Small genre of narrative literature. What are the literary genres

Literary genres- a group of works, collected on the basis of formal and content. Literature works are divided into separate categories according to the form of the narrative, according to the content and according to the nature 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", 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 life of the main characters and all other characters who, to one degree or another, participate in the aforementioned events.

A story is a form of narration that does not have a certain 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.

The story (short story) is a widespread genre of short prose, it is defined as "short story". Since the format of the story is limited in length, the writer usually manages to unfold the narrative within the framework of one event with the participation of two or three characters. The 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 several pages.

Essay is a literary quintessence that combines art style narratives and elements of journalism. It is always presented in a concise form with a high content of specificity. The subject of the essay, as a rule, is connected with social and social problems and is of an abstract nature, i.e. does not affect specific individuals.

The play is a special literary genre designed for wide audience... Plays are written for the theater stage, television and radio performances. Structurally, the plays are more like a story, since the duration theater performances fits perfectly with a medium-sized story. The genre of the play differs from other literary genres in that it is narrated from the perspective of each character. The text contains dialogues and monologues.

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

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

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

Detectives and fiction

Detectives are a literary genre based on eternal confrontation policemen and criminals, stories and stories of this genre are of an action-packed nature, murders take place in almost every detective story, after which experienced detectives begin an investigation.

Science fiction is a distinct literary genre with fictional characters, events, and an unpredictable ending. In most cases, the action takes place either in space or in the depths of the underwater. 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 features of distinction. However, there is often a mixture of several genres in one work. If this is done professionally, a rather interesting, unusual creation is born. Thus, genres literary creation contain a significant potential for updating literature. But these opportunities should be used carefully and thoughtfully, since literature does not tolerate profanity.

Genres of literary works by content

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

What comedies are

Comedies are different types and styles:

1. Farce is a light comedy based on elementary comic techniques... It is found both in the literature and on theater stage... Farce as a special comedy style is used in circus clownery.
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 acted out between the actions of the main play, performance or opera.
4. Parody - a comedy technique based on the repetition of recognizable features of well-known literary characters, texts or music in a deliberately modified form.

Contemporary genres in literature

Types of literary genres:

1. Epic - fable, myth, ballad, epic, fairy tale.
2. Lyric - 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, psychology of war, as well as paperback literature, which includes all literary genres.

VG Belinsky was one of the founders of Russian literary criticism. And although even in antiquity, serious steps were taken in the development of the concept literary kind(Aristotle), it is Belinsky who owns the scientifically grounded theory of three literary genera, with which you can get acquainted in detail by reading Belinsky's article "The division of poetry into genera and types."

There are three kinds fiction: epic(from the Greek Epos, narration), lyrical(lyre was called musical instrument, accompanied by verses in chant) and dramatic(from the Greek. Drama, action).

Introducing a particular subject to the reader (meaning the subject of conversation), the author chooses different approaches to it:

First approach: can be detailed to tell about the subject, about the events associated with it, about the circumstances of the existence of this subject, etc .; in this case, the position of the author will be more or less detached, the author will act as a kind of chronicler, storyteller, or choose one of the characters as a storyteller; the main thing in such a work will be the story, narration about the subject, the leading type of speech will be the narration; this kind of literature is called epic;

The second approach: you can tell not so much about events as about impression which they produced on the author, about those feelings which they caused; picture inner world, experiences, impressions and will relate to the lyrical nature of literature; exactly experience becomes the main event of the lyrics;

Third approach: you can portray thing in action, show him on stage; present it to the reader and viewer surrounded by other phenomena; this kind of literature is dramatic; in a drama, the author's voice will be the least likely to sound - in stage directions, that is, the author's explanations to the actions and remarks of the characters.

Review the following table and try to memorize its contents:

Childbirth of fiction

Each type of literature, in turn, includes a number of genres.

GENRE is a historically developed group of works united by common features of content and form. Such groups include novels, stories, poems, elegies, short stories, feuilletons, comedies, etc. In literary studies, the concept is often introduced literary type, it is a broader concept than a genre. In this case, the novel will be considered a type of fiction, and genres - various varieties of the novel, for example, adventure, detective, psychological, parable novel, dystopian novel, etc.

Examples of genus-specific relationships in the literature:

• Genus: dramatic; type: comedy; genre: sitcom.
• Genus: Epic; type: story; genre: fantastic story etc.

Genres, being historical categories, appear, develop and, over time, "leave" from the "active stock" of artists, depending on historical era: the ancient lyricists did not know the sonnet; in our time, an archaic genre that was born in antiquity and popular in XVII-XVIII centuries Oh yeah; 19th century romanticism brought to life detective literature etc.

Consider the following table, which shows the types and genres related to the different kinds of word art:

Genera, types and genres of fiction

Modern literary criticism also distinguishes fourth, a related genus of literature, combining the features of the epic and lyrical genders: lyro-epic to which the poem... Indeed, by telling the reader a story, the poem manifests itself as an epic; revealing to the reader the depth of feelings, the inner world of the person telling this story, the poem manifests itself as lyrics.

LYRIC they call the kind of literature in which the author's attention is paid to the image of the inner world, feelings, experiences. The event in the lyrics is important only insofar as it evokes an emotional response in the soul of the artist. It is the experience that becomes the main event in the lyrics. Lyrics as a kind of literature originated in ancient times. The word "lyrics" Greek origin but has no direct translation. IN Ancient Greece poetic works, depicting the inner world of feelings and experiences, were performed to the accompaniment of a lyre, and this is how the word "lyrics" appeared.

The most important character in the lyrics is lyric hero: it is his inner world that is shown in lyric work, on his behalf, the lyric artist speaks to the reader, and the external world is depicted in the context of the impressions that he makes on lyrical hero. Note! Don't confuse a lyric hero with an epic one. Pushkin reproduced in great detail the inner world of Eugene Onegin, but this epic hero, a participant in the main events of the novel. The lyrical hero of Pushkin's novel is the Narrator, the one who is familiar with Onegin and tells his story, deeply experiencing it. Onegin only once becomes a lyrical hero in a novel - when he writes a letter to Tatiana, just as she becomes a lyrical heroine when she writes a letter to Onegin.

By creating the image of a lyrical hero, a poet can make him personally very close to himself (poems by Lermontov, Fet, Nekrasov, Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova, etc.). But sometimes the poet seems to be "hiding" behind the mask of a lyrical hero, completely far from the personality of the poet himself; so, for example, A. Blok makes Ophelia a lyrical heroine (2 poems titled "The Song of Ophelia") or a street actor Harlequin ("I was covered in colorful rags ..."), M. Tsvetaev - Hamlet ("At the bottom she is where the silt ... "), V. Brusov - Cleopatra (" Cleopatra "), S. Yesenin - a peasant boy from folk song or fairy tales ("Mother went to a bathing suit in the woods ..."). So it is more competent, when discussing a lyrical work, to speak about the expression in it of the feelings not of the author, but of the lyrical hero.

Like other genres of literature, lyrics include a number of genres. Some of them arose in distant antiquity, others - in the Middle Ages, some - quite recently, one and a half to two centuries ago, or even in the last century.

Read about some LYRIC GENRE:
Oh yeah(Greek "Song") - a monumental solemn poem glorifying a great event or a great man; distinguish between spiritual odes (transcriptions of psalms), moralizing, philosophical, satirical, epistle odes, etc. The ode is three-part: it necessarily has a theme stated at the beginning of the work; development of the theme and arguments, as a rule, allegorical (second part); the final, didactic (instructive) part. Samples of ancient antique odes are associated with the names of Horace and Pindar; the ode came to Russia in the 18th century, the odes of M. Lomonosov ("On the day of the accession to the Russian throne of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna"), V. Trediakovsky, A. Sumarokov, G. Derzhavin ("Felitsa", "God"), and . Radishcheva ("Liberty"). Paid tribute to the ode A. Pushkin ("Liberty"). TO mid XIX century, the ode lost its relevance and gradually passed into the category of archaic genres.

Hymn- a poem of laudatory content; also came from ancient poetry, but if in antiquity hymns were composed in honor of gods and heroes, then at a later time hymns were written in honor of solemn events, festivities, often not only state, but also personal nature(A. Pushkin. "Feasting students").

Elegy(Phrygian "reed flute") - a genre of lyrics dedicated to meditation. Arose in ancient poetry; originally it was called crying over the deceased. The elegy was based on the life ideal of the ancient Greeks, which was based on the harmony of the world, proportion and balance of being, incomplete without sadness and contemplation, these categories have passed into the modern elegy. Elegy can embody both life-affirming ideas and disappointment. The poetry of the 19th century still continued to develop the elegy in its "pure" form; in the lyrics of the 20th century, elegy is found rather as a genre tradition, as a special mood. In modern poetry, an elegy is a plotless poem of a contemplative, philosophical and landscape nature.
A. Pushkin. "To sea"
N. Nekrasov. "Elegy"
A.Akhmatova. "March Elegy"

Read Alexander Blok's poem "From the Autumn Elegy":

Epigram(Greek "inscription") - a small poem of satirical content. Initially, in ancient times, inscriptions on household items, tombstones and statues were called epigrams. Subsequently, the content of the epigrams changed.
Examples of epigrams:

Yuri Olesha:

Epistle, or message - a poem, the content of which can be defined as "a letter in verse". The genre also came from ancient lyrics.
A. Pushkin. Pushchin ("My first friend, my invaluable friend ...")
V. Mayakovsky. "Sergei Yesenin"; "Lilichka! (Instead of a letter)"
S. Yesenin. "Letter to Mother"
M. Tsvetaeva. Poems to Blok

Sonnet- this is poetic genre the so-called rigid form: a poem consisting of 14 lines, specially organized in stanzas, with strict principles of rhyming and stylistic laws. There are several types of sonnets in terms of form:

• Italian: consists of two quatrains (quatrains), in which the lines are rhymed according to the ABAB or ABBA scheme, and two three-verses (tercets) with rhyming CDC DСD or CDE CDE;
• English: consists of three quatrains and one couplet; general scheme rhymes - ABAB CDCD EFEF GG;
• sometimes French is distinguished: the stanza is similar to Italian, but in tercets there is a different rhyming scheme: CCD EED or CCD EDE; he had a significant impact on the development of the following type of sonnet -
• Russian: created by Anton Delvig: the stanza is also similar to Italian, but the rhyming scheme in tercets is CDD CCD.

This lyric genre was born in Italy in the XIII century. Its creator was the lawyer Jacopo da Lentini; a hundred years later, Petrarch's sonnet masterpieces appeared. The sonnet came to Russia in the 18th century; a little later he received serious development in the work of Anton Delvig, Ivan Kozlov, Alexander Pushkin. The poets of the "Silver Age" showed particular interest in the sonnet: K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, I. Annensky, V. Ivanov, I. Bunin, N. Gumilev, A. Blok, O. Mandelstam ...
In the art of versification, the sonnet is considered one of the most difficult genres.
In the last 2 centuries, poets have rarely adhered to any strict rhyme, often suggesting a mixture of different schemes.

Such content dictates features of the sonnet language:
• vocabulary and intonation should be sublime;
• rhymes - precise and, if possible, unusual, rare;
• significant words should not be repeated in the same meaning, etc.

A particular difficulty - and therefore the pinnacle of poetic technique - is wreath of sonnets: a cycle of 15 poems, the opening line of each is the last line of the previous one, and last line The 14th poem is the first line of the first. The fifteenth sonnet consists of the first lines of all 14 sonnets of the cycle. In Russian lyrics, the most famous are the wreaths of sonnets by V. Ivanov, M. Voloshin, K. Balmont.

Read "Sonnet" by A. Pushkin and see how the sonnet form is understood:

In school literary criticism, such a genre of lyrics is called lyric poem... Such a genre does not exist in classical literary criticism. It was introduced into the school curriculum for some simplification. complex system lyric genres: if the bright genre features of the work cannot be distinguished and the poem is not in the strict sense neither an ode, nor a hymn, nor an elegy, nor a sonnet, etc., it will be defined as a lyric poem. In this case, one should pay attention to the individual characteristics of the poem: the specifics of the form, theme, image of the lyric hero, mood, etc. So, the poems of Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, Blok, etc. should be attributed to lyric poems (in the school sense). Almost all the lyrics of the twentieth century fall under this definition, unless the authors specifically specified the genre of the works.

Satire(lat. "mixture, all sorts of things") - as a poetic genre: a work, the content of which is exposure - social phenomena, human vices or individuals - by ridicule. Satire in antiquity in Roman literature (satire of Juvenal, Martial, etc.). The genre received a new development in the literature of classicism. The content of satire is characterized by ironic intonation, allegoricality, Aesopian language, and the technique of "speaking names" is often used. In Russian literature, A. Kantemir, K. Batyushkov (XVIII-XIX centuries) worked in the genre of satire, in the XX century Sasha Cherny became famous as the author of a satyr. Many poems from V. Mayakovsky's "Poems about America" "Six nuns", "Black and White", "Skyscraper in a section", etc.).

Ballad- lyric-epic narrative poem of fantastic, satirical, historical, fairytale, legendary, humorous, etc. character. The ballad arose in antiquity (it is assumed in the early Middle Ages) as a folklore ritual dance and song genre, and this determines its genre features: strict rhythm, plot (ancient ballads told about heroes and gods), the presence of repetitions (whole lines or individual words were repeated as an independent stanza), called refrain... In the 18th century, the ballad became one of the most beloved poetic genres of romanticism literature. Ballads were created by F. Schiller ("Cup", "Glove"), I. Goethe ("Forest Tsar"), V. Zhukovsky ("Lyudmila", "Svetlana"), A. Pushkin ("Anchar", "The Groom") M. Lermontov (Borodino, Three Palms); at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, the ballad is revived again and becomes very popular, especially in revolutionary era, during the period of revolutionary romance. Among the poets of the twentieth century, ballads were written by A. Blok ("Falling in love" ("The Queen lived on a high mountain ..."), N. Gumilev ("Captains", "Barbarians"), A. Akhmatova ("Gray-eyed King"), M. Svetlov ("Grenada"), etc.

Note! The work can combine signs of some genres: a message with elements of elegy (A. Pushkin, "K *** (" I remember a wonderful moment ... "), a lyric poem of elegiac content (A. Blok." Motherland "), epigram-message, etc. .d.

1. Macbeth's creator - William Shakespeare (tragedy "Macbeth").
2. Portuguese poet Luis de Camões (1524-1580).
3. Wordsworth - English romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850).
4. Singer of Lithuania - Polish romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855).
5. See the material of topic number 12.

• V.A. Zhukovsky. Poems: "Svetlana"; "Sea"; "Evening"; "Inexpressible"
• A.S. Pushkin. Poems: "Village", "Demons", " Winter evening"," Pushchin "(" My first friend, my invaluable friend ... "," Winter road "," To Chaadaev "," In the depths of Siberian ores ... "," Anchar "," The flying ridge is thinning ... "," Prisoner " , "Conversation of the bookseller with the poet", "The poet and the crowd", "Autumn", "... I visited again ...", "Am I wandering along noisy streets ...", "A vain gift, an accidental gift ...", "October 19" ( 1825), "On the hills of Georgia", "I loved you ...", "K ***" ("I remember a wonderful moment ..."), "Madonna", "Echo", "Prophet", "To the Poet", "To the sea", "From Pindemonti" ("I do not value high-profile rights at a price ..."), "I erected a monument to myself ..."
• M.Yu. Lermontov. Poems: "Death of a Poet", "Poet", "How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...", "Duma", "Both boring and sad ...", "Prayer" ("I, mother of God, now with prayer ...") , "We parted, but your portrait ...", "I will not humiliate myself before you ...", "Motherland", "Farewell, unwashed Russia... "," When the yellowing cornfield is worried ... "," No, I am not Byron, I am different ... "," Leaf "," Three palm trees "," From under a mysterious, cold half mask ... "," Captive knight "," Neighbor "," Testament "," Clouds "," Cliff "," Borodino "," Clouds of heaven, eternal pages ... "," Prisoner "," Prophet "," I go out on the road alone ... "
• N.A. Nekrasov. Poems: "I do not like your irony ...", "Knight for an hour", "I will die soon ...", "Prophet", "Poet and citizen", "Troika", "Elegy", "Zina" ("You are still on life you have the right ... "); other verses of your choice
• F.I. Tyutchev. Poems: " Autumn evening"," Silentium "," Not what you think, nature ... "," The sight of the earth is still sad ... "," How good you are, oh night sea ... "," I met you ... "," Whatever life we ​​have taught ... "," Fountain "," These poor villages ... "," Human tears, about human tears ... "," The mind cannot understand Russia ... "," I remember the golden time ... "," What are you howling, night wind? "," The gray shadows have shifted ... "," How sweetly the dark green garden slumbers ... "; other verses of your choice
• A.A. Fet. Poems: "I came to you with greetings ...", "Another May night ...", "Whisper, timid breath ...", "This morning, this joy ...", "Sevastopol rural cemetery", "Wavy cloud ...", "Study they have - by the oak, by the birch ... "," To the poets "," Autumn "," What a night, how clean the air ... "," Village "," Swallows "," On railroad"," Fantasy "," The night was shining. The garden was full of the moon ... "; other verses of your choice
• I.A. Bunin. Poems: "The Last Bumblebee", "Evening", "Childhood", "Still Cold and Cheese ...", "And Flowers, and Bumblebees, and Grass ...", "Word", "A Knight at a Crossroads", "A Bird Has a Nest …", "Dust"
• A.A. Blok. Poems: "I enter dark temples ...", "Stranger", "Solveig", "You are like the echo of a forgotten hymn ...", "The earthly heart is getting cold again ...", "Oh, spring without end and without edge ...", " About valor, about exploits, about glory ... "," On the Railway ", cycles" On the Kulikovo Field "and" Carmen "," Rus "," Motherland "," Russia "," Morning in the Kremlin "," Oh, I I want to live madly ... "; other verses of your choice
• A.A. Akhmatova. Poems: "Song of the last meeting", "You know, I languish in captivity ...", "Before spring, there are such days ...", "Tear-stained autumn, like a widow ...", "I learned to live simply, wisely ...", "Native land "; "I don't need odic rati ...", "Not with those who have thrown the ground ...", "Courage"; other verses of your choice
• S.A. Yesenin. Poems: "Goy you, my dear Russia ...", "Do not wander, do not crumple in the crimson bushes ...", "I do not regret, I do not call, I do not cry ...", "We are now leaving a little ...", "Letter to the mother", " Dissuaded the golden grove ... "," I left dear home... "," Kachalov's Dog "," Soviet Russia "," The hewn groves sang ... "," Uncomfortable liquid lunarity ... "," Feather grass is asleep. Plain dear ... "," Goodbye, my friend, goodbye ... "; other verses of your choice
• V.V. Mayakovsky. Poems: "Could you?", "Listen!", "Here!", "You!", "Violin and a little nervous", "Mom and the evening killed by the Germans", "Giveaway", " Good relationship to horses "," Left march "," About rubbish "," Sergei Yesenin "," Jubilee "," Letter to Tatyana Yakovleva "; other verses of your choice
• 10-15 poems (of your choice): M. Tsvetaeva, B. Pasternak, N. Gumilyov.
• A. Tvardovsky. Poems: "I was killed near Rzhev ...", "I know, no fault of mine ...", "The whole point is in one and only covenant ...", "In memory of the mother", "To the bitter insults of my own person ..."; other verses of your choice
• I. Brodsky. Poems: "I entered instead of a wild beast ...", "Letters to a Roman friend", "To Urania", "Stanza", "You will ride in the darkness ...", "To Zhukov's death", "Nowhere with love ...", "Fern notes "

Try to read all the literary works that are named in the work in the book, and not in electronic form!
When completing tasks for work 7, pay special attention to theoretical materials, since performing the tasks of this work by intuition means dooming yourself to a mistake.
Do not forget to draw up a metric diagram for each analyzed verse passage, checking it repeatedly.
The key to success in performing this complex work is attention and accuracy.

• Kvyatkovsky I.A. Poetic Dictionary. - M., 1966.
• Literary encyclopedic Dictionary... - M., 1987.
• Literary criticism: Reference materials... - M., 1988.
• Lotman Yu.M. Analysis poetic text... - L .: Education, 1972.
• Gasparov M. Modern Russian verse. Metrics and rhythm. - Moscow: Nauka, 1974.
• Zhirmunsky V.M. Verse theory. - L .: Science, 1975.
• Poetic structure of Russian lyrics. Sat. - L .: Science, 1973.
• Skripov G.S. About Russian versification. Student manual. - M .: Education, 1979.
• Vocabulary literary terms... - M., 1974.
• Encyclopedic Dictionary of a Young Literary Critic. - M., 1987.

Historically, there have been three kinds of literature in literature: epic, dramatic, and lyrical. These are groups of genres with similar structural features. If the epic in the story reinforces external reality (events, facts, etc.), then the drama does the same in the format of a conversation, not on behalf of the author, but the lyrics describe inner reality person. Of course, the division is conditional and to a certain extent artificial, but, nevertheless, our acquaintance with the book begins with the fact that we see the genre, genre or their combination on the cover and draw the first conclusions. For example, a person only loves to watch plays in the theater, which means that he does not need a volume of Moliere and he will pass by him without wasting time. Knowledge of the basic foundations of literary criticism also helps during reading, when you want to understand the author, to penetrate into his creative laboratory, to figure out why his idea was embodied in this way and not otherwise.

An example and theoretical basis, the most concise and simple, are selected for each genre.

A novel is large form epic genre, a work with extended problems and many topics. Usually, classic novel depicts people participating in various life processes that give rise to external and internal conflicts. Events in the novel are not always described sequentially, for example, Lermontov in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" deliberately breaks the sequence.

Thematic novels are divided into autobiographical (Chudakov "The haze is falling on the old steps"), philosophical (Dostoevsky's "Demons"), adventure (Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe"), fantastic (Glukhovsky "Metro 2033"), satirical (Rotterdam's "Praise of folly"), historical (Pikul "I have the honor"), adventurous (Merezhko "Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka), etc.

Structurally novels are divided into a novel in verse (Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin"), a pamphlet novel (Swift's "Gulliver's Travels"), a parable novel (Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea"), a feuilleton novel ("The Countess of Salisbury" by Dumas), an epistolary novel ( Russo "Julia or New Eloise") and others.

An epic novel is a novel with a panoramic depiction of the life of the people at critical historical moments (Tolstoy's "War and Peace").

The story is the average (between the story and the novel) in size is an epic work, which sets out a narrative about a particular event in a natural sequence (Kuprin "Pit"). How is a story different from a novel? At least by the fact that the material of the story is presented chronically, and not for the sake of the action-packed composition of the novel. In addition, the story does not set tasks of a global historical nature. In the story, the author is more constrained, all his inventions are subordinated to the main action, and in the novel the writer is carried away by memories, digressions and analysis of heroes.

The story is small epic prose form. The work has a limited number of characters, one problem and one event (Turgenev "Mumu"). How is a novel different from a story? The boundaries between these two genres are rather arbitrary, but in the novel the ending is often unpredictable (O'Henry "Gifts of the Magi").

The sketch is small epic prose form (many attribute it to the varieties of the story). The essay usually touches on social issues and tends to be descriptive.

The parable is moral teaching in allegorical form. How is a parable different from a fable? The parable draws its material mainly from life, and the fable is based on invented, sometimes fantastic plots (gospel parables).

Lyric genres are ...

A lyric poem is small genre form lyrics written on behalf of the author (Pushkin "I loved you") or on behalf of the lyrical hero (Tvardovsky "I was killed near Rzhev").

Elegy is small lyrical form, a poem that is imbued with a mood of sadness and longing. Sad thoughts, sorrow, sad reflections make up the repertoire of elegies (Pushkin's elegy "On the rocks, on the hills").

The message is poetic writing. By content, messages can be divided into friendly, satirical, lyrical, etc. They can be dedicated to both one person and a group of persons (Voltaire's "Epistle to Frederick").

The epigram is a poem that makes fun of a specific person (from friendly ridicule to sarcasm) (Gaft "Epigram on Oleg Dal"). Features: wit and brevity.

Oda is a poem, distinguished by the solemnity of tone and the lofty content (Lomonosov "Ode on the day of accession to the throne of Elizabeth Petrovna 1747").

Sonnet is a poem of 14 verses ("Twenty Sonnets to Sasha Zapoyeva" by Timur Kibirov). The sonnet is one of the strict forms. A sonnet usually consists of 14 lines, forming 2 quatrain quatrains (for 2 rhymes) and 2 tercet verses (for 2 or 3 rhymes).

The poem is the middle lyric-epic form, in which there is an expanded plot, and several experiences are embodied, that is, attention to the inner world of the lyric hero (Lermontov "Mtsyri").

Ballad is middle lyric-epic form, story in verse. Often the ballad has a tense storyline (Zhukovsky "Lyudmila").

Dramatic genres are ...

Comedy is a kind of drama in which the content is presented in a funny way, and the characters and circumstances are comical. What comedies are there? Lyric (" The Cherry Orchard"Chekhov), high (" Woe from Wit "by Griboyedov"), satirical ("The Inspector General" by Gogol).

Tragedy is a kind of drama based on an acute life conflict, which entails suffering and death of heroes (Shakespeare "Hamlet").

Drama is play with acute conflict, which is common, not so sublime and solvable (for example, Gorky "At the bottom"). How is it different from tragedy or comedy? Firstly, the material is used modern, not from antiquity, and secondly, in the drama appears new hero who rebelled against circumstances.

Tragifars - a dramatic work that combines tragic and comic elements (Ionesco, "The Bald Singer"). This is a postmodern genre that has emerged relatively recently.

The main genres of literature are groups of works that are identical formally and in style of presentation. Even in the time of Aristotle, literature was divided into genres, evidence of this is the "Poetics" of the Greek philosopher, a treatise on literary evolution, written three hundred years before the birth of Christ.

in literature?

Literature dates back to biblical times, people have always written and read. containing at least some text is already literature, because what is written is a person's thoughts, a reflection of his desires and aspirations. Lectures, petitions, church texts were written in many, and thus the first literary genre appeared - birch bark. With the development of writing, the chronicle genre arose. Most often, what was written was already worn by some literary signs, graceful turns of speech, figurative allegories.

The next genre of literature was epics, epic legends about heroes and other heroes of historical plots. Religious literature, descriptions of biblical events, and the lives of the higher clergy can be considered separate.

The advent of book printing in the 16th century marked the beginning of the rapid development of literature. Styles and genres took shape throughout the 17th century.

Literature of the 18th century

The question of what genres are in can be answered unequivocally, that the literature of that time is conditionally divided into three main directions: drama, narration and poetic verses. Dramatic works often took the form of tragedy, when the heroes of the plot died, and the struggle between good and evil became more and more deadly. Alas, the conjuncture of the literary market dictated its conditions even then. The genre of calm storytelling also found its readers. Novels, novellas and short stories were considered the "middle link", while tragedies, poems and odes belonged to the "high" genre of literature, and satirical works, fables and comedies - to "low".

Verse is a primitive form of poetry that was used at balls, social events and other events of the highest nobility of the capital. Verses in the genre of verses had signs of syllogistics, the verse was divided into rhythmic segments. The mechanical syllable, deadly for real poetry, dictated fashion for a long time.

Literature 19-20 centuries

The literature of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th is distinguished by several genres that were most in demand in the golden age of Pushkin and Gogol, and then in the silver age of Alexander Blok and Sergei Yesenin. Drama, epic and lyric poetry - this is what genres are in the literature of the past and the century before last.

The lyrics had to have an emotional connotation, be meaningful and purposeful. Its categories were ode and elegy, and an ode - with enthusiastic surprise, chanting and elevation to the rank of heroes.

The lyrical elegy was built on the principle of the sad tonality of the verse, sadness as a result of the hero's experiences, regardless of what was the reason - or the disharmony of the universe.

What are genres in contemporary literature?

Genres in contemporary literature quite a lot, among them the most popular, demanded by a wide readership, can be distinguished:

• Tragedy is a kind of literary genre of drama, characterized by extreme emotional stress, with the obligatory death of the heroes.
• Comedy is another kind of drama genre, the opposite of tragedy, with a fun plot and a happy ending.
• Fairy tale genre - literary direction for children, their creative development. There are many literary masterpieces in the genre.
• The epic is a literary genre of historical significance, describes individual events of past times in the style of heroism, differs big amount characters.
• The novel genre is an extensive narrative, with several storylines, which describes in detail the life of each character separately and all together, is distinguished by a tendency to analyze the events that are taking place.
• The story is a genre of medium form, written according to the same scheme as the novel, but in a more concise context. In the story, one character is usually singled out as the main character, the rest are described in "binding" to him.
• Storytelling is a genre of narration of a small form, summary one event. Its plot cannot have a continuation, it represents the quintessence of the author's thought, it always has a complete form.
• The novella is a genre similar to the story, the difference is only in the sharpness of the plot. The story has an unexpected, unpredictable ending. This genre is well suited to thrillers.
• The genre of the essay is the same story, but in a non-artistic manner of presentation. In the essay, there are no flowery turns of speech, grandiloquent phrases and pathos.
• Satire as a literary genre is rare, its accusatory orientation does not contribute to its popularity, although satirical plays in theatrical performance are well received.
• The detective genre is the most popular literary trend in recent times. Millions of paperback books by popular authors such as Alexandra Marinina, Daria Dontsova, Polina Dashkova and dozens of others have become tabletop for many Russian readers.

Conclusion

Diverse, each contains the potential for further creative development, which will certainly be used contemporary writers and poets.

All literary genres are unique, each of which has a complex of qualities and characteristics inherent exclusively to it. Their first known classification was proposed by Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher and naturalist. In accordance with it, basic literary genres can be assembled into a small list, which is not subject to any changes. The author, working on any work, must simply find similarities between his creation and the parameters of the specified genres. Over the next two millennia, any changes in the classifier developed by Aristotle were taken with hostility and considered a shift from the norm.

In the 18th century, a large-scale literary restructuring began. The rooted types of the genre and their system began to undergo major modifications. The current conditions became the main prerequisite for the fact that some genres of literature have sunk into oblivion, others have gained insane popularity, and others have just begun to form. The results of this transformation, which is continuing now, we can personally observe with our own eyes - types of genres that are dissimilar in meaning, kind and many other criteria. Let's try to figure out what genres are in literature and what are their features.

A genre in literature is a historically established set of literary creations, united by a set of similar parameters and formal characteristics.

All existing types and genres of literature can be visually represented in a table, in which large groups will appear in one part, and its typical representatives in the other. There are 4 main groups of genres by gender:

• epic (mostly prose);
• lyric (mainly poetics);
• dramatic (plays);
• lyroepic (something between lyrics and epics).

Also, the types of literary works can be classified by content:

• comedy;
• tragedy;
• drama.

But to understand what types of literature there are, it becomes much easier if you understand their forms. The form of a work is a method of presenting the author's ideas underlying the work. Distinguish between external and internal forms. The first, in fact, is the language of the work, the second is the system of artistic methods, images and means with which it was created.

What genres of books are in form: essay, vision, short story, epic, ode, play, epic, essay, sketch, opus, novel, story. Let's consider each in detail.

Essay

An essay is a short, prosaic essay with a free composition. His the main objective- show the personal opinion and concepts of the author on a particular occasion. In this case, the essay is not required to fully disclose the presentation problem or clearly answer the questions. Basic properties:

• figurativeness;
• proximity to the reader;
• aphoristic;
• associativity.

There is an opinion that the essay - separate species works of art... This genre dominated XVIII-XIX centuries in British and Western European journalism. Notable representatives of that time: J. Addison, O. Goldsmith, J. Wharton, W. Godwin.

Epos

The epic is at the same time a genus, type and genre of literature. It is a heroic tale of the past, showing the then life of people and the reality of the characters from the epic side. Often the epic speaks in detail about a person, about an adventure with his participation, about his feelings and experiences. It also tells about the attitude of the hero to what is happening around him. Representatives of the genre:

• The Iliad, The Odyssey by Homer;
• "Song of Roland" by Turold;
• "Song of the Nibelungs", author unknown.

The ancestors of the epic are the traditional poems-songs of the ancient Greeks.

Epic

Epic - great works with heroic overtones and those that are similar to them. What is the literature of this genre:

• narration of important historical moments in poetic form or prose;
• a story about something, including several descriptions of various significant events.

There is also a moral epic. This is special kind narration in literature, distinguished by its prosaicity and ridicule of the comic state of society. It includes Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel.

Sketch

A sketch is a short play in which there are only two (rarely three) main characters. Today, the sketch is used on the stage in the form of a comedy show with miniatures lasting no more than 10 minutes. Such shows appear regularly on television in Britain, the United States and Russia. Famous example programs on TV - "Unreal Story", "6 frames", "Our Russia".

Novel

The novel is a separate literary genre. It presents a detailed presentation of the development and life of key characters (or one hero) in the most crisis and difficult periods. The main types of the novel in literature - belonging to a particular era or country, psychological, chivalrous, classical, moral and many others. Notable examples:

• "Eugene Onegin" Pushkin;
• "Doctor Zhivago" Pasternak;
• "The Master and Margarita" Bulgakov ".

Novella

The novella or short story is a key genre of fiction and is less extensive than a story or novel. The main properties of the work include:

• the presence of a small number of heroes;
• the plot has only one line;
• cyclicality.

The storyteller is a short story writer, and the collection of short stories is a short story.

Play

The play is a representative of drama. It is intended to be shown on the stage of the theater and in other performances. The play consists of:

• speeches of the main characters;
• copyright notes;
• descriptions of the places where the main activities take place;
• characteristics appearance the persons involved, their demeanor and character.

The play includes several acts, which consist of episodes, actions, pictures.

The story

The story is a work of a prosaic nature. It has no special restrictions on volume, but it is located between the novella and the novel. Usually the plot of the story has a clear chronology, shows the natural course of the character's life without intrigue. All attention belongs to the main person and the specifics of his nature. It is worth noting that there is only one plot line. Notable representatives of the genre:

• The Hound of the Baskervilles by A. Conan Doyle;
• "Poor Liza" by N. M. Karamzin;
• "The Steppe" by A. P. Chekhov.

IN foreign literature the concept of "story" is equal to the concept of "short novel".

Feature article

The sketch is a concise, true artistic tale about several events and phenomena thought out by the author. The basis of the essay is an accurate understanding of the subject of observation directly by the writer. Types of such descriptions:

• portrait;
• problematic;
• travel;
• historical.

Opus

In the general sense, an opus is a piece accompanied by music. Main characteristics:

• internal completeness;
• individuality of the form;
• thoroughness.

IN literary sense opus - any scientific work or the creation of the author.

Oh yeah

Oda is a poem (usually solemn) dedicated to a specific event or person. At the same time, an ode can be a separate work with a similar theme. In ancient Greece, all poetic lyrics, even the singing of the choir, were considered odes. Since the time of the Renaissance, this is how they began to call exclusively high-flown lyric poems, focused on the images of antiquity.

Vision

Vision is a genre of medieval literature based on a "clairvoyant" who tells about the afterlife and unreal images that appear to him. Many modern researchers relate visions to didactics of the narrative type and journalism, since in the Middle Ages a person could thus convey his thoughts about the unknown.

These are the main types of literature in form and what their variations are. Unfortunately, all genres of literature and their definitions are difficult to fit into a small article - there are really a lot of them. In any case, everyone understands the necessity and importance of reading a wide variety of works, because they are real vitamins for the brain. With the help of books, you can increase your intelligence level, expand your vocabulary, improve memory and attentiveness. BrainApps is a resource that will help you develop in this direction. The service features more than 100 effective simulators that can easily pump gray matter.