diff --git a/django/contrib/syndication/feeds.py b/django/contrib/syndication/feeds.py
index 6108edbf42..3deefc5866 100644
--- a/django/contrib/syndication/feeds.py
+++ b/django/contrib/syndication/feeds.py
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ class Feed(object):
             author_name = self.__get_dynamic_attr('author_name', obj),
             author_link = self.__get_dynamic_attr('author_link', obj),
             author_email = self.__get_dynamic_attr('author_email', obj),
+            categories = self.__get_dynamic_attr('categories', obj),
         )
 
         try:
@@ -110,5 +111,6 @@ class Feed(object):
                 author_name = author_name,
                 author_email = author_email,
                 author_link = author_link,
+                categories = self.__get_dynamic_attr('item_categories', item),
             )
         return feed
diff --git a/django/utils/feedgenerator.py b/django/utils/feedgenerator.py
index 0ac70f483f..2eb27a40b7 100644
--- a/django/utils/feedgenerator.py
+++ b/django/utils/feedgenerator.py
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ class RssFeed(SyndicationFeed):
         handler.addQuickElement(u"description", self.feed['description'])
         if self.feed['language'] is not None:
             handler.addQuickElement(u"language", self.feed['language'])
+        for cat in self.feed['categories']:
+            handler.addQuickElement(u"category", cat)
         self.write_items(handler)
         self.endChannelElement(handler)
         handler.endElement(u"rss")
diff --git a/docs/syndication_feeds.txt b/docs/syndication_feeds.txt
index b7b0a9047b..4f77c4ff21 100644
--- a/docs/syndication_feeds.txt
+++ b/docs/syndication_feeds.txt
@@ -439,6 +439,23 @@ This example illustrates all possible attributes and methods for a ``Feed`` clas
 
         author_link = 'http://www.example.com/' # Hard-coded author URL.
 
+        # CATEGORIES -- One of the following three is optional. The framework
+        # looks for them in this order. In each case, the method/attribute
+        # should return an iterable object that returns strings.
+
+        def categories(self, obj):
+            """
+            Takes the object returned by get_object() and returns the feed's
+            categories as iterable over strings.
+            """
+
+        def categories(self):
+            """
+            Returns the feed's categories as iterable over strings.
+            """
+
+        categories = ("python", "django") # Hard-coded list of categories.
+
         # ITEMS -- One of the following three is required. The framework looks
         # for them in this order.
 
@@ -602,6 +619,25 @@ This example illustrates all possible attributes and methods for a ``Feed`` clas
 
         item_pubdate = datetime.datetime(2005, 5, 3) # Hard-coded pubdate.
 
+        # ITEM CATEGORIES -- It's optional to use one of these three. This is
+        # a hook that specifies how to get the list of categories for a given
+        # item. In each case, the method/attribute should return an iterable
+        # object that returns strings.
+
+        def item_categories(self, item):
+            """
+            Takes an item, as returned by items(), and returns the item's
+            categories.
+            """
+
+        def item_categories(self):
+            """
+            Returns the categories for every item in the feed.
+            """
+
+        item_categories = ("python", "django") # Hard-coded categories.
+
+
 The low-level framework
 =======================