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

What is different about each type of literature?

Epic as a type of literature

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

Drama as a genre of literature

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

Related to this features of dramatic works :

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

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

Lyrics as a type of literature

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

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

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

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

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

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

Literature of literary works - see table 1).

Table 1.

Genres of literary works

Epic genres of literature

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tale- a medium literary genre, widely represented in world literature. The story depicts several important episodes from the life of the hero, as a rule, there is one storyline and a small number of characters. The stories are characterized by great psychological intensity, the author focuses on the experiences and changes in mood of the characters. Very often the main theme of the story is the love of the protagonist, for example, “White Nights” by F. Dostoevsky, “Asya” by I. Turgenev, “Mitya’s Love” by I. Bunin. Stories can also be combined into cycles, especially those written on autobiographical material: “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth” by L. Tolstoy, “Childhood”, “In People”, “My Universities” by A. Gorky. The intonations and themes of the stories are extremely diverse: tragic, addressed to acute social and moral issues(“Everything Flows” by V. Grossman, “The House on the Embankment” by Y. Trifonov), romantic, heroic (“Taras Bulba” by N. Gogol), philosophical, parable (“The Pit” by A. Platonov), mischievous, comic (“Three in a boat, except for a dog" by the English writer Jerome K. Jerome).

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

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

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

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

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

Famous Novels Russian writers of the 19th century .:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dramatic genres of literature

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lyrical genres of literature

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

Elegy(elegos Greek lamentable song) - poem middle length, as a rule, of moral, philosophical, love, confessional content.

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

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

A. Pushkin

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

Crazy years of faded fun

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

But like wine - sadness days gone by

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

My path is sad. Promises me work and grief

The coming troubled sea.

But I don’t want, O friends, to die;

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

And I know I will have pleasure

Between sorrows, worries and worries:

Sometimes I’ll get drunk again with harmony,

I will shed tears over the fiction,

And maybe - at my sad sunset

Love will flash with a farewell smile.

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

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

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

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

Popu, my lord, half-merchant,

Half-sage, half-ignorant,

Semi-scoundrel, but there is hope

Which will be complete at last.

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

Could Biche, like Dante, create?

Did Laura go to praise the heat of love?

I taught women to speak...

But, God, how to silence them!

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

Caligula brought his horse to the Senate,

It stands, dressed in both velvet and gold.

But I will say, we have the same arbitrariness:

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

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

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

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, short stories, stories and plays.

Memoirs are classified as non-fiction because they are about non-fictional events, but they are written according to the canons fiction- with 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, while it fits into certain, pre-known frameworks.

This doesn't mean that all genre novels have to be predictable. The skill of a writer lies precisely in creating, under given conditions, a unique world, unforgettable characters and interesting way 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 contemporary romance, we are talking not so much about the plot as about the setting, 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 the moral development of the characters, philosophy and ideology. The requirements for a mainstream author are much higher than for writers working with genre prose: he must be not only an excellent storyteller, but also a good psychologist and a serious thinker.

Another important sign of the mainstream is that such books are written at the intersection of genres. For example, it is impossible to say unequivocally that Gone with the Wind is 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 distinctive features of the book: historical drama, novel in letters, fantastic saga etc.

Origin of the term

The term “mainstream” itself arose thanks to American writer and criticism to William Dean Howells (1837–1920). As editor of one of the most popular and influential literary magazines of his 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. The main storyline is 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-tale worlds, magic, unprecedented creatures, talking animals, etc. It is 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.

Each literary genre is divided into genres, which are characterized by common features for a group of works. There are epic, lyrical, lyric epic, and drama genres.

Epic genres

Genre is a type of meaningful form that determines the integrity of a literary work, which is determined by the unity of theme, composition and style; a historically established group of literary works, united by a set of characteristics of content and form.

Genre in literature

IN artistic structure the genre category is a modification of the literary type; a species, in turn, is a type of literary genus. There is another approach to the generic connection: – genre – genre variety, modification or form; in some cases it is proposed to distinguish only gender and genre.
The belonging of genres to traditional literary genres (epic, lyric, drama, lyric-epic) determines their content and thematic focus.

Genre in ancient literature

In ancient literature, the genre was an ideal artistic norm. Ancient ideas about genre norms were focused primarily on poetic forms; prose was not taken into account, as it was considered trivial reading. Poets often followed the artistic models of their predecessors, trying to surpass the pioneers of the genre. Ancient Roman literature relied on the poetic experience of ancient Greek authors. Virgil (1st century BC) continued the epic tradition of Homer (8th century BC), since the Aeneid is focused on the Odyssey and the Iliad. Horace (1st century BC) owns odes written in the manner of the ancient Greek poets Arion (VII–VI centuries BC) and Pindar (VI–V centuries BC). Seneca (1st century BC) developed dramatic art, reviving the work of Aeschylus (6th–5th centuries BC) and Euripides (5th century BC).

The origins of the systematization of genres go back to the treatises of Aristotle “Poetics” and Horace “The Science of Poetry”, in which a genre denoted a set of artistic norms, their natural and fixed system, and the author’s goal was considered to correspond to the properties of the chosen genre. The understanding of genre as a constructed model of a work led to the subsequent emergence of a number of normative poetics, including dogmas and laws of poetry.

Renewal of the European genre system in the 11th–17th centuries

The European genre system began its renewal in the Middle Ages. In the 11th century new ones have arisen lyrical genres troubadour poets (serenades, albums), later the genre of the medieval novel arose (chivalrous novels about King Arthur, Lancelot, Tristan and Isolde). In the XIV century. Italian poets had a significant influence on the development of new genres: Dante Alighieri wrote the poem “ The Divine Comedy"(1307–1321), connecting narrative and the genre of vision, Francesco Petrarch approved the genre of the sonnet (“Book of Songs,” 1327–1374), Giovanni Boccaccio canonized the genre of the short story (“Decameron,” 1350–1353). At the turn of the 16th–17th centuries. genre varieties of drama expanded English poet and playwright W. Shakespeare, whose famous plays - “Hamlet” (1600–1601), “King Lear” (1608), “Macbeth” (1603–1606) - contain signs of tragedy and comedy and belong to tragicomedies.

Code and hierarchy of genres in classicism

The most complete, systematic and significant set of genre norms was formed in the 17th century. with the advent of the treatise poem by the French poet Nicolas Boileau-Depreo " Poetic art"(1674). The essay defines the genre system of classicism, regulated by reason, a generally understandable style, with the division of literary genres into epic, dramatic, and lyrical genres. The structure of the canonical genres of classicism goes back to ancient forms and images.

The literature of classicism was characterized by a strict hierarchy of genres, dividing them into high (ode, epic, tragedy) and low (fable, satire, comedy). Mixing genre characteristics was not allowed.

Genres of literary aesthetics of romanticism

Literature of the Romantic era in the 18th century. did not obey the canons of classicism, as a result of which the traditional genre system lost its advantage. In the context of a change in literary trends, deviations from the rules of normative poetics, a rethinking of classical genres occurs, as a result of which some of them ceased to exist, while others, on the contrary, became entrenched.

At the turn of the 18th–19th centuries. at the center of the literary aesthetics of romanticism were lyrical genres - ode (“Ode to the Capture of Khotin” by M. Lomonosov, 1742; “Felitsa” by G. R. Derzhavin, 1782, “Ode to Joy” by F. Schiller, 1785 .), romantic poem (“Gypsies” by A. S. Pushkin, 1824), ballad (“Lyudmila” (1808), “Svetlana” (1813) by V. A. Zhukovsky), elegy (“Rural cemetery" by V. A. Zhukovsky, 1808); Comedy prevailed in the drama (“Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboedov, 1825).

Reached the heyday prose genres: epic novel, story, short story. The most common type epic literature XIX century was considered a novel, which was called the “eternal genre.” Significant impact on European epic influenced by the novels of Russian writers L. N. Tolstoy (“War and Peace,” 1865–1869; “Anna Karenina,” 1875–1877; “Resurrection,” 1899) and F. M. Dostoevsky (“Crime” and punishment", 1866; "The Idiot", 1868; "Demons", 1871–1872; "The Brothers Karamazov", 1879–1880).

Formation of genres in literature of the twentieth century

Formation mass literature in the twentieth century, its need for stable thematic, compositional and stylistic prescriptions led to the formation of a new system of genres, based primarily on the “absolute center of the genre system of literature” according to the Russian scientist M. M. Bakhtin - the novel.
Within the framework of popular literature, new genres have emerged: romance novel, sentimental novel, crime novel (action, thriller), dystopian novel, anti-novel, Science fiction, fantasy, etc.

Modern literary genres are not part of a predetermined structure; they arise as a result of the embodiment of author's ideas in verbal and artistic works.

The origins of the appearance of genre varieties

The emergence of genre varieties can be associated with both literary direction, movement, school - a romantic poem, a classicist ode, a symbolist drama, etc., and with the names of individual authors who introduced genre-stylistic forms of the artistic whole into literary circulation (Pindaric ode, Byron's poem, Balzac's novel, etc. .), forming traditions, and this means the possibility different types their assimilation (imitation, stylization, etc.).

The word genre comes from French genre, which means genus, species.

Literature is an amoebic concept (just like types of literature): throughout the centuries-long development of human civilization, it inevitably changed both in form and content. You can confidently talk about the evolution of this type of art on a global scale or be strictly limited certain periods time or a specific region (ancient literature, the Middle Ages, Russian literature of the 19th century and others), nevertheless, it must be perceived as a true art of words and an integral part of the global cultural process.

The art of words

Traditionally, when an individual talks about literature, he means fiction. This concept (the synonym “the art of words” is often used) arose on the fertile soil of oral folk art. However, unlike it, literature at this time exists not orally, but in writing(from Latin lit(t)eratura - literally “written”, from lit(t)era - literally “letter”). Fiction uses words and structures of written (natural human) language as unit material. Literature and other forms of art are similar to each other. But its specificity is determined in comparison with types of art that use other material instead of linguistic-verbal (fine art, music) or together with it (songs, theater, cinema), on the other hand - with other types of verbal text: scientific, philosophical, journalistic, etc. In addition, fiction unites any author’s (including anonymous) works, in contrast to works of folklore that clearly do not have a specific author.

Three main genera

Types and kinds of literature are significant associations according to the category of the relationship of the “speaker” (speaker) to the artistic whole. Officially, there are three main genera:

Types and genres of literature

In the most common classification, all types of fiction are distributed within the framework They can be epic, which includes story, novel and short story; lyrical poems include; ballads and poems are lyroepic; dramaturgical ones can be divided into drama, tragedy and comedy. Literary types can be distinguished from each other by the number of characters and plot lines, volume, functions and content. In different periods of literary history, one type can be represented in different genres. For example: philosophical and psychological novels, detective novels, social and picaresque. Aristotle began to theoretically divide works into types of literature in his treatise called “Poetics”. His work was continued in modern times by the French poet-critic Boileau and Lessing.

Typification of literature

Editorial and publishing preparation, i.e., the selection of written works for subsequent publications, is usually carried out by the publishing editor. But it is quite difficult for an ordinary user to accurately navigate the vast sea. It is more advisable to use a systematic approach, namely, you need to clearly distinguish between types of literature and their purpose.

• A novel is an impressive form of work that has great amount heroes with a fairly developed and closely connected system of relationships between them. A novel can be historical, family, philosophical, adventure and social.
• An epic is a series of works, less often a single one, invariably covering a significant historical era or a significant large-scale event.

• A short story is the primary genre of narrative prose, much shorter than a novel or story. The set of stories is usually called a short story, and the writer is called a short story writer.

Not the least significant

• Comedy is a creation that makes fun of individual or social shortcomings, focusing on particularly awkward and ridiculous situations.

• Song is the oldest type of poetry, without which the category “types of fiction” would not be complete. The work is in poetic form with many verses and choruses. There are: folk, lyrical, heroic and historical.

• A fable is a prosaic, but more often poetic, work of a moralistic, moralizing and satirical nature.

• Story - literary work of a certain, often small, size, which tells about a separate event in the life of a character.

• Myth - narration is also included in the section “types of literature” and brings to future generations the idea of ​​ancestors about the universe, heroes and gods.

• A lyric poem is an expression of the author’s emotional experiences in a poetic form convenient for him.

• An essay is a narrative, a subtype of epic, which reliably tells about real events and facts.

• A story is a work similar in structure to a short story, but differs in volume. A story can tell about several events in the life of the main characters at once.

• Melodrama - deservedly continues the list of the category “types of literature”; it is a narrative dramatic work, distinguished by a categorical division of heroes into positive and negative.

Literature and modernity

Every day life itself more and more persistently convinces one and all that the level of consistency and unity of book publications, newspaper and magazine materials is one of the main criteria for the effectiveness of society's education. Naturally, the initial stage of acquaintance with literature (not counting children's literature) starts at school. Therefore, any literature literature for teachers contains a variety of literature that helps convey the necessary knowledge in a form that is understandable to the child.

Individual choice

It is difficult to overestimate the role of literature in the life of a modern person, because books have educated more than one generation. It was they who helped people understand both the world around them and themselves, encouraged the desire for truth, moral principles and knowledge, and taught them to respect the past. Unfortunately, literature and other forms of art in modern society often underestimated. Eat specific category individuals who declare that literature has already become obsolete, it has been completely replaced by television and cinema. But whether to take advantage of the opportunity that books provide or not is an individual choice for everyone.