All types of genres in literature. Dramatic genres of literature

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 Greek philosopher’s “Poetics,” 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, for what is written is a person’s thoughts, a reflection of his desires and aspirations. Reports, petitions, and church texts were written in abundance, and thus the first literary genre- birch bark. With the development of writing, the genre of chronicle arose. Most often, what was written was already worn by some literary features, graceful figures of speech, figurative allegories.

The next genre of literature was epics, epic tales about heroes and other heroes. historical stories. Can be considered separate religious literature, description of biblical events, lives of the highest clergy.

The advent of printing in the 16th century marked the beginning of the rapid development of literature. Throughout the 17th century, styles and genres were formed.

18th century literature

To the question of what genres are, one can answer unequivocally that the literature of that time is conditionally divided into three main directions: drama, narrative 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 increasingly deadly. Alas, the conditions of the literary market dictated its terms even then. The genre of calm storytelling also found its reader. Novels, novellas and short stories were considered the “middle level”, while tragedies, poems and odes belonged to the “high” genre of literature, and satirical works, fables and comedies - to the “low”.

Virshi is a primitive form of poetry that was in use at balls, social events and other events of the highest metropolitan nobility. Poems in the verse genre had signs of syllogistics; the verse was divided into rhythmic segments. Mechanical syllable, deadly for real poetry, for a long time dictated fashion.

Literature19-20 centuries

The literature of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th is distinguished by several genres, most in demand in the golden Pushkin-Gogol age, and then in silver Age Alexander Blok and Sergei Yesenin. Drama, epic and lyricism - these are the genres in the literature of the past and the centuries before last.

The lyrics had to have an emotional connotation, be meaningful and purposeful. Its categories were ode and elegy, and ode - with enthusiastic surprise, glorification 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 cause - or the disharmony of the universe.

What are genres in modern literature?

Genres in modern literature quite a lot, among them we can highlight the most popular ones, in demand by a wide readership:

  • Tragedy is a type of literary genre of drama, characterized by extreme emotional stress, with the obligatory death of heroes.
  • Comedy is another type of drama genre, the opposite of tragedy, with a funny plot and a happy ending.
  • Fairy tale genre - literary direction for children, their creative development. There are many literary masterpieces in the genre.
  • Epic is a literary genre of a historical sense, describes individual events of past times in the style of heroism, is different big amount characters.
  • The novel genre is an extensive narrative, with several storylines, describing in detail the life of each character individually and all together, and is distinguished by a penchant for analyzing current events.
  • The story is a genre of medium form, written according to the same scheme as the novel, but in a more condensed context. In a story, one character is usually singled out as the main one, the rest are described in connection with him.
  • A short story is a genre of short-form storytelling, summary one event. Its plot cannot have a continuation, it represents the quintessence of the author’s thoughts, and always has a completed form.
  • A short story is a genre similar to a short story, the only difference being the sharpness of the plot. The novella has an unexpected, unpredictable ending. This genre lends itself well to thrillers.
  • The genre of the essay is the same story, but in a non-fictional manner of presentation. There are no flowery turns of phrase, pompous phrases or pathos in the essay.
  • Satire as a literary genre is rare; its accusatory orientation does not contribute to popularity, although satirical plays V theatrical production are well received.
  • The detective genre is the most popular literary trend of recent times. Millions of paperback books by popular authors such as Alexandra Marinina, Daria Dontsova, Polina Dashkova and dozens of others have become reference books for many Russian readers.

Conclusion

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

Literary genre- this is a model according to which the text of a literary work is built. A genre is a set of certain characteristics that make it possible to classify literary work to the genre of epic, lyric or drama.

Main types of literary genres

Literary genres are divided into: epic, lyrical and dramatic. Epic genres: fairy tale, epic, epic, novel-epic, story, novel, sketch, story, anecdote. Lyrical genres: ode, ballad, elegy, epigram, message, madrigal. Dramatic genres: tragedy, drama, comedy, melodrama, farce and vaudeville.

Genres in literature have a number of specific characteristics, divided into: genre-forming and additional. Genre-forming features serve to determine the specifics of a particular genre. For example, a genre-forming feature of a fairy tale is an orientation towards fiction. The events occurring in the fairy tale are perceived by the listener as magical, fictitious, and not directly related to reality. The genre-forming feature of a novel is its connection with objective reality, the coverage of events that happened in reality or those that could happen, a large number of acting characters, paying special attention inner world heroes.

Development of literary genres

Literary genres do not tend to stand still. They develop all the time and never stop changing. When forming or changing literary genres, attention is paid to real historical reality, in the aura of which the creation of literary works takes place.

What is a literary genre for?

We have figured out what a genre in literature is, but it would not be amiss to consider why a literary genre is needed - what function does it perform?

The genre is able to give the reader a fairly holistic idea of ​​the work. That is, if the title of a work contains the word “novel,” then the reader immediately begins to tune in to a significant amount of text, in contrast, for example, to a small “story,” which evokes a corresponding association with the approximate number of pages in the book.

Genre can also give the reader an idea of ​​the content of the work. For example, if it is defined as "drama", then we can imagine in advance that the person in the work will be shown in dramatic relationships with society and, most likely, at the end of the book we will observe tragic events.

Together with the article “What is a genre in literature?” read:

The concept of genre. Principles of genre classification

Literary genres (French genre – genus, type) are types of works that have developed in the process of development of artistic literature. Obviously, the problem of the genre itself is general form can be formulated as a problem of classifying works, identifying common – genre – features in them. The main difficulties of classification are related to the historical changes in literature and the evolution of genres.

Quantity and character genre characteristics(the volume of a genre) is a variable quantity in the history of literature, which is reflected in the variety of successive genre theories, as well as the prevailing ideas about Jeans in writing and reading practice. So, for tragedy in realistic drama of the 19th-20th centuries. Many signs of a classic tragedy are not necessary. In the era of realism, any dramatic work, revealing a tragic conflict and expressing corresponding pathos. Thus, we can talk about a decrease in the genre volume of tragedy from classicism to realism.

Most genres arose in ancient times. Evolving into lit. process, they nevertheless retain some stable substantive and formal features that allow us to talk about a genre tradition. The genre designations themselves, often included in the text of the work, in its title (“Eugene Onegin. A Novel in Verse”), are signs of literature. traditions; they evoke a certain genre expectation in the reader.

When studying genres, one should distinguish between their most stable and transient features. Within the framework of the theoretical and literary course, the main attention is paid to the characteristics of the most stable genre characteristics. However, it is important to remember that lit. in the process, genre always appears as an element genre system, the principles of which depend on the specific historical features of artistic thinking. Thus, in ancient literatures, the development of authorial self-awareness was slow, determined by the stability of traditions and the general pace of national life. Therefore, the genre systems of ancient literatures, distinguished by their complexity and ramifications, are characterized by greater stability compared to the literature of modern times.

True liberation from cruel genre regulations became possible only with the development of realism; it was associated with overcoming subjective one-sidedness in creativity itself. And in realistic literature, which correlates the development of characters with circumstances in their historical concreteness, following the tradition of genres could be carried out much more freely, which generally led to a decrease in their volumes. In all European literature of the 19th century. There is a sharp restructuring of the genre system. Genres began to be perceived as aesthetically equivalent types of works that were open to creative exploration. This approach to genres is typical of our time.

Basic principles of genre classification of literary works. Genre features that have the most stable, historically repeatable character are the basis for the literary classification of works. As literary terms, traditional genre designations are mainly used - fable, ballad, poem, etc. - which spontaneously arose in literature and acquired a wide range of associations in the process of genre evolution.

The most important genre feature of a work is its belonging to one or another literary genre: epic, dramatic, lyrical, lyric-epic genres are distinguished. Within genera, there are different types - stable formal, compositional and stylistic structures, which it is advisable to call generic forms. They are differentiated depending on the organization of speech in the work - poetic or prose, and on the volume of the text. In addition, the basis for highlighting generic forms in the epic can be the principles of plot composition, in poetic lyrics - solid strophic forms (sonnet, rondo, triolet), in drama - some or other relation to the theater (drama for reading, for puppet theater) and so on.

Epic genres. Due to the breadth and versatility of the depiction of characters in epic works, in comparison with drama and lyric poetry, their genre issues are especially clear and vivid. It reveals itself in a variety of generic forms. Thus, a song, a fairy tale, and a story can be national-historical in their problems.

In classification generic forms Differences in the volume of texts of works are important. Along with the small (story) and medium (story) prose forms, there is a large epic form, which is often called novels. The volume of the text of a work in an epic is determined by the completeness of the recreation of characters and relationships, and hence by the scale of the plot. Unlike a story, a story is not characterized by a developed system of characters, there is no complex evolution of characters and detailed individualization.

Heroic folk song.

Novels, short stories (short stories, essays)

Satirical, everyday tales, fables

Dramatic genres. With their characteristic short performance time on stage and the resulting unity and concentration of the conflict, they create fertile ground for the expression of certain types of pathos in the actions and experiences of the characters. Therefore, the division of drama into genres is associated with the pathos of the play. But pathos comes from conflict.

An additional substantive criterion for division in drama is the peculiarities of genre issues.

1) Tragedy - a conflict between personal aspirations and super-personal “laws” of life occurs in the mind of the main character (heroes) and the entire plot of the play is created to develop and resolve this conflict. The hero of the tragedy is in a state of conflict not only with other characters, he struggles primarily with himself. The tragedy ends with the death of the usual hero, although, as Belinsky wrote, “The essence of the tragic is not in the bloody ending.”

A) moral descriptive - in the tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles, the characters act as bearers of certain moral and civil norms, reflect the clashes of old and new, more humane, moral norms.

B) national-historical (“Persians” by Aeschylus, “Boris Godunov” by Pushkin)

2) Drama is the most diverse in subject matter, characterized by a wide range of life conflicts depicted. The pathos of drama is generated by the clashes of characters with forces of life that oppose them from the outside. However, conflict in drama can also be very serious and acute and can lead to suffering and sometimes even death of the hero.

A) national-historical conflict (“Voevoda” by Ostrovsky, “Enemies” by Gorky)

B) socially everyday (romantic) (“The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare, “Vassa Zheleznova” by Gorky).

3) Comedy - a play filled with humorous or satirical pathos. Such pathos is generated by the comic contradictions of the characters being recreated. The comedy of the characters is revealed through plot conflicts, often based on chance. At the same time, the characters themselves do not change due to the course of events. There is no character development in comedy. The depiction of the internal inconsistency, absurdity, inferiority of comic characters, their satirical or humorous negation - this is the main ideological orientation of comedy.

Lyrical genres. The originality of the lyrics is that it brings to the fore the inner world lyrical hero, his experiences. This is clearly visible not only in works that lack any visual images outside world, but also in descriptive, narrative lyrics, here the experience is conveyed through the emotional expression of speech, the nature of tropes, etc. Therefore, the basis for the meaningful genre division in the lyrics is the very nature of the experience. But experience in lyrics can be subjects of typology in a different way. As in epic and drama, in lyric poetry one can trace differences in genre issues - national-historical, moral-descriptive, romantic, which are manifested here through the typification of the very experience of the lyrical hero.

The genres of literary lyrics were formed on the basis of folk lyrical song, in its various varieties.

1) Ode is a poem expressing the enthusiastic feelings that some significant object arouses in the poet. In the ode, the poet connects primarily with collective feelings - patriotic, civil. Genre issues in an ode can be national-historical or morally descriptive.

2) Satire is a poem expressing indignation, the poet’s indignation at the negative aspects of society. Satire is morally descriptive in terms of genre issues; the poet in it is like the mouthpiece of the advanced part of society, concerned about its negative state.

3) Elegy is a poem filled with sadness and dissatisfaction with life. Sadness can be caused by some reason (“Sorrowful Elegies” by Ovid). But an elegy is possible in which the recreated experience does not have a specific motivation (“I experienced my desires...” by Pushkin).

4) Epigram, epitaph, madrigal - small forms of lyric poetry. In the history of literature, the broad (ancient Greek) and narrow (later) meanings of the epigram are known. The ancient Greek epigram (literally “inscription”) originates from inscriptions on religious objects. A type of epigram was an epitaph - an inscription on a tombstone. The content and emotional tone of the ancient Greek epigrams were different. The originality of thought and the laconicism of its expression are what have always been valued in the epigram. The second, narrow meaning of the epigram, which has been attached to it since the 1st century AD, is a short humorous or satirical poem, most often ridiculing a certain person. The antipode of an epigram (in the higher meaning of the word) is a madrigal - a short, half-joking poem of a complimentary nature (usually addressed to a lady).

Lyric-epic genres. The combination of lyrical meditation and epic narrative is often found in works of different genres (for example, in a romantic poem). But there are genres whose nature is always lyrical and epic.

1) Fable is a morally descriptive genre that contains a short allegorical narrative and a lesson (“moral”) arising from it. Even if the teaching is not “Formulated” in the text of the fable, it is implied; The relationship between the teaching and the plot of the fable constitutes its lyrical-epic basis.

2) A ballad is a small poetic work of plot in which the narrative itself is permeated with lyricism. Unlike a fable, where it is possible to distinguish lyrical (“moral”) and epic (plot) parts, a ballad represents an indissoluble fusion of lyrical and epic principles. Genre issues in a ballad can be national-historical and romantic.

One of the founders of Russian literary criticism was V.G. Belinsky. And although serious steps were taken in developing the concept back in antiquity literary kind(Aristotle), it was Belinsky who owned the scientifically based theory of three literary families, which you can get acquainted with in detail by reading Belinsky’s article “The Division of Poetry into Genus and Species.”

There are three types fiction: epic(from Greek Epos, narrative), lyrical(it was called a lyre musical instrument, accompanied by chanting poems) and dramatic(from Greek Drama, action).

When presenting this or that subject to the reader (meaning the subject of conversation), the author chooses different approaches to it:

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

Second approach: you can tell not so much about events, but about the impressed, which they produced on the author, about those feelings which they called; image inner world, experiences, impressions and will relate to the lyrical genre of literature; exactly experience becomes the main event of the lyrics;

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

Look at the table and try to remember its contents:

Types of fiction

EPOS DRAMA LYRICS
(Greek - narrative)

story about events, the fate of the heroes, their actions and adventures, a depiction of the external side of what is happening (even feelings are shown from their external manifestation). The author can directly express his attitude to what is happening.

(Greek - action)

image events and relationships between characters on the stage(a special way of writing text). The direct expression of the author's point of view in the text is contained in the stage directions.

(from the name of the musical instrument)

experience events; depiction of feelings, inner world, emotional state; the feeling becomes the main event.

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

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

Examples of genus-species relationships in the literature:

  • Genus: dramatic; view: comedy; genre: sitcom.
  • Genus: epic; view: story; genre: fantastic story etc.

Genres being categories historical, appear, develop and eventually “leave” from “ active stock"artists depending on historical era: ancient lyricists did not know the sonnet; in our time, an archaic genre has become one that was born in ancient times and popular in XVII-XVIII centuries Oh yeah; romanticism XIX centuries brought to life detective literature etc.

Consider the following table, which presents the types and genres related to the various types of word art:

Genera, types and genres of artistic literature

EPOS DRAMA LYRICS
People's Author's Folk Author's Folk Author's
Myth
Poem (epic):

Heroic
Strogovoinskaya
Fabulous-
legendary
Historical...
Fairy tale
Bylina
Thought
Legend
Tradition
Ballad
Parable
Small genres:

proverbs
sayings
puzzles
nursery rhymes...
EpicNovel:
Historical
Fantastic.
Adventurous
Psychological
R.-parable
Utopian
Social...
Small genres:
Tale
Story
Novella
Fable
Parable
Ballad
Lit. fairy tale...
A game
Ritual
Folk drama
Raek
Nativity scene
...
Tragedy
Comedy:

provisions,
characters,
masks...
Drama:
philosophical
social
historical
social-philosophical
Vaudeville
Farce
Tragifarce
...
Song Oh yeah
Hymn
Elegy
Sonnet
Message
Madrigal
Romance
Rondo
Epigram
...

Modern literary criticism also highlights fourth, a related genre of literature that combines the features of the epic and lyrical genres: lyric-epic, which refers to poem. And 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 lyricism.

In the table you came across the expression “small genres”. Epic and lyrical works are divided into large and small genres to a greater extent in volume. Large ones include an epic, novel, poem, and small ones include a story, short story, fable, song, sonnet, etc.

Read V. Belinsky’s statement about the genre of the story:

If a story, according to Belinsky, is “a leaf from the book of life,” then, using his metaphor, one can figuratively define a novel from a genre point of view as “a chapter from the book of life,” and a story as “a line from the book of life.”

Minor epic genres to which the story relates is "intense" in terms of content prose: the writer, due to the small volume, does not have the opportunity to “spread his thoughts along the tree”, to get carried away detailed descriptions, enumerations, reproduce a large number of events in detail, but the reader often needs to tell a lot.

The story is characterized by the following features:

  • small volume;
  • The plot is most often based on one event, the rest are only plotted by the author;
  • a small number of characters: usually one or two central characters;
  • the author is interested in a specific topic;
  • one is decided main question, the remaining questions are “derived” from the main one.

So,
STORY- it's small prose work with one or two main characters, dedicated to depicting a single event. Somewhat more voluminous story, but the difference between a story and a story is not always possible to catch: some people call A. Chekhov’s work “The Duel” a short story, and some call it a big story. The following is important: as the critic E. Anichkov wrote at the beginning of the twentieth century, " it is the person’s personality that is at the center of the stories, not a whole group of people."

The rise of Russian short prose begins in the 20s of the 19th century, which gave excellent examples of short epic prose, including the undisputed masterpieces of Pushkin (“Belkin’s Tales”, “ Queen of Spades") and Gogol ("Evenings on a farm near Dikanka", St. Petersburg stories), romantic short stories by A. Pogorelsky, A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, V. Odoevsky and others. In the second half of the 19th century, short epic works by F. Dostoevsky were created ("Dream funny man", "Notes from the Underground"), N. Leskova ("Lefty", " Toupee artist", "Lady Macbeth Mtsensk district"), I. Turgenev ("Hamlet of Shchigrovsky District", "King of the Steppes Lear", "Ghosts", "Notes of a Hunter"), L. Tolstoy (" Prisoner of the Caucasus", "Hadji Murat", "Cossacks", Sevastopol stories), A. Chekhov as the greatest master short story, works by V. Garshin, D. Grigorovich, G. Uspensky and many others.

The twentieth century also did not remain in debt - and stories by I. Bunin, A. Kuprin, M. Zoshchenko, Teffi, A. Averchenko, M. Bulgakov appear... Even such recognized lyricists as A. Blok, N. Gumilyov, M. Tsvetaeva “they stooped to despicable prose,” in the words of Pushkin. It can be argued that at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the small epic genre took over leading position in Russian literature.

And for this reason alone, one should not think that the story raises some minor problems and touches on shallow topics. Form story concise, and the plot is sometimes uncomplicated and concerns, at first glance, simple, as L. Tolstoy said, “natural” relationships: the complex chain of events in the story simply has nowhere to unfold. But this is precisely the task of the writer, to enclose a serious and often inexhaustible subject of conversation in a small space of text.

If the plot of the miniature I. Bunin "Muravsky Way", consisting of only 64 words, captures only a few moments of the conversation between the traveler and the coachman in the middle of the endless steppe, then the plot of the story A. Chekhov "Ionych" enough for a whole novel: artistic time The story spans almost a decade and a half. But it doesn’t matter to the author what happened to the hero at each stage of this time: it is enough for him to “snatch” several “links”-episodes from the hero’s life chain, similar friends on each other like drops of water, and the whole life of Doctor Startsev becomes extremely clear to both the author and the reader. “As you live one day of your life, you will live your whole life,” Chekhov seems to be saying. At the same time, the writer, reproducing the situation in the house of the most “cultured” family provincial town S., can focus all his attention on the clatter of knives from the kitchen and the smell of fried onions ( artistic details! ), but to talk about several years of a person’s life as if they never happened at all, or as if it were a “passing”, uninteresting time: “Four years have passed”, “Several more years have passed”, as if it is not worth wasting time and paper for the image of such a trifle...

Image Everyday life a person devoid of external storms and shocks, but in a routine that forces a person to forever wait for happiness that never comes, became the cross-cutting theme of A. Chekhov’s stories, which determined the further development of Russian short prose.

Historical upheavals, of course, dictate other themes and subjects to the artist. M. Sholokhov in the cycle of Don stories he talks about terrible and beautiful human destinies in a time of revolutionary upheaval. But the point here is not so much in the revolution itself, but in eternal problem a person's struggle with himself, eternal tragedy the collapse of the old familiar world, which humanity has experienced many times. And therefore Sholokhov turns to plots that have long been rooted in world literature, depicting private human life as if in the context of the world legendary history. Yes, in the story "Mole" Sholokhov uses a plot as ancient as the world about a duel between father and son, not recognized by each other, which we meet in Russian epics and epics. ancient Persia and medieval Germany... But if ancient epic explains the tragedy of a father who killed his son in battle by the laws of fate, which is not subject to man’s control, then Sholokhov talks about the problem of a person’s choice of his life path, a choice that determines all subsequent events and ultimately makes one a beast in human form and the other an equal greatest heroes of the past.


When studying topic 5 you should read those works of art, which can be considered within the framework of this topic, namely:
  • A. Pushkin. The stories "Dubrovsky", "Blizzard"
  • N. Gogol. The stories "The Night Before Christmas", "Taras Bulba", "The Overcoat", "Nevsky Prospekt".
  • I.S. Turgenev. Tale " Noble Nest"; "Notes of a Hunter" (2-3 stories of your choice); story "Asya"
  • N.S. Leskov. Stories "Lefty", "Stupid Artist"
  • L.N. Tolstoy. Stories "After the Ball", "The Death of Ivan Ilyich"
  • M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Fairy tales " The wise minnow", "Bogatyr", "Bear in the Voivodeship"
  • A.P. Chekhov. Stories “Jumping”, “Ionych”, “Gooseberry”, “About Love”, “Lady with a Dog”, “Ward Number Six”, “In the Ravine”; other stories of your choice
  • I.A.Bunin. Stories and stories "Mr. from San Francisco", "Sukhodol", " Easy breathing", "Antonov apples", "Dark alleys"A.I. Kuprin. The story "Olesya", the story "Garnet Bracelet"
  • M. Gorky. Stories “Old Woman Izergil”, “Makar Chudra”, “Chelkash”; collection "Untimely Thoughts"
  • A.N. Tolstoy. The story "Viper"
  • M. Sholokhov. Stories "Mole", "Alien Blood", "The Fate of Man";
  • M. Zoshchenko. Stories "Aristocrat", " Monkey tongue", "Love" and others of your choice
  • A.I. Solzhenitsyn. The story "Matrenin's yard"
  • V. Shukshin. Stories “I Believe!”, “Boots”, “Space” nervous system and a lot of fat", "Pardon me, madam!", "Stalled"

Before completing task 6, refer to the dictionary and establish exact value concept with which you have to work.


Recommended literature for work 4:

Historically, three types of literature have developed in literature: epic, dramatic and lyrical. These are groups of genres that have similar structural features. If the epic in the story establishes 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 arbitrary and to a certain extent artificial, but, nevertheless, our acquaintance with the book begins with the fact that we see the genre, gender or combination thereof on the cover and draw the first conclusions. For example, a person only likes to watch plays in the theater, which means that he does not need a volume of Moliere and will pass by it without wasting time. Knowledge of the basic principles of literary criticism also helps while reading, when you want to understand the author, to penetrate into his creative laboratory, to unravel why his plan was realized this way and not otherwise.

Each genre has an example and theoretical justification, the most concise and simple.

The novel is large shape epic genre, a work with expanded themes and many themes. 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.

By thematic basis novels are divided into autobiographical (Chudakov's "Darkness Falls on the Old Steps"), philosophical (Dostoevsky's "Demons"), adventure (Dafoe's "Robinson Crusoe"), fantastic (Glukhovsky's "Metro 2033"), satirical (Rotterdam's "In Praise of Stupidity"), historical (Pikul “I have the honor”), adventurous (Merezhko “Sonka Golden Pen) etc.

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

An epic novel is a novel with a panoramic depiction of the life of the people at turning points in history (Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”).

The story is average (between a short story and a novel) in size epic work, which sets out a narrative about a particular event in a natural sequence (Kuprin “The Pit”). How is a story different from a novel? At least in 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 pose problems of a global historical nature. In the story the author is more constrained, all his inventions are subordinated to the main action, but in the novel the writer is carried away by memories, digressions and analysis of the characters.

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 novella different from a short story? The boundaries between these two genres are very arbitrary, but in the short story the ending most often develops unpredictably (O'Henry's "The Gift of the Magi").

Essay is small epic prose form (many classify it as a type of story). The essay usually concerns social problems and tends to be descriptive.

The parable is moral teaching in allegorical form. How is a parable different from a fable? A parable draws its material primarily from life, while a fable relies on fictional, sometimes fantastic stories(gospel parables).

Lyrical 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 a small lyrical form, a poem that is imbued with a mood of sadness and melancholy. Sad thoughts, sorrow, sad reflections make up the repertoire of elegies (Pushkin’s elegy “On the rocks, on the hills”).

The message is poetic letter. According to the content of the messages, they can be divided into friendly, satirical, lyrical, etc. They can be dedicated to either one person or a group of people (Voltaire’s “Message to Frederick”).

Epigram is a poem that makes fun of a specific person (from friendly ridicule to sarcasm) (Gaft “Epigram on Oleg Dahl”). Features: wit and brevity.

Ode is a poem distinguished by its solemn tone and sublime content (Lomonosov “Ode on the day of Elizabeth Petrovna’s accession to the throne, 1747”).

A sonnet is a poem of 14 verses (“Twenty Sonnets to Sasha Zapoeva” by Timur Kibirov). The sonnet is one of strict forms. A sonnet usually consists of 14 lines, forming 2 quatrains (with 2 rhymes) and 2 tercets (with 2 or 3 rhymes).

The poem is the average lyric-epic form, in which there is a detailed plot and several experiences are embodied, that is, attention to the inner world of the lyrical hero (Lermontov’s “Mtsyri”).

Ballad is average lyric-epic form, story in verse. Often a ballad has a tense storyline(Zhukovsky “Lyudmila”).

Dramatic genres are...

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

Tragedy is a type of drama based on an acute life conflict that entails the suffering and death of the heroes (Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”).

Drama is a play with an acute conflict that is ordinary, not so sublime and resolvable (for example, Gorky “At the Depths”). How does it differ from tragedy or comedy? Firstly, the material used is modern, not from antiquity, and secondly, it appears in the drama new hero rebelling against circumstances.

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

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