An Encounter
by James Joyce

An Encounter: Genre 1 key example

Key Examples in An Encounter

Genre
Explanation and Analysis:

“An Encounter” is a short story in Joyce’s story collection Dubliners that belongs to the modernist genre. Modernism was defined by writers experimenting with common literary tropes and conventions as a way to capture the alienation experienced by people living in the industrialized, war-torn 20th century. The modernist elements in “An Encounter” include the young narrator’s disaffected tone, the uncomfortable pedophilic content, and the unresolved ending.