Over the millennia of cultural development, humanity has created countless literary works, among which we can distinguish some basic types that are similar in the way and form of reflecting human ideas about the world around us. These are three types (or types) of literature: epic, drama, lyric.

What is different about each type of literature?

Epic as a type of literature

Epic(epos - Greek, narrative, story) is a depiction of events, phenomena, processes external to the author. Epic works reflect the objective course of life, human existence as a whole. Using various artistic means, the authors of epic works express their understanding of historical, socio-political, moral, psychological and many other problems that live with human society in general and each of its representatives in particular. Epic works have significant visual potential, thereby helping the reader to understand the world around them and comprehend the deep problems of human existence.

Drama as a genre of literature

Drama(drama - Greek, action, performance) is a type of literature, the main feature of which is the stage nature of the works. Plays, i.e. dramatic works are created specifically for the theater, for production on stage, which, of course, does not exclude their existence in the form of independent literary texts intended for reading. Like the epic, drama reproduces the relationships between people, their actions, and the conflicts that arise between them. But unlike epic, which is narrative in nature, drama has a dialogical form.

Related to this features of dramatic works :

2) the text of the play consists of conversations between the characters: their monologues (the speech of one character), dialogues (a conversation between two characters), polylogues (simultaneous exchange of remarks by several participants in the action). That is why speech characterization turns out to be one of the most important means of creating a memorable character of a hero;

3) the action of the play, as a rule, develops quite dynamically, intensively, as a rule, it is allocated 2-3 hours of stage time.

Lyrics as a type of literature

Lyrics(lyra - Greek, musical instrument, to the accompaniment of which poetic works and songs were performed) is distinguished by a special type of construction of an artistic image - this is an image-experience in which the individual emotional and spiritual experience of the author is embodied. Lyrics can be called the most mysterious type of literature, because it is addressed to the inner world of a person, his subjective feelings, ideas, and ideas. In other words, a lyrical work serves primarily the individual self-expression of the author. The question arises: why do readers, i.e. other people turn to such works? The whole point is that the lyricist, speaking on his own behalf and about himself, miraculously embodies universal human emotions, ideas, hopes, and the more significant the author’s personality, the more important his individual experience is for the reader.

Each type of literature also has its own system of genres.

Genre(genre - French genus, type) is a historically established type of literary work that has similar typological features. Genre names help the reader navigate the vast sea of ​​literature: some people love detective stories, others prefer fantasy, and still others are a fan of memoirs.

How to determine What genre does a particular work belong to? Most often, the authors themselves help us in this, calling their creation a novel, story, poem, etc. However, some author’s definitions seem unexpected to us: let us remember that A.P. Chekhov emphasized that “The Cherry Orchard” is a comedy, and not a drama at all, but A.I. Solzhenitsyn considered One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich to be a story, not a novella. Some literary scholars call Russian literature a collection of genre paradoxes: the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin”, the prose poem “Dead Souls”, the satirical chronicle “The History of a City”. There was a lot of controversy regarding “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy. The writer himself said only about what his book is not: “What is War and Peace? This is not a novel, still less a poem, still less a historical chronicle. “War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” And only in the 20th century did literary scholars agree to call the brilliant creation of L.N. Tolstoy's epic novel.

Each literary genre has a number of stable characteristics, knowledge of which allows us to classify a specific work into one group or another. Genres develop, change, die out and are born, for example, literally before our eyes, a new genre of blog (web loq) - a personal online diary - has emerged.

However, for several centuries there have been stable (also called canonical) genres.

Literature of literary works - see table 1).

Table 1.

Genres of literary works

Epic genres of literature

Epic genres are primarily distinguished by their volume; on this basis they are divided into small ones ( essay, story, short story, fairy tale, parable ), average ( story ), large ( novel, epic novel ).

Feature article- a small sketch from life, the genre is both descriptive and narrative. Many essays are created on a documentary, life basis, often they are combined into cycles: the classic example is “A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy” (1768) by the English writer Laurence Sterne, in Russian literature it is “A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” (1790) A Radishcheva, “Frigate Pallada” (1858) by I. Goncharov” “Italy” (1922) by B. Zaitsev and others.

Story- a small narrative genre, which usually depicts one episode, incident, human character, or an important incident in the life of the hero that influenced his future fate (“After the Ball” by L. Tolstoy). Stories are created both on a documentary, often autobiographical basis (“Matryonin’s Dvor” by A. Solzhenitsyn) and through pure fiction (“The Gentleman from San Francisco” by I. Bunin).

The intonation and content of the stories can be very different - from comic, curious (early stories of A.P. Chekhov) to deeply tragic (Kolyma Stories by V. Shalamov). Stories, like essays, are often combined into cycles (“Notes of a Hunter” by I. Turgenev).

Novella(novella Italian news) is in many ways akin to a short story and is considered its variety, but is distinguished by the special dynamism of the narrative, sharp and often unexpected turns in the development of events. Often the narrative in a short story begins with the ending and is built according to the law of inversion, i.e. reverse order, when the denouement precedes the main events (“Terrible Revenge” by N. Gogol). This feature of the construction of the novella will later be borrowed by the detective genre.

The word “novella” has another meaning that future lawyers need to know. In Ancient Rome, the phrase “novellae leges” (new laws) referred to laws introduced after the official codification of law (after the Code of Theodosius II in 438). The novellas of Justinian and his successors, published after the second edition of the Justinian Code, later formed part of the code of Roman laws (Corpus iuris civillis). In the modern era, a novel is a law submitted to parliament (in other words, a draft law).

Fairy tale- the most ancient of the small epic genres, one of the main ones in the oral creativity of any people. This is a small work of a magical, adventurous or everyday nature, where fiction is clearly emphasized. Another important feature of a folk tale is its edifying nature: “A fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it, a lesson for good fellows.” Folk tales are usually divided into fairy tales (“The Tale of the Frog Princess”), everyday ones (“Porridge from an Ax”) and tales about animals (“Zayushkina’s Hut”).

With the development of written literature, literary fairy tales arise that use traditional motifs and symbolic possibilities of folk tales. The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) is rightfully considered a classic of the literary fairy tale genre; his wonderful “The Little Mermaid”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Snow Queen”, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, “The Shadow”, “Thumbelina” are loved by many generations of readers, both very young and quite mature. And this is far from accidental, because Andersen’s fairy tales are not only extraordinary and sometimes strange adventures of heroes, they contain a deep philosophical and moral meaning contained in beautiful symbolic images.

Among European literary fairy tales of the 20th century, “The Little Prince” (1942) by the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry became a classic. And the famous “Chronicles of Narnia” (1950 - 1956) by the English writer Cl. Lewis and “The Lord of the Rings” (1954-1955), also by the Englishman J.R. Tolkien, are written in the fantasy genre, which can be called a modern transformation of an ancient folk tale.

In Russian literature, the fairy tales of A.S., of course, remain unsurpassed. Pushkin: “About the dead princess and seven heroes”, “About the fisherman and the fish”, “About Tsar Saltan...”, “About the golden cockerel”, “About the priest and his worker Balda”. An excellent storyteller was P. Ershov, the author of “The Little Humpbacked Horse.” E. Schwartz in the 20th century creates the form of fairy tale plays, one of them “The Bear” (another name is “An Ordinary Miracle”) is well known to many thanks to the wonderful film directed by M. Zakharov.

Parable- also a very ancient folklore genre, but, unlike fairy tales, parables contained written monuments: the Talmud, the Bible, the Koran, the monument of Syrian literature “The Teachings of Akahara”. A parable is a work of instructive, symbolic nature, distinguished by sublimity and seriousness of content. Ancient parables, as a rule, are small in volume; they do not contain a detailed account of events or psychological characteristics of the character of the hero.

The purpose of the parable is edification or, as they once said, teaching wisdom. In European culture, the most famous parables are from the Gospels: about the prodigal son, about the rich man and Lazarus, about the unrighteous judge, about the crazy rich man and others. Christ often spoke to his disciples allegorically, and if they did not understand the meaning of the parable, he explained it.

Many writers turned to the genre of parables, not always, of course, investing in it a high religious meaning, but rather trying to express in an allegorical form some kind of moralistic edification, such as, for example, L. Tolstoy in his late work. Carry it. V. Rasputin - Farewell to Matera" can also be called a detailed parable, in which the writer speaks with anxiety and sorrow about the destruction of the "ecology of conscience" of man. Many critics also consider the story “The Old Man and the Sea” by E. Hemingway to be part of the tradition of literary parables. The famous contemporary Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho also uses the parable form in his novels and stories (the novel “The Alchemist”).

Tale- a medium literary genre, widely represented in world literature. The story depicts several important episodes from the hero's life, usually one storyline and a small number of characters. The stories are characterized by great psychological intensity; the author focuses on the experiences and changes in mood of the characters. Very often the main theme of the story is the love of the protagonist, for example, “White Nights” by F. Dostoevsky, “Asya” by I. Turgenev, “Mitya’s Love” by I. Bunin. Stories can also be combined into cycles, especially those written on autobiographical material: “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth” by L. Tolstoy, “Childhood”, “In People”, “My Universities” by A. Gorky. The intonations and themes of the stories are extremely diverse: tragic, addressing acute social and moral issues (“Everything Flows” by V. Grossman, “House on the Embankment” by Yu. Trifonov), romantic, heroic (“Taras Bulba” by N. Gogol), philosophical , parables (“The Pit” by A. Platonov), mischievous, comic (“Three in a Boat, Not Counting the Dog” by the English writer Jerome K. Jerome).

Novel(gotap French originally, in the late Middle Ages, any work written in a Romance language, as opposed to those written in Latin) is a major epic work in which the narrative is focused on the fate of an individual. The novel is the most complex epic genre, which is distinguished by an incredible number of themes and plots: love, historical, detective, psychological, fantasy, historical, autobiographical, social, philosophical, satirical, etc. All these forms and types of the novel are united by its central idea - the idea of ​​personality, human individuality.

The novel is called the epic of private life because it depicts the diverse connections between the world and man, society and the individual. The reality surrounding a person is presented in the novel in different contexts: historical, political, social, cultural, national, etc. The author of the novel is interested in how the environment influences a person’s character, how he is formed, how his life develops, whether he managed to find his purpose and realize himself.

Many people attribute the origin of the genre to antiquity, such as Long's Daphnis and Chloe, Apuleius's The Golden Ass, and the knightly romance Tristan and Isolde.

In the works of classics of world literature, the novel is represented by numerous masterpieces:

Table 2. Examples of classic novels by foreign and Russian writers (XIX, XX centuries)

Famous novels of Russian writers of the 19th century .:

In the 20th century, Russian writers develop and enhance the traditions of their great predecessors and create no less wonderful novels:

Of course, none of such listings can claim completeness and exhaustive objectivity, especially when it comes to modern prose. In this case, the most famous works that glorified both the country’s literature and the name of the writer are named.

Epic novel. In ancient times, there were forms of heroic epic: folklore sagas, runes, epics, songs. These are the Indian “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”, the Anglo-Saxon “Beowulf”, the French “Song of Roland”, the German “Song of the Nibelungs”, etc. In these works, the hero’s exploits were exalted in an idealized, often hyperbolic form. The later epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” by Homer, “Shah-name” by Ferdowsi, while retaining the mythological character of the early epic, nevertheless had a pronounced connection with real history, and the theme of the intertwining of human destiny and the life of the people becomes one of them main ones. The experience of the ancients will be in demand in the 19th-20th centuries, when writers will try to comprehend the dramatic relationship between the era and the individual personality, and talk about the tests to which morality, and sometimes the human psyche, is subjected at the time of the greatest historical upheavals. Let us remember the lines of F. Tyutchev: “Blessed is he who visited this world in its fatal moments.” The poet's romantic formula in reality meant the destruction of all familiar forms of life, tragic losses and unfulfilled dreams.

The complex form of the epic novel allows writers to artistically explore these problems in all their completeness and inconsistency.

When we talk about the genre of the epic novel, of course, we immediately remember “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy. Other examples can be mentioned: “Quiet Don” by M. Sholokhov, “Life and Fate” by V. Grossman, “The Forsyte Saga” by the English writer Galsworthy; the book of the American writer Margaret Mitchell “Gone with the Wind” can also with good reason be classified as this genre.

The very name of the genre indicates a synthesis, a combination of two main principles in it: novel and epic, i.e. related to the theme of the life of an individual and the theme of the history of the people. In other words, the epic novel tells about the destinies of the heroes (as a rule, the heroes themselves and their destinies are fictitious, invented by the author) against the backdrop of and in close connection with epoch-making historical events. Thus, in “War and Peace” - these are the fates of individual families (Rostov, Bolkonsky), beloved heroes (Prince Andrei, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha and Princess Marya) in the turning point historical period for Russia and all of Europe at the beginning of the 19th century, the Patriotic War of 1812 . In Sholokhov's book, the events of the First World War, two revolutions and a bloody civil war tragically invade the life of the Cossack farm, the Melekhov family, and the fate of the main characters: Grigory, Aksinya, Natalya. V. Grossman talks about the Great Patriotic War and its main event - the Battle of Stalingrad, about the tragedy of the Holocaust. “Life and Fate” also intertwines historical and family themes: the author traces the history of the Shaposhnikovs, trying to understand why the destinies of the members of this family turned out so differently. Galsworthy describes the life of the Forsyte family during the legendary Victorian era in England. Margaret Mitchell is a central event in US history, the Civil War between North and South, which dramatically changed the lives of many families and the fate of the most famous heroine of American literature - Scarlett O'Hara.

Dramatic genres of literature

Tragedy(tragodia Greek goat song) is a dramatic genre that originated in Ancient Greece. The emergence of ancient theater and tragedy is associated with the worship of the cult of the god of fertility and wine Dionysus. A number of holidays were dedicated to him, during which ritual magical games were played with mummers and satyrs, whom the ancient Greeks imagined as two-legged goat-like creatures. It is assumed that it was precisely this appearance of the satyrs singing hymns to the glory of Dionysus that gave such a strange name in translation to this serious genre. Theatrical performance in Ancient Greece was given magical religious significance, and theaters, built in the form of large open-air arenas, were always located in the very center of cities and were one of the main public places. Spectators sometimes spent the whole day here: eating, drinking, loudly expressing their approval or censure of the spectacle being presented. The heyday of ancient Greek tragedy is associated with the names of three great tragedians: Aeschylus (525-456 BC) - author of the tragedies “Chained Prometheus”, “Oresteia”, etc.; Sophocles (496-406 BC) - author of “Oedipus the King”, “Antigone”, etc.; and Euripides (480-406 BC) - the creator of “Medea”, “Troyanok”, etc. Their creations will remain examples of the genre for centuries; people will try to imitate them, but they will remain unsurpassed. Some of them (“Antigone”, “Medea”) are still staged today.

What are the main features of the tragedy? The main one is the presence of an insoluble global conflict: in ancient tragedy this is the confrontation between fate, fate, on the one hand, and man, his will, free choice, on the other. In the tragedies of later eras, this conflict acquired a moral and philosophical character, as a confrontation between good and evil, loyalty and betrayal, love and hatred. It has an absolute character; the heroes who embody the opposing forces are not ready for reconciliation or compromise, and therefore the ending of the tragedy often involves a lot of death. This is how the tragedies of the great English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) were constructed; let us remember the most famous of them: “Hamlet”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, “Macbeth”, “Julius Caesar”, etc.

In the tragedies of the 17th century French playwrights Corneille (Horace, Polyeuctus) and Racine (Andromache, Britannicus), this conflict received a different interpretation - as a conflict of duty and feelings, rational and emotional in the souls of the main characters, i.e. . acquired a psychological interpretation.

The most famous in Russian literature is the romantic tragedy “Boris Godunov” by A.S. Pushkin, created on historical material. In one of his best works, the poet acutely raised the problem of the “real trouble” of the Moscow state - a chain reaction of impostures and “terrible atrocities” that people are ready for for the sake of power. Another problem is the attitude of the people to everything that happens in the country. The image of the “silent” people in the finale of “Boris Godunov” is symbolic; discussions continue to this day about what Pushkin wanted to say by this. Based on the tragedy, the opera of the same name by M. P. Mussorgsky was written, which became a masterpiece of Russian opera classics.

Comedy(Greek komos - cheerful crowd, oda - song) - a genre that originated in Ancient Greece a little later than tragedy (5th century BC). The most famous comedian of that time was Aristophanes (“Clouds”, “Frogs”, etc.).

In comedy with the help of satire and humor, i.e. comic, moral vices are ridiculed: hypocrisy, stupidity, greed, envy, cowardice, complacency. Comedies, as a rule, are topical, i.e. They also address social issues, exposing the shortcomings of the authorities. There are sitcoms and character comedies. In the first, a cunning intrigue, a chain of events (Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors) are important; in the second, the characters of the heroes, their absurdity, one-sidedness, as in the comedies “The Minor” by D. Fonvizin, “The Tradesman in the Nobility”, “Tartuffe”, written by the classic genre, French comedian of the 17th century Jean Baptiste Moliere. In Russian drama, satirical comedy with its sharp social criticism turned out to be especially in demand, such as “The Inspector General” by N. Gogol, “The Crimson Island” by M. Bulgakov. A. Ostrovsky created many wonderful comedies (“Wolves and Sheep”, “Forest”, “Mad Money”, etc.).

The comedy genre invariably enjoys success with the public, perhaps because it affirms the triumph of justice: in the finale, vice must certainly be punished, and virtue must triumph.

Drama- a relatively “young” genre that appeared in Germany in the 18th century as lesedrama (German) - a play for reading. The drama is addressed to the everyday life of a person and society, everyday life, and family relationships. Drama is primarily interested in the inner world of a person; it is the most psychological of all dramatic genres. At the same time, this is also the most literary of stage genres, for example, the plays of A. Chekhov are largely perceived more as texts for reading, rather than as theatrical performances.

Lyrical genres of literature

The division into genres in lyrics is not absolute, because the differences between genres in this case are conditional and not as obvious as in epic and drama. More often we distinguish lyrical works by their thematic features: landscape, love, philosophical, friendly, intimate lyrics, etc. However, we can name some genres that have pronounced individual characteristics: elegy, sonnet, epigram, epistle, epitaph.

Elegy(elegos Greek plaintive song) - a poem of medium length, usually of moral, philosophical, love, confessional content.

The genre arose in antiquity, and its main feature was considered to be the elegiac distich, i.e. dividing a poem into couplets, for example:

The longed-for moment has arrived: my long-term work is over. Why is this incomprehensible sadness secretly disturbing me?

A. Pushkin

In the poetry of the 19th-20th centuries, the division into couplets is no longer such a strict requirement; now the semantic features that are associated with the origin of the genre are more significant. In terms of content, the elegy goes back to the form of the Ancient funeral “laments”, in which, while mourning the deceased, they simultaneously remembered his extraordinary virtues. This origin predetermined the main feature of the elegy - the combination of grief with faith, regret with hope, acceptance of existence through sadness. The lyrical hero of the elegy is aware of the imperfection of the world and people, his own sinfulness and weakness, but does not reject life, but accepts it in all its tragic beauty. A striking example is “Elegy” by A.S. Pushkin:

Crazy years of faded fun

It's hard for me, like a vague hangover.

But like wine - the sadness of days gone by

In my soul, the older I get, the stronger it is.

My path is sad. Promises me work and grief

The coming troubled sea.

But I don’t want, O friends, to die;

I want to live so that I can think and suffer;

And I know I will have pleasure

Between sorrows, worries and worries:

Sometimes I’ll get drunk again with harmony,

I will shed tears over the fiction,

And maybe - at my sad sunset

Love will flash with a farewell smile.

Sonnet(sonetto Italian song) - the so-called “solid” poetic form, which has strict rules of construction. The sonnet has 14 lines, divided into two quatrains and two tercets. In quatrains only two rhymes are repeated, in terzettos two or three. The methods of rhyming also had their own requirements, which, however, varied.

The birthplace of the sonnet is Italy; this genre is also represented in English and French poetry. The 14th century Italian poet Petrarch is considered the luminary of the genre. He dedicated all his sonnets to his beloved Donna Laura.

In Russian literature, the sonnets of A.S. Pushkin remain unsurpassed; poets of the Silver Age also created beautiful sonnets.

Epigram(epigramma Greek, inscription) - a short mocking poem, usually addressed to a specific person. Many poets write epigrams, sometimes increasing the number of their ill-wishers and even enemies. The epigram on Count Vorontsov turned out to be bad for A.S. Pushkin by the hatred of this nobleman and, ultimately, expulsion from Odessa to Mikhailovskoye:

Popu, my lord, half-merchant,

Half-sage, half-ignorant,

Semi-scoundrel, but there is hope

Which will be complete at last.

Mocking poems can be dedicated not only to a specific person, but also to a general addressee, as, for example, in the epigram of A. Akhmatova:

Could Biche, like Dante, create?

Did Laura go to praise the heat of love?

I taught women to speak...

But, God, how to silence them!

There are even known cases of a kind of duel of epigrams. When the famous Russian lawyer A.F. Kony was appointed to the Senate, his ill-wishers spread an evil epigram about him:

Caligula brought his horse to the Senate,

It stands, dressed in both velvet and gold.

But I will say, we have the same arbitrariness:

I read in the newspapers that Kony is in the Senate.

To which A.F. Kony, who was distinguished by his extraordinary literary talent, replied:

(epitafia Greek, funerary) - a farewell poem to a deceased person, intended for a tombstone. Initially this word was used in a literal sense, but later it acquired a more figurative meaning. For example, I. Bunin has a lyrical miniature in prose “Epitaph”, dedicated to farewell to the Russian estate that was dear to the writer, but forever a thing of the past. Gradually, the epitaph is transformed into a dedication poem, a farewell poem (“Wreath to the Dead” by A. Akhmatova). Perhaps the most famous poem of this kind in Russian poetry is “The Death of a Poet” by M. Lermontov. Another example is “Epitaph” by M. Lermontov, dedicated to the memory of Dmitry Venevitinov, a poet and philosopher who died at the age of twenty-two.

Instructions

Study the epic genre of literature. It includes the following: - story: a relatively small prose work (from 1 to 20 pages) describing an incident, a small incident or an acute dramatic situation in which the hero finds himself. The action of the story usually takes no more than one or two days in duration. The location of the action may not change throughout the story;
- story: a sufficient work (on average 100 pages), where from 1 to 10 characters are considered. The location may change. The validity period can cover a significant period, from one month to a year or more. The story in the story unfolds vividly in time and space. Significant changes may occur in the lives of the characters - moves, and meetings;
- novel: large epic form from 200 pages. A novel can trace the lives of characters from birth to death. Includes an extensive system of storylines. Time can touch past eras and carry far into the future;
- an epic novel can examine the life of several generations.

Familiarize yourself with the lyrical genre of literature. It includes the following genres:
- ode: a poetic form whose theme is the glorification of a person or event;
- satire: a poetic form that aims to ridicule any vice, situation or person worthy of ridicule
- sonnet: a poetic form that has a strict compositional structure. For example, the English model of a sonnet, which at its end has two obligatory stanzas containing some kind of aphorism;
- the following poetic genres are also known: elegy, epigram, free verse, haiku, etc.

The following genres belong to the dramatic genre of literature: - tragedy: a dramatic work in the finale of which there is the death of the hero. Such a ending for a tragedy is the only possible resolution of a dramatic situation;
- Comedy: a dramatic work in which the main meaning and essence is laughter. It may be satirical or kinder in nature, but every incident in a comedy makes the viewer/reader laugh;
- drama: a dramatic work in the center of which is the inner world of a person, the problem of choice, the search for truth. Drama is the most common genre nowadays.

note

In some cases, genres may be mixed. This is especially common in drama. You've probably heard such definitions of film genres as comedy melodrama, action comedy, satirical drama, etc. The same processes are possible in the literature.

Helpful advice

Read the works of Aristotle “Poetics”, M.M. Bakhtin “Aesthetics and Theory of Literature” and other works devoted to the problem of genders and genres in literature.

The definition of genre has changed over time. Nowadays, this word is usually used to describe the unification of works of art into groups based on common characteristics or its correlation with other works based on the same characteristics. Within each type of art there are different genres.

Instructions

Genres of literature, especially popular: fantasy, science fiction, detective, drama, tragedy, comedy.
Fantasy and science fiction are related; the plot is based on a fictional idea, often impossible for our world. It is typical for science fiction (Lem, Lukyanenko, Strugatsky, Efremov, Garrison) to find logical distance in time and from our time. Fantasy (Tolkien, Howard) does not have such a scientific basis, but comes from myths and fairy tales, so the existence of many heroes seems illogical for our world.

The plot of a detective story (Doyle, Christie, Stout) is based on solving a riddle, a mystery, usually a crime. A good detective helps develop logical and analytical thinking.

Drama, tragedy and comedy are literary and dramatic works that become the basis of theatrical and musical theater productions. The first genre, drama (Sheeler, Shakespeare) has, as a rule, a plot close to everyday life. The source of the conflict is the hero’s disagreement with the attitudes of society. Tragedy (Shakespeare, Pushkin) differs from drama in a more sublime plot and the death of the hero in the finale.
The plot of the comedy (Beaumarchais, Molière) is based on an abundance of jokes and a happy ending.

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Literary genres are historically developing and developing literary works that are united by common formal and substantive forms.

The term genre (from the French genre - genus, type) can be applied to literary groups formed according to various characteristics. Most often used in relation to works combined in content (comedy, tragedy, drama). There is a classification of literary genres by form: ode, novel, story, etc. And by type: epic (story, myth, etc.), lyrical (ode, elegy, etc.), lyric-epic (ballad and), dramatic (comedy, tragedy, drama). They can be divided into separate categories - genres of oral folk art (, song,) or small genres of folklore (riddle, proverb, ditty). The genres of Old Russian literature include: hagiography (description of the life of secular and clergy), teaching, walking (description of travel, most often to holy places), military tale, word (a prose work of an instructive nature) and chronicle.

Genre is a fairly broad concept in artistic creativity. Even Aristotle, in his treatise “Poetics,” laid the foundation for the theoretical division of works, but to this day there is no generally accepted interpretation of such concepts as genus, type and genre. So, based on the etymological meaning of the word, we can replace genera with genres, and types with forms. It is quite difficult to identify a single principle for dividing the types of poetry and prose into types and genres, especially considering that literary genres are constantly “changing and replacing” over time. However, we can highlight the most frequently used option, where gender refers to the method of depiction (dramatic, lyrical or epic); under the guise - one or another form of dramatic, lyrical and epic work; under genre - a variety of certain types of literary works (historical novel, satirical poem).

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• Literary genres

The concept of genre has existed since ancient times, from the very first attempts to understand the phenomenon of art in the works of Aristotle and Plato. Nevertheless, in literary studies there is still no consensus on its essence and functions as a fundamental law of verbal creativity, which, in turn, leads to the problem of classification of works. That is why the modern division into genres, based on certain characteristics, can be considered quite arbitrary.

Most of the currently known genres arose in the ancient era and, despite all the quirks of evolution, still retain a number of stable features. The most important of them is the belonging of an individual literary work to one of three genera - epic, lyric or drama in accordance with Aristotle's Poetics. At the same time, borderline genres are also distinguished: lyric-epic, lyric-dramatic, epic drama (“non-Aristotelian” or archaic).

Modern literary criticism accepts the ancient classification only as a starting point. Moreover, since the time of Aristotle, new genres have arisen, but the old ones have lost their meaning, and with it a number of characteristic features. However, there is still no more harmonious system that allows us to at least approximately explain the nature of the genre.

According to this classification, an epic can be classified as: an epic, a novel, a story, a story, a fable, an epic poem. For lyrics - ode, elegy, ballad, epigram. For drama - drama itself, tragedy, comedy, mystery, farce, vaudeville. The main lyric-epic genre is the poem, the lyric-dramatic genre is the “new drama” of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Ibsen, Chekhov).

Along with classical differentiation, genres can be distinguished depending on their content and formal characteristics, as well as on the organization of speech in the work. Thus, since the times of classicism, the fable, unlike the ancient one (Aesop, Phaedrus), has a poetic form, but belongs to the epic, since its plot is based on the transmission of events and characters. The genre does not imply, rather, but meaningful features - motives of loneliness, unrequited love, death. And a ballad (also rondo, sonnet) is both (lyrical) and formal - a refrain at the end of each stanza or a strictly defined number of verses.

Any literary genres appear only at a certain stage in the development of art, they constantly change, disappear and appear again. The principles of identifying individual genres, their types, nature, functions, and significance are also changing. For example, classic tragedy presupposed the presence of “noble” heroes, adherence to the rules of “three unities,” a bloody denouement, and Alexandrian verse. Much later, in the 19th-20th centuries, all these substantive and formal features ceased to be mandatory. Any dramatic work that reveals a tragic conflict began to be considered a tragedy.

Currently, many works have a rather vague, “anti-genre” structure, since they can combine elements of all three genera. This is a kind of response to the widespread dissemination of mass literature over the last two centuries, connecting stable forms and content of works (for example, historical, love, adventure, fantasy, detective novels).

In literary criticism, there is also the concept of “text genres”, which is used to distinguish between historically established forms of works. Thus, genres can be monocultural (Old Icelandic sagas, tales) or multicultural (epic, sonnet). Some of them are characterized by universality, that is, the absence of a direct connection with the specifics of national literature (, short story).

The word “genre” comes from the French genre, which translates as “genus” or “species”. Literary scholars do not agree on the definition of this term. But most often, literary genres are understood as groups of works united on the basis of a set of formal and substantive properties.

Literary theory of genres

Literary theory operates on three basic concepts: genus, type and genre. There is still no generally accepted interpretation of these concepts. Some are based on the etymological meaning of words and call genres genera. Others adhere to a more common division. In this case, gender refers to the method of depiction (lyrical or epic); under the guise - one or another specific form of lyrical, dramatic or epic poetry (for example, ode, comedy,); and under genre - varieties of existing types of poetry (for example, satirical or historical novel).

Genre, like other elements of the artistic form, is one of the main means of revealing content. Comparing the two genres of the poem, heroic and satirical, one can notice that in the first, the image of an important event in the life of the people comes to the fore, in the process of which the valor and strength of the representatives of this people are manifested. An example of a heroic poem is “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” In a satirical poem, on the contrary, some low event is depicted, which is ridiculed. Satirical poems include “Tambov Treasurer” by M.Yu. Lermontov. However, in both cases, the genre of a literary work is determined by the nature of what is depicted.

Different typologies of literary genres

Aristotle was the first to attempt to systematize it in his Poetics. Today, different typologies of genres are accepted, based on different criteria.

In this case, the following literary genres are distinguished: short story, story, novel, sketch, essay, ode, poem, play, sketch.

Subjects

Genres differ in thematic features. For example, a novel can be science fiction, gothic, historical, picaresque, psychological. Yes, “Peter I” by A. N. Tolstoy is a historical novel, his “Aelita” is a fantasy novel, and “Hero of Our Time” by M. Yu. Lermontov is a socio-psychological one.

Literary genres are also divided according to the characteristics of their ideological and emotional assessment. For example, the early stories of A.P. Chekhov are humorous, and those of Yu.P. Kazakov are lyrical.

Modern literary genres are not an element of any system or typology. They are aimed at new artistic searches and often deliberately move away from genre definitions.

Japan – “Land of the Rising Sun”

Poetic names of Asian countries are especially common. Thus, Japan is known as the “Land of the Rising Sun”. The Japanese call their country "Nippon" or "Nihon", which translates as "Birthplace of the Sun". Thus, “Land of the Rising Sun” is almost the exact original name of the country. Such a poetic name appeared thanks to the Chinese: it was they who called Japan “The Motherland of the Sun” in the Song Dynasty with the Japanese Emperor. This was due to the fact that Japan is located east of China, on the side where the sun rises.

Korea – “The Land of Morning Freshness”

Korea is called the “Land of Morning Freshness”. This is due to the ancient name of Korea, Joseon. This name consists of two hieroglyphs, the first of which now means, among other things, “morning”, and the second – “freshness”. Scientists are inclined to believe that the word “Joseon” did not initially carry such a poetic meaning. This name has come down to the present day from Chinese manuscripts that distorted the Korean pronunciation. In addition, the pronunciation of Chinese characters has changed over time. Now the name "Joseon" for Korea is used only in the DPRK. In South Korea, they call their country “Namhan”.

China - "The Celestial Empire"

You can often hear China called “The Celestial Empire”. This name first appeared in China before our era and originally denoted the entire world known to the Chinese. Then, “The Celestial Empire” was called only the territory over which the power of the Chinese emperor, who in Confucian ideology was the representative of heaven on earth, extended. Currently, in China, the “Celestial Empire” is understood as the whole world, but in Russia this is what they call China.

England - Foggy Albion

England is called "Foggy Albion". Albion is the oldest name for the British Isles, translated from Latin as “white mountains”. This is how the ancient Romans named the islands they discovered due to the fact that the shores of England are formed from chalk rocks. The epithet "foggy" is explained by the fact that the islands of Great Britain are often shrouded in very thick fog.

Ireland - the emerald isle

Thanks to Ireland's mild year there is a lot of greenery. That is why this country is called the “Emerald Isle”. In addition, green is the national color of Ireland, strongly associated with the most famous national holiday - St. Patrick's Day.

Finland – the land of a thousand lakes

There are approximately 190,000 lakes in Finland, which form an extensive lake system. Lakes play a special role in Finnish nature. It is not surprising that this country received the poetic name “Land of a Thousand Lakes.”

The above types of classification are not mutually exclusive, but demonstrate different approaches to defining genres. Therefore, the same book can refer to several of them at once.

Classification of literary genres by type

When classifying literary genres by gender, they start from the author’s attitude to what is being presented. The basis for this classification was laid by Aristotle. According to this principle, four major genres are distinguished: epic, lyrical, dramatic and lyric-epic. Each of them has its own “subgenres”.

Epic genres tell about events that have already happened, and the author writes them down according to his memories, while he distances himself as much as possible from assessing what was said. These include epic novels, short stories, fairy tales, myths, ballads, fables and epics.

The lyrical genre involves the transmission of feelings experienced by the author in the form of a literary work in poetic form. These include odes, elegies, epigrams, epistles and stanzas.

A classic example of stanzas is Byron's Childe Harold.

The lyric-epic genre in literature combines the characteristics of epic and lyrical genres. These include ballads and poems, in which there is both a plot and the author’s attitude to what is happening.

The dramatic genre exists at the intersection of literature and theater. Nominally it includes dramas, comedies and tragedies with a list of the characters involved at the beginning and author's notes in the main text. However, in fact, it can be any work written in the form of a dialogue.

Classification of literary genres by content

If we define works by content, they are combined into three large groups: comedies, tragedies and dramas. Tragedy and drama, which tell, respectively, about the tragic fate of the heroes and the emergence and overcoming of the conflict, are quite homogeneous. Comedies are divided into several types, according to the action taking place: parody, farce, vaudeville, sitcom and character comedy, sketch and sideshow.

Classification of literary genres by form

When classifying genres by form, only formal features such as the structure and volume of the work are taken into account, regardless of their content.

Lyrical works are classified most clearly in this way; in prose, the boundaries are more blurred.

According to this principle, thirteen genres are distinguished: epic, epos, novel, tale, short story, short story, sketch, play, sketch, essay, opus, ode and visions.

Literary genres are groups of works collected according to formal and content characteristics. Works of literature are divided into separate categories according to the form of the narrative, the content and the type of belonging to a particular style. Literary genres make it possible to systematize everything that has been written since the time of Aristotle and his Poetics, first on “birch bark letters”, tanned skins, stone walls, then on parchment paper and scrolls.

Literary genres and their definitions

Definition of genres by form:

A novel is an extensive narrative in prose, reflecting the events of a certain period of time, with a detailed description of the lives of the main characters and all other characters involved to one degree or another in these events.

A story is a form of storytelling that does not have a specific volume. The work usually describes episodes from real life, and the characters are presented to the reader as an integral part of the events taking place.

A short story (short story) is a widespread genre of short prose and is called “short story”. Because the short story format is limited in scope, the writer can usually develop the narrative within the framework of a single event involving two or three characters. An exception to this rule was the great Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, who could describe the events of an entire era with many characters in a few pages.

An essay is a literary quintessence that combines the artistic style of storytelling and elements of journalism. Always presented in a concise form with a high content of specificity. The subject of the essay, as a rule, is related to socio-social problems and is of an abstract nature, i.e. does not affect specific individuals.

A play is a special literary genre designed for a wide audience. Plays are written for the theater stage, television and radio performances. In their structural design, the plays are more like a story, since the duration of theatrical performances corresponds perfectly to a story of average length. The genre of the play differs from other literary genres in that the narration is told from the perspective of each character. The text indicates dialogues and monologues.

Ode is a lyrical literary genre, in all cases of positive or laudatory content. Dedicated to something or someone, often a verbal monument to heroic events or exploits of patriotic citizens.

An epic is a narrative of an extensive nature, including several stages of state development that have historical significance. The main features of this literary genre are global events of an epic nature. An epic can be written both in prose and in verse, an example of this is Homer's poems "Odyssey" and "Iliad".

An essay is a short piece of prose in which the author expresses his own thoughts and views in an absolutely free form. An essay is a somewhat abstract work that does not claim to be completely authentic. In some cases, essays are written with a degree of philosophy; sometimes the work has a scientific connotation. But in any case, this literary genre deserves attention.

Detectives and science fiction

Detective stories are a literary genre based on the age-old confrontation between police officers and criminals. Novels and short stories in this genre are action-packed; in almost every detective work, murders occur, after which experienced detectives begin an investigation.

Fantasy is a special literary genre with fictional characters, events and an unpredictable ending. In most cases, the action takes place either in space or in the underwater depths. But at the same time, the heroes of the work are equipped with ultra-modern machines and devices of fantastic power and efficiency.

Is it possible to combine genres in literature?

All of the listed types of literary genres have unique distinctive features. However, there is often a mixture of several genres in one work. If this is done professionally, a rather interesting and unusual creation is born. Thus, the genres of literary creativity contain significant potential for updating literature. But these opportunities should be used carefully and thoughtfully, since literature does not tolerate profanation.

Genres of literary works by content

Each literary work is classified according to its type: drama, tragedy, comedy.

What kinds of comedies are there?

Comedies come in different types and styles:

1. Farce is a light comedy built on elementary comic techniques. It is found both in literature and on the theater stage. Farce as a special comedic style is used in circus clowning.
2. Vaudeville is a comedy play with many dance numbers and songs. In the USA, vaudeville became the prototype of the musical; in Russia, small comic operas were called vaudeville.
3. An interlude is a small comic scene that was performed between the actions of the main play, performance or opera.
4. Parody is a comedic technique based on the repetition of recognizable features of famous literary characters, texts or music in a deliberately modified form.

Modern genres in literature

Types of literary genres:

1. Epic - fable, myth, ballad, epic, fairy tale.
2. Lyrical - stanzas, elegy, epigram, message, poem.

Modern literary genres are periodically updated; over the past decades, several new directions in literature have appeared, such as political detective fiction, the psychology of war, as well as paperback literature, which includes all literary genres.

Literature refers to works of human thought that are enshrined in the written word and have social significance. Any literary work, depending on HOW the writer depicts reality in it, is classified as one of three literary families: epic, lyric or drama.

Epic (from the Greek “narration”) is a generalized name for works that depict events external to the author.

Lyrics (from the Greek “performed to the lyre”) - a generalized name for works - usually poetic, in which there is no plot, but reflects the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the author (lyrical hero).

Drama (from Greek “action”) - a generalized name for works in which life is shown through conflicts and clashes of heroes. Dramatic works are intended not so much for reading as for dramatization. In drama, it is not the external action that is important, but the experience of a conflict situation. In drama, epic (narration) and lyrics are fused together.

Within each type of literature there are genres- historically established types of works, characterized by certain structural and content features (see table of genres).

Tragedy (from Greek “goat song”) is a dramatic work with an insurmountable conflict, which depicts an intense struggle of strong characters and passions, ending with the death of the hero.

Comedy (from Greek “funny song”) - a dramatic work with a cheerful, funny plot, usually ridiculing social or everyday vices.

Drama is a literary work in the form of a dialogue with a serious plot, depicting an individual in his dramatic relationship with society.

Vaudeville - a light comedy with singing couplets and dancing.

Farce - a theatrical play of a light, playful nature with external comic effects, designed for coarse tastes.

Oh yeah (from Greek “song”) - a choral, solemn song, a work glorifying, praising some significant event or heroic personality.

Hymn (from Greek “praise”) is a solemn song based on programmatic verses. Initially, hymns were dedicated to the gods. Currently, the anthem is one of the national symbols of the state.

Epigram (from Greek “inscription”) is a short satirical poem of a mocking nature that arose in the 3rd century BC. e.

Elegy - a genre of lyrics dedicated to sad thoughts or a lyric poem imbued with sadness. Belinsky called elegy “a song of sad content.” The word "elegy" is translated as "reed flute" or "plaintive song." Elegy originated in Ancient Greece in the 7th century BC. e.

Message – a poetic letter, an appeal to a specific person, a request, a wish.

Sonnet (from Provence “song”) is a poem of 14 lines, which has a certain rhyme system and strict stylistic laws. The sonnet originated in Italy in the 13th century (the creator was the poet Jacopo da Lentini), in England it appeared in the first half of the 16th century (G. Sarri), and in Russia in the 18th century. The main types of sonnet are Italian (of 2 quatrains and 2 tercets) and English (of 3 quatrains and a final couplet).

Poem (from the Greek “I do, I create”) is a lyric-epic genre, a large poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot, usually on a historical or legendary theme.

Ballad - lyric-epic genre, plot song with dramatic content.

Epic - a major work of fiction telling about significant historical events. In ancient times - a narrative poem of heroic content. In the literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, the genre of the epic novel appeared - this is a work in which the formation of the characters of the main characters occurs during their participation in historical events.

Novel - a large narrative work of art with a complex plot, in the center of which is the fate of the individual.

Tale - a work of fiction that occupies a middle position between a novel and a short story in terms of volume and complexity of the plot. In ancient times, any narrative work was called a story.

Story - a work of art of small size, based on an episode, an incident from the life of the hero.

Fairy tale - a work about fictional events and characters, usually involving magical, fantastic forces.

Fable is a narrative work in poetic form, small in size, of a moralizing or satirical nature.