reader understand the TtragedyT of their deaths. In Capote:s own words, his idea was to bring Fthe art of the novelist together with the techniAues of journalismJ to produce a needed new genre, namely, the non&fiction. This means that Capote:s novel belongs to none of the aforementioned genres, but to a new one that emerged from these two and that has been named new -ournalism or non/fiction. "onclusion ,fter having analy+ed the different features which compose the two possible classifications of genre offered to us, we are able to assert that In Cold Blood belongs to neither conventional journalism nor detective novel. The most appropriate label for the text is that which Capote assigned it himself; 'non&fiction novelM. This analysis shows the difficulty in trying to fit the novel in one genre. Our first impression was that the identification of the text would be more straightforward. 2owever, once we started to compile theoretical information about the discussed genres, we found out that to ma e a sharp distinction between them was challenging and ambitious.

Reference Loss Bic erson, Catherine '#d.( '7535( The Cam,ridge Com#anion to !merican Crime 0iction. Knited "tates; Cambridge Kniversity Cress. .olfe, Tom '346>(. The New ournalism. Knited "tates; 2arper and Low. )an *ij , Teun ,. '34=5(, News as )iscourse. Chapter 7; DThe "tructure of BewsD. @ondon; @awrence #rlbaum ,ssociates, Inc. %hatia,)ijay 0. '7558(, 3orlds of 3ritten )iscourse. ! genre/,ased &iew . Chapter 3; FCerspectives in .ritten *iscourseJ, pp. >&7?- Chapter <; F1eneric IntegrityJ, pp; 337&3<7. @ondon; Continuum. #ggins, "u+anne and $artin, /. L., F1enres and Legisters of *iscourseJ, Chapter 4. #n; van *ij , Teun ,. '#d.( '3446( )iscourse Studies* 4ol 5+ )iscourse as Structure and 6rocess. @ondon; "age Cublications. "wales, /ohn '3445(, 7enre !nalysis+ %nglish in !cademic and Research Settings. Chapter >; FThe concept of genreJ, pp >>&?6. @ondon; Cambridge ,pplied @inguistics. Capote, Truman '344?(. In Cold Blood. #ngland; Cenguin %oo s.