Genres of fiction. Types of literary genres by form

Genres of literature

Literary genres- historically emerging groups of literary works, united by a set of formal and substantive properties (in contrast to literary forms, the identification of which is based only on formal characteristics). The term is often incorrectly identified with the term “type of literature.”

Kinds, types and genres of literature do not exist as something unchangeable, given from time to time and eternally existing. They are born, theoretically realized, historically develop, change, dominate, freeze or retreat to the periphery depending on the evolution of artistic thinking as such. The most stable, fundamental thing is, of course, the utmost general concept“genus”, the most dynamic and changeable is the much more specific concept of “genre”.

The first attempts to theoretically substantiate gender make themselves felt in the ancient doctrine of mimesis (imitation). Plato in the Republic, and then Aristotle in the Poetics, came to the conclusion that poetry is of three types, depending on what, how and by what means it imitates. In other words, clan division fiction is based on the subject, means and methods of imitation.

Separate remarks on the methods of organizing artistic time and space (chronotope), scattered throughout Poetics, constitute the prerequisites for further division into types and genres of literature.

Aristotle's idea of ​​generic characteristics is traditionally called formal. His successors are representatives of German aesthetics of the 18th-19th centuries. Goethe, Schiller, Aug. Schlegel, Schelling. Around the same time, the principles of the opposite - a substantive approach to the generic division of fiction - were laid down. Its initiator was Hegel, who proceeded from the epistemological principle: the object of artistic knowledge in the epic is the object, in the lyrics - the subject, in drama - their synthesis. Accordingly, the content of an epic work consists of being in its entirety, dominating the will of people, therefore the event plan predominates in it; the content of a lyrical work is the state of mind, the mood of the lyrical hero, therefore the eventfulness in it recedes into the background; the content of a dramatic work is aspiration towards a goal, the volitional activity of a person, manifested in action.

Derived from the category of genus, or rather, concepts that clarify and concretize it, are the concepts of “type” and “genre”. By tradition, we call stable structural formations within a literary genus, grouping even smaller genre modifications, by type. For example, an epic consists of small, medium and large types, such as a story, an essay, a short story, a story, a novel, a poem, an epic. However, they are often called genres, which in a strict terminological sense specify types either in a historical, or thematic, or structural aspect: an ancient novel, a Renaissance short story, a psychological or industrial essay or novel, a lyrical story, an epic story (“Fate person" by M. Sholokhov). Some structural forms combine specific and genre characteristics, i.e. types do not have genre varieties (such, for example, are the types and at the same time genres of the medieval theater soti and morality). However, along with synonymous word usage, the hierarchical differentiation of both terms is relevant. Accordingly, types are divided into genres according to a number of different characteristics: thematic, stylistic, structural, volume, in relation to the aesthetic ideal, reality or fiction, basic aesthetic categories, etc.

Genres of literature

Comedy- type of dramatic work. Displays everything ugly and absurd, funny and absurd, ridicules the vices of society.

Lyric poem (in prose)- a type of fiction that emotionally and poetically expresses the author’s feelings.

Melodrama- a type of drama whose characters are sharply divided into positive and negative.

Fantasy- a subgenre of fantastic literature. Works of this subgenre are written in an epic fairy-tale style, using motifs from ancient myths and legends. The plot is usually built around magic, heroic adventures and journeys; the plot usually involves magical creatures; The action takes place in a fairy-tale world reminiscent of the Middle Ages.

Feature article- the most reliable type of narrative, epic literature, reflecting facts from real life.

Song or chant- most ancient look lyric poetry; a poem consisting of several verses and a chorus. Songs are divided into folk, heroic, historical, lyrical, etc.

Tale- medium shape; a work that highlights a number of events in the life of the main character.

Poem- type of lyric epic work; poetic story telling.

Story - small form, a work about one event in the life of a character.

Novel- large shape; a work in which many people usually take part characters whose destinies are intertwined. Novels can be philosophical, adventure, historical, family, social.

Tragedy- a type of dramatic work telling about the unfortunate fate of the main character, often doomed to death.

Utopia- a genre of fiction, close to science fiction, describing a model of an ideal, from the author’s point of view, society. Unlike dystopia, it is characterized by the author’s faith in the impeccability of the model.

Epic- a work or a series of works depicting a significant historical era or a major historical event.

Drama– (in the narrow sense) one of the leading genres of drama; a literary work written in the form of a dialogue between characters. Intended for performance on stage. Focused on spectacular expressiveness. The relationships between people and the conflicts that arise between them are revealed through the actions of the heroes and are embodied in a monologue-dialogue form. Unlike tragedy, drama does not end in catharsis.

A literary work is the form of existence of literature as the art of words. What makes it artistic?

Reading room of the Russian State Library.

We always feel a special concreteness of life literary work. It is always connected with reality and at the same time is not identical to it, it is its image, transformation, artistic reflection. But a reflection “in the form of life,” a reflection that does not just talk about life, but itself appears as a special life.

“Art is a reproduction of reality, a repeated, as if newly created world,” wrote V. G. Belinsky. The dynamics of the content of a work of art are perfectly captured here. In order to “repeat” a world that is unique in its development and constant self-renewal, it is necessary to “as if create again”, to reproduce an individual phenomenon that, while not being identical to real reality, at the same time will fully express it deep essence and the value of life.

Life is not only material reality, but also the life of the human spirit, it is not only what is, what was realized in reality, but also what was and will be, and what is “possible due to probability or necessity” (Aristotle ). “To master the whole world and find expression for it” - this is the artist’s ultimate task, according to the excellent definition of J. V. Goethe. Therefore, reflections on the nature of a work of art are inextricably linked with the deepest philosophical question about what “the whole world” is, whether it represents unity and integrity, and whether it is possible to “find expression for it,” to recreate it in a specific individual phenomenon.

In order for a work to really exist, it must be created by the author and perceived by the reader. And again, these are not just different, externally justified, isolated, internally interconnected processes. In a truly artistic work, “the perceiver merges with the artist to such an extent that it seems to him that the object he perceives was made not by someone else, but by himself” (L.N. Tolstoy). The author acts here, as M. M. Prishvin wrote, in the role of “a persuader, forcing one to look at both the sea and the moon with his own personal eye, which is why everyone, being a unique person, appearing in the world only once, would bring humankind into the world’s repository consciousness, something from oneself into culture.” The life of a work is realized only on the basis of the harmony of the author and the reader - such a harmony that directly convinces that “every person can feel equal to everyone else and everyone else” (M. Gorky).

The work represents an internal, interpenetrating unity of content and form. “Living poems speak themselves. And they are not talking about something, but something,” wrote S. Ya. Marshak. Indeed, it is very important to be aware of this difference and not to reduce the content of a literary work to what it talks about. Content is the organic unity of display, comprehension and assessment of reality, and thoughts and assessments in works of art do not exist separately, but permeate the depicted events, experiences, actions and live only in artistic expression- the only possible form of embodiment of this life content.

The subject of reality, its comprehension and evaluation are transformed into the content of a literary work, only being internally united and embodied in artistic form. Also any word, any speech device turns out to be artistically significant only when it ceases to be just information, when external to it life phenomena become its internal content when the word about life is transformed into life, captured in a literary work as a verbal and artistic whole.

From what has been said it is clear that art form a literary work is not just a “technique”. “What does it mean to finish a lyric poem... to bring the form to the elegance possible for it? - wrote Ya. I. Polonsky. - Believe me, this is nothing more than finishing and bringing it to the point of possible human nature one’s own grace, this or that feeling... Working on a poem for a poet is the same as working on one’s soul.” Work on understanding the environment and one’s own own life, over “your soul,” and work on constructing a literary work - this is not three things for a real writer different types activity, but a single creative process.

L. N. Tolstoy praised the poems of A. A. Fet for the fact that they were “born.” And V.V. Mayakovsky called his article “How to make poetry?” We understand both the opposite and the partial validity of these characteristics. Even if works of art are “born,” it is still not exactly the same as a person is born. And from the article by V.V. Mayakovsky, even with all its polemical exaggerations, it is still quite clear that poetry is “made” in a completely different way from how things are made on a conveyor belt, continuous production. In a literary work there is always this contradiction between organization (“made”) and organic (“born”), and the highest artistic achievements characterized by its particularly harmonic resolution. Let us recall, for example, the poem by A. S. Pushkin “I loved you: love is still, perhaps...”, the clear construction of which becomes a completely natural expression of the high human feeling- selfless love.

An artificially created verbal and artistic statement is transformed into an organically vital whole, each element of which is necessary, irreplaceable and vitally significant. And understand what's in front of us piece of art, - this first of all means to understand and feel that it can only be as it is: both as a whole and in each of its particles.

The life contained within the work, like a small universe, reflects and manifests the universe, the fullness human life, the whole integrity of being. And the meeting of the author and the reader in art world literary work therefore becomes an irreplaceable form of familiarization with this big world, education of true humanity, formation of a holistic, comprehensively developed personality.

The above types of classification are not mutually exclusive, but demonstrate different approach to the definition of 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, there are four major genre: epic, lyrical, dramatic and lyric-epic. Each of them has its own “subgenres”.

IN epic genres it tells 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, myths, ballads, fables and epics.

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

Classic example stanzas - “Childe Harold” by Byron.

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

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, then they are combined into three large groups: comedies, tragedies and dramas. Tragedy and drama, telling, respectively, about tragic fate heroes and about the emergence and overcoming of 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, epic, novel, short story, sketch, play, sketch, essay, opus, ode and visions.

Sources:

• “Theory of Literature”, V. V. Prozorov, 1987
• « Theoretical poetics: concepts and definitions”, N. D. Tamarchenko, 1999

Literary is a class of texts that have a similar structure, content, and limit of variability. There are many genre ov text, and you need to know their characteristics if you do not want to make a mistake in choosing the type.

Instructions

In order to correctly characterize the text and attribute it to a specific genre oh, please read the work carefully. Think about whether it amuses you or upsets you, conveys the author’s feelings towards his characters or simply tells about some events, struggles with insurmountable circumstances or with himself? If you can understand the text, you will easily find its literary genre.

There are three ways to classify literary genre ov. They are grouped by form, resulting in such types as essay, story, ode. A play is a writer’s creation intended to be performed on stage; a story is a short narrative work in prose. What distinguishes a novel from a short story is its scale. It tells about life and development

A literary genre is a group of literary works that have common historical development trends and are united by a set of properties in their content and form. Sometimes this term is confused with the concepts of “type” and “form”. Today there is no single clear classification of genres. Literary works are divided according to a certain number characteristic features.

History of genre formation

The first systematization of literary genres was presented by Aristotle in his Poetics. Thanks to this work, it began to appear that literary genre is a natural stable system that requires the author to fully comply with the principles and canons a certain genre. Over time, this led to the formation of a number of poetics that strictly prescribed to authors exactly how they should write a tragedy, ode or comedy. Long years these requirements remained unshakable.

Decisive changes in the system of literary genres began only end of the XVIII century.

At the same time literary works aimed at artistic exploration, in their attempts to distance themselves as much as possible from genre divisions, gradually came to the emergence of new phenomena unique to literature.

What literary genres exist

To understand how to determine the genre of a work, you need to familiarize yourself with existing classifications and the characteristic features of each of them.

Below is an approximate table for determining the type of existing literary genres

Division of genres by content

Classification literary trends based on content includes comedy, tragedy and drama.

Comedy is a type of literature, which provides a humorous approach. Varieties of comic direction are:

There are also comedy of characters and sitcoms. In the first case, the source of humorous content is the internal traits of the characters, their vices or shortcomings. In the second case, comedy manifests itself in current circumstances and situations.

Tragedy - dramatic genre with an obligatory catastrophic outcome, the opposite of the comedy genre. Typically, tragedy reflects the deepest conflicts and contradictions. The plot is of the most intense nature. In some cases, tragedies are written in poetic form.

Drama – special kind fiction, where the events taking place are conveyed not through their direct description, but through monologues or dialogues of the characters. Drama like literary phenomenon existed among many peoples even at the level of works of folklore. Originally in Greek, this term meant a sad event that affects one specific person. Subsequently, drama began to represent a wider range of works.

The most famous prose genres

The category of prose genres includes literary works of various lengths, written in prose.

Novel

A novel is a prose literary genre that involves a detailed narrative about the fate of the heroes and certain critical periods of their lives. The name of this genre dates back to the 12th century, when knightly stories arose “in the folk Romance language” as the opposite of Latin historiography. The short story began to be considered a plot type of novel. IN late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century such concepts as detective novel appeared in literature, women's novel, fantasy novel.

Novella

A short story is a type of prose genre. Her birth was caused by the famous collection "The Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio. Subsequently, several collections based on the model of the Decameron were published.

The era of romanticism introduced elements of mysticism and phantasmagorism into the short story genre - examples include the works of Hoffmann and Edgar Allan Poe. On the other hand, the works of Prosper Merimee bore the features of realistic stories.

Novella as short story with a sharp plot became characteristic genre for American Literature.

Characteristics the novellas are:

1. Maximum brevity of presentation.
2. The poignancy and even paradoxical nature of the plot.
3. Neutrality of style.
4. Lack of descriptiveness and psychologism in the presentation.
5. An unexpected ending, always containing an extraordinary turn of events.

Tale

A story is prose of a relatively small volume. The plot of the story, as a rule, is in the nature of reproducing natural life events. Usually the story reveals the fate and personality of the hero against the backdrop of current events. A classic example is “Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin” by A.S. Pushkin.

Story

A story is called a small form prose work, which originates from folklore genres- parables and fairy tales. Some literary experts as a type of genre review essays, essays and short stories. Usually the story is characterized by a small volume, one plot line and a small number of characters. Stories are characteristic of literary works of the 20th century.

Play

It's called a play dramatic work, which is created for the purpose of subsequent theatrical production.

The structure of the play usually includes phrases from the characters and the author's remarks describing the environment or the actions of the characters. At the beginning of the play there is always a list of characters With brief description their appearance, age, character, etc.

The whole play is divided into large parts - acts or actions. Each action, in turn, is divided into smaller elements - scenes, episodes, pictures.

Greater fame The plays of J.B. won in world art. Moliere (“Tartuffe”, “The Imaginary Invalid”) B. Shaw (“Wait and see”), B. Brecht (“The Good Man from Szechwan”, “The Threepenny Opera”).

Description and examples of individual genres

Let's look at the most common and significant examples of literary genres for world culture.

Poem

A poem is a large work of poetry that has a lyrical plot or describes a sequence of events. Historically, the poem was “born” from the epic

In turn, a poem can have many genre varieties:

1. Didactic.
2. Heroic.
3. Burlesque,
4. Satirical.
5. Ironic.
6. Romantic.
7. Lyrical-dramatic.

Initially, the leading themes for the creation of poems were world-historical or important religious events and themes. An example of such a poem would be Virgil's Aeneid., “The Divine Comedy” by Dante, “Jerusalem Liberated” by T. Tasso, “ Lost heaven"J. Milton, Voltaire's Henriad, etc.

At the same time, it developed romantic poem- “The Knight in Leopard’s Skin” by Shota Rustaveli, “Furious Roland” by L. Ariosto. This type of poem to a certain extent echoes the tradition of medieval chivalric novels.

Over time, moral, philosophical and social themes began to take center stage (“Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” by J. Byron, “The Demon” by M. Yu. Lermontov).

IN XIX-XX centuries the poem begins more and more acquire realistic character (“Frost, Red Nose”, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by N.A. Nekrasov, “Vasily Terkin” by A.T. Tvardovsky).

Epic

An epic is usually understood as a set of works that are combined common era, nationality, theme.

The emergence of each epic is conditioned by certain historical circumstances. As a rule, an epic claims to be an objective and authentic account of events.

Visions

This peculiar narrative genre, When the story is told from a person's point of view ostensibly experiencing a dream, lethargy, or hallucination.

1. Already in the era of antiquity, under the guise of real visions, fictitious events began to be described in the form of visions. The authors of the first visions were Cicero, Plutarch, Plato.
2. In the Middle Ages, the genre began to gain momentum in popularity, reaching its peak with Dante in his " Divine Comedy", which in its form represents a detailed vision.
3. For some time there were visions integral part church literature of most European countries. The editors of such visions were always representatives of the clergy, thus gaining the opportunity to express their personal views supposedly on behalf of higher powers.
4. Over time, new acute social satirical content was put into the form of visions (“Visions of Peter the Plowman” by Langland).

In more modern literature the genre of visions began to be used to introduce elements of fantasy.

Then to:

a) learn mastery in your genre;
b) know exactly which publisher to offer the manuscript to;
c) study your target audience and offer the book not “to everyone”, but specifically to those people who may be interested in it.

What is fiction?

Fiction refers to all works that have a fictional plot and fictional characters: novels, stories, stories and plays.

Memoirs are classified as non-fiction because we're talking about about non-fictional events, but they are written according to the canons of fiction - with a plot, characters, etc.

But poetry, including song lyrics, is fiction, even if the author recalls a past love that actually happened.

Types of Fiction for Adults

Works of fiction are divided into genre literature, mainstream and intellectual prose.

Genre literature

In genre literature, the plot plays the first fiddle, and it fits into certain, pre-known frameworks.

This does not mean that everything genre novels must be predictable. The skill of a writer lies precisely in creating, under given conditions, a unique world, unforgettable characters, and an interesting way to get from point “A” (the beginning) to point “B” (the outcome).

Usually, genre work ends on a positive note, the author does not delve into psychology and other lofty matters and tries to simply entertain readers.

Basic plot schemes in genre literature

Detective: crime - investigation - exposing the criminal.

Love story: heroes meet - fall in love - fight for love - connect hearts.

Thriller: the hero lived his ordinary life- a threat arises - the hero tries to escape - the hero gets rid of the danger.

Adventures: the hero sets a goal for himself and, having overcome many obstacles, achieves what he wants.

When we talk about science fiction, fantasy, historical or modern novel, we are talking not so much about the plot as about the scenery, so when defining the genre, two or three terms are used that allow us to answer the questions: “What happens in the novel?” and “Where is it happening?” If we are talking about children's literature, then a corresponding note is made.

Examples: "modern" love story", "fantastic action movie" (action movie is an adventure), "historical detective story", "children's adventure story", "fairy tale for primary school age".

Genre prose is usually published in series - either original or general.

Mainstream

In the mainstream (from English. mainstream- main stream) readers expect unexpected solutions from the author. For this type of book, the most important thing is moral development heroes, philosophy and ideology. The requirements for a mainstream author are much higher than for writers working with genre prose: he must not only be an excellent storyteller, but also good psychologist and a serious thinker.

Another important sign mainstream - such books are written at the intersection of genres. For example, it is impossible to say unambiguously that “ gone With the Wind" - This only romance novel or only historical drama.

By the way, the drama itself, that is, the story about the tragic experience of the heroes, is also a sign of the mainstream.

As a rule, novels of this type are published outside of series. This is due to the fact that serious works take a long time to write and forming a series out of them is quite problematic. Moreover, mainstream authors are so different from each other that it is difficult to group their books into anything other than “good book.”

When specifying a genre in mainstream novels, the emphasis is usually placed not so much on the plot, but on certain features books: historical drama, novel in letters, fantasy saga, etc.

Origin of the term

The term “mainstream” itself arose thanks to American writer and criticism to William Dean Howells (1837–1920). As the editor of one of the most popular and influential literary magazines of its time, The Atlantic Monthly, he gave a clear preference to works written in a realistic vein and focusing on moral and philosophical issues.

Thanks to Howells realistic literature became fashionable, and for some time it was called the mainstream. The term stuck in English language, and from there moved to Russia.

Intellectual prose

In the vast majority of cases, intellectual prose has a dark mood and is published outside of series.

Main genres of fiction

Approximate classification

When submitting an application to a publishing house, we must indicate the genre so that our manuscript is sent to the appropriate editor.

Below is a rough list of genres as they are understood by publishers and bookstores.

• Avant-garde literature. Characterized by violation of canons and language and plot experiments. As a rule, avant-garde works are published in very small editions. Closely intertwined with intellectual prose.
• Action. Targeted primarily at a male audience. The basis of the plot is fights, chases, saving beauties, etc.
• Detective. Main story line- solving a crime.
• Historical novel. The time of action is the past. The plot is usually tied to significant historical events.
• Love story. Heroes find love.
• Mystic. The plot is based on supernatural events.
• Adventures. The heroes get involved in an adventure and/or go on a risky journey.
• Thriller/horror. The heroes are in mortal danger, from which they are trying to get rid of.
• Fantastic. The plot takes place in a hypothetical future or parallel world. One of the types of fiction is alternative history.
• Fantasy/fairy tales. The main features of the genre are fairy worlds, magic, unseen creatures, talking animals, etc. Often based on folklore.

What is non-fiction?

Non-fiction books are classified by topic (for example, gardening, history, etc.) and type (scientific monograph, collection of articles, photo album, etc.).

Below is a classification of non-fiction books, as it is done in bookstores. When submitting an application to a publisher, indicate the topic and type of book - for example, a textbook on writing.

Classification of non-fiction literature

• autobiographies, biographies and memoirs;
• architecture and art;
• astrology and esoterics;
• business and finance;
• armed forces;
• upbringing and education;
• house, garden, vegetable garden;
• health;
• story;
• career;
• computers;
• local history;
• love and family relationships;
• fashion and beauty;
• music, cinema, radio;
• science and technology;
• food and cooking;
• gift editions;
• politics, economics, law;
• guidebooks and travel books;
• religion;
• self-development and psychology;
• Agriculture;
• dictionaries and encyclopedias;
• sport;
• philosophy;
• hobby;
• school textbooks;
• linguistics and literature.