What refers to the epic type of literature. What is an epic

Epic, unlike lyricism and drama, is impartial and objective at the moment of narration.

Epic genres

• Large ones - epic, novel, epic poem (poem-epic);
• Middle - story,
• Small - story, short story, essay.

Also included in the epic are folklore genres: fairy tale, epic, historical song.

Meaning

An epic work has no limitations in its scope. According to V. E. Khalizev, “Epic as a type of literature includes both short stories(...), as well as works designed for prolonged listening or reading: epics, novels (...).”

Significant role for epic genres carries the image of a narrator (storyteller), who talks about the events themselves, about the characters, but at the same time delimits himself from what is happening. The epic, in turn, reproduces and captures not only what is being told, but also the narrator (his manner of speaking, his mentality).

An epic work can use almost any artistic medium known in literature. Narrative form epic work“promotes deep penetration into inner world person."

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Literature

• Veselovsky A. N., Shishmarev V. F.,.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Khalizev V. E. Theory of literature. - M., 2009. - P. 302-303.
• Belokurova S. P. .

An excerpt characterizing Epic (a type of literature)

There is no word that would be so sweeping, smart, would burst out from under the very heart, would seethe and vibrate so much, as aptly said Russian word. Gogol Nikolay Vasilievich

Epic (epic type of literature)

In the epic genre of literature (other - gr. epos - word, speech), the organizing principle of the work is the narrative about the characters (actors), their destinies, actions, mentalities, and the events in their lives that make up the plot. This is a chain of verbal messages or, more simply, a story about what happened earlier.

Narration is characterized by a temporary distance between the conduct of speech and the subject of verbal designations. It (remember Aristotle: the poet talks “about an event as something separate from himself”) is conducted from the outside and, as a rule, has the grammatical form of the past tense. The narrator (telling) is characterized by the position of a person remembering what happened earlier. The distance between the time of the depicted action and the time of the narration about it is perhaps the most significant feature of the epic form.

The word "narrative" is used in different ways when applied to literature. In a narrow sense, this is a detailed designation in words of something that happened once and had a temporary duration. In a broader sense, narration also includes descriptions, i.e., the recreation through words of something stable, stable or completely motionless (these are most of the landscapes, characteristics of the everyday environment, the appearance of characters, their mental states).

Descriptions are also verbal images of something that repeats itself periodically. “It used to be that he was still in bed: / They carried notes to him,” it is said, for example, about Onegin in the first chapter of Pushkin’s novel. In the same way, the narrative fabric includes the author’s reasoning, which plays a significant role in L.N. Tolstoy, A. France, T. Mann.

In epic works, the narrative connects to itself and, as it were, envelops the statements of the characters - their dialogues and monologues, including internal ones, actively interacting with them, explaining, supplementing and correcting them. AND artistic text turns out to be a fusion of narrative speech and statements of characters.

Works of the epic kind make full use of the arsenal of artistic means available to literature, and easily and freely master reality in time and space. At the same time, they do not know the limitations in the volume of text. Epic as a type of literature includes both short stories (medieval and Renaissance short stories; the humor of O'Henry and the early A.P. Chekhov), and works designed for long listening or reading: epics and novels, covering life with extraordinary breadth. Such are the Indian "Mahabharata", the ancient Greek "Iliad" and "Odyssey" by Homer, "War and Peace" by L. N. Tolstoy, "The Forsyte Saga" by J. Galsworthy, " gone With the Wind" M. Mitchell.

An epic work can “absorb” such a number of characters, circumstances, events, destinies, and details that are inaccessible to either other types of literature or any other type of art. At the same time, the narrative form contributes to the deepest penetration into the inner world of a person. She is quite accessible to complex characters, possessing many traits and properties, incomplete and contradictory, in motion, formation, development.

These possibilities of the epic type of literature are not used in all works. But the word “epic” is firmly associated with the idea of ​​the artistic reproduction of life in its integrity, of revealing the essence of an era, of the scale and monumentality of the creative act. There are no groups of works of art (neither in the sphere of verbal art nor beyond) that would so freely penetrate simultaneously into the depths of human consciousness and into the breadth of people’s existence, as stories, novels, and epics do.

In epic works, the presence of a narrator is deeply significant. This is a very specific form of artistic reproduction of a person. The narrator is an intermediary between the person depicted and the reader, often acting as a witness and interpreter of the persons and events shown.

The text of an epic work usually does not contain information about the fate of the narrator, about his relationship with actors, about) when, where and under what circumstances he conducts his story, about his thoughts and feelings. The spirit of storytelling, according to T. Mann, is often “weightless, ethereal and omnipresent”; and “for him there is no division between “here” and “there.” And at the same time, the narrator’s speech has not only figurativeness, but also expressive significance; it characterizes not only the object of the statement, but also the speaker himself.

Any epic work captures the manner of perceiving reality inherent in the one who narrates, his characteristic vision of the world and way of thinking. In this sense, it is legitimate to talk about the image of the narrator. This concept has firmly entered into the use of literary criticism thanks to B. M. Eikhenbaum, V. V. Vinogradov, M. M. Bakhtin (works of the 1920s). Summarizing the judgments of these scientists, G. A. Gukovsky wrote in the 1940s: “Every image in art forms an idea not only of what is depicted, but also of the depicter, the bearer of the presentation... The narrator is not only a more or less specific image” ... but also a certain figurative idea, principle and appearance of the speaker, or in other words - certainly a certain point of view on what is being presented, a psychological, ideological and simply geographical point of view, since it is impossible to describe from anywhere and there cannot be a description without a descriptor."

The epic form, to put it differently, reproduces not only what is being told, but also the narrator; it artistically captures the manner of speaking and perceiving the world, and ultimately, the mindset and feelings of the narrator. The appearance of the narrator is revealed not in actions or in direct outpourings of the soul, but in a kind of narrative monologue. The expressive beginnings of such a monologue, being its secondary function, are at the same time very important.

There can be no full perception folk tales without close attention to their narrative style, in which, behind the naivety and ingenuousness of the one who is telling the story, gaiety and slyness, life experience and wisdom are discerned. It is impossible to feel the charm of the heroic epics of antiquity without grasping the sublime structure of thoughts and feelings of the rhapsode and storyteller. And it is even more unthinkable to understand the works of A. S. Pushkin and N. V. Gogol, L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky, N. S. Leskov and I. S. Turgenev, A. P. Chekhov and I. A. Bunin, M. A. Bulgakov and A. P. Platonov are beyond comprehension of the “voice” of the narrator. Live perception An epic work is always associated with close attention to the manner in which the narrative is told. Sensitive to verbal art the reader sees in a story, tale or novel not only a message about the life of the characters with its details, but also an expressively significant monologue of the narrator.

Literature available different ways narratives. The most deeply rooted and represented type of narration is one in which there is, so to speak, an absolute distance between the characters and the one who reports on them. The narrator recounts the events with calm calm. He understands everything and has the gift of “omniscience.” And his image, the image of a being who has risen above the world, gives the work the flavor of maximum objectivity. It is significant that Homer was often likened to the celestial Olympians and called “divine.”

The artistic possibilities of such a narrative are considered in the German classical aesthetics of the Romantic era. In the epic, “a narrator is needed,” we read from Schelling, “who, with the equanimity of his story, would constantly distract us from too much involvement in the characters and direct the attention of the listeners to the net result.” And further: “The narrator is alien to the characters... he not only surpasses the listeners with his balanced contemplation and sets his story in this mood, but, as it were, takes the place of “necessity”.”

Based on such forms of storytelling, dating back to Homer, classical aesthetics of the 19th century. argued that the epic genre of literature is the artistic embodiment of a special, “epic” worldview, which is marked by the maximum breadth of outlook on life and its calm, joyful acceptance.

Similar thoughts about the nature of narration were expressed by T. Mann in the article “The Art of the Novel”: “Perhaps the element of narration is the eternal Homeric principle, this prophetic spirit of the past, which is infinite, like the world, and which knows the whole world, most fully and worthy embodies the element of poetry." The writer sees in the narrative form the embodiment of the spirit of irony, which is not a coldly indifferent mockery, but is filled with cordiality and love: “... this is something that nourishes tenderness for small things,” “a view from the heights of freedom, peace and objectivity, not overshadowed by any moralizing.” .

What is the epic genre? The fact is that it is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. This is due to the fact that this genre contains several varieties. Let's figure out what this epic genre is, and what directions does it contain? And also in what connects epic and lyric poetry.

What is a literary genre?

It seems that at the beginning of the story about the genres of epic works it would be advisable to understand the concept literary genre as such. The word "genre" comes from the French genre, taken from the Latin, which has the word genus, both of which mean "kind, genus."

As for the literary genre, it is such groups of works of literature that develop historically and are united by a combination of a number of properties. Such properties are both substantive and formal in nature. This is how they differ from literary forms, which are distinguished only on the basis of formal characteristics. Genre is often confused with a type of literature, which is incorrect.

Now let's move on to a direct consideration of the question of what this is - an epic genre.

What is the essence of the concept?

An epic (this is also the name of the genre we are considering) is one (just like drama and lyrics) that tells about events that supposedly happened in the past. And the narrator remembers them. Characteristic feature epic is the embrace of existence in such various aspects as:

• Plastic volume.
• Extension in time and space.
• Plot content, or eventfulness.

Aristotle on the nature of the epic

Ancient Greek philosopher of the 4th century BC. e. Aristotle in his work “Poetics” wrote that the epic genre is (in contrast to dramatic and lyrical works) the impartiality and objectivity of the author at the time of narration. According to Aristotle, the features of the epic are the following:

1. Wide coverage of reality, which means depiction of private life individual characters, and phenomena occurring in public life.
2. The revelation of people's characters during the course of the plot.
3. Objectivity in storytelling, in which the author’s attitude towards his characters and the world depicted in the work occurs through the selection of artistic details.

Varieties of epic

As mentioned above, there are several types of epic genres that can be combined based on their volume. These are large, medium and small. Each of these types includes the following varieties:

• The major ones include epic, novel, epic poem (poem-epic).
• The medium type includes the story.
• Small ones include short stories, short stories, and essays.

Some more details about the types of works that belong to the epic genres will be discussed below.

Anything else to note? There are also folklore, folk-epic genres such as epics, fairy tales and historical song.

What else is the meaning of the epic?

The features of this genre are also the following:

• A work classified as epic is not limited in its scope. As V. E. Khalizev, who was a Soviet and Russian literary critic, said, epic refers to a type of literature that contains not only short stories, but also works designed for long-term reading or listening - epics, novels.
• In the epic genre, a large role belongs to the image of the storyteller (narrator). He, talking about the events themselves, about the characters, at the same time separates himself from what is happening. But at the same time, in the narration itself, not only what is being told is reproduced, imprinted, but also the mindset of the narrator, his manner of presentation.
• In the epic genre, it is possible to use almost any artistic means known in literature. Its inherent narrative form allows for the deepest penetration into the inner world of an individual.

Two large forms

Leading genre epic literature until the 18th century was The source of its plot is a folk legend, the images of which are generalized and idealized. The speech reflects a relatively unified national consciousness, and the form is usually poetic. An example is Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey".

In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was replaced as the leading genre by the novel. The plots of the novels are mainly drawn from modern reality, and the images become more individualized. The speech of the characters reflects the multilingualism of social consciousness, which is sharply differentiated. The form of the novel is prosaic. Examples include novels written by Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Looping

Epic works strive for the most complete reflection of life's realities, so they tend to be combined into cycles. An illustration of this trend is the epic novel called “The Forsyte Saga.”

It represents a monumental series of diverse works describing the life of the wealthy Forsyth family. In 1932, Galsworthy was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his inherent art of storytelling, of which The Forsyte Saga is the pinnacle.

Epic means “narration”

An epic (from the ancient Greek ἔπος - “word, narration” and ποιέω - “I create”) is an extensive narrative, which is presented either in verse or in prose, and is dedicated to outstanding historical events on a national scale. In a general sense, an epic is a complex, long history that includes a series of large-scale events.

The predecessors of the epic were epic songs that were half lyrical and half narrative in nature. They were caused by the exploits of a tribe or clan, dedicated to the heroes around whom they were grouped. Such songs were formed into large-scale poetic units called epics.

In heroic-romantic epics, their main characters purposefully and actively participate in significant historical events, in the process of which their personality is formed, as, for example, in the novel “Peter I” by A. N. Tolstoy. There are also “moral descriptive” epics, which tell about the state of society in a comic way, such as “Gargantua and Pantagruel” by Rabelais or “ Dead Souls» Gogol.

Epic and lyrical genres

The two genres are interconnected and in some cases can form a kind of symbiosis. To understand this, let's define lyrics. This word comes from the Greek λυρικός, which means “performed to the sound of a lyre.”

This type of literature, also called lyric poetry, reproduces a person’s personal feeling, his attitude towards something, or the mood of the author himself. Works in this genre are characterized by emotionality, sincerity, and excitement.

But there is also an intermediate option between verses and epic genre- this is a lyric epic. There are two sides to such works. One of them is observation and evaluation by the reader from the side of the plot narrative, presented in the form of poetry. And the second, which, however, is closely related to the first, is that he receives a certain lyrical (emotional) assessment of the narrator. Thus, lyric-epic is characterized by both epic and lyrical principles in displaying the surrounding reality.

Lyric-epic genres include such genres as:

• Poem.
• Ballad.
• Stanzas.

Epic

An epic (from epic and Greek poieo - I create) is an extensive work of art in verse or prose, telling about significant historical events. Typically describes a number of major events within a specific historical era. Initially it was aimed at describing heroic events.

Well-known epics: “Iliad”, “Mahabharata”.

Novel

A novel is a large narrative work of art, in the events of which many characters usually take part (their destinies are intertwined).

A novel can be philosophical, historical, adventure, family, social, adventure, fantasy, etc. There is also an epic novel that describes the fate of people at turning points historical eras("War and Peace", " Quiet Don", "Gone With the Wind").

A novel can be in prose or verse and contain several storylines, include works of small genres (story, fable, poem, etc.).

The novel is characterized by the formulation of socially significant problems, psychologism, and the disclosure of a person’s inner world through conflicts.

Periodically, the decline of the novel genre is predicted, but its wide possibilities in depicting reality and human nature allow it to have its attentive reader in the next new times.

Many books and scientific works are devoted to the principles of constructing and creating a novel.

Tale

A story is a work of art that occupies a middle position between a novel and a short story in terms of volume and complexity of plot, constructed in the form of a narrative about the events of the main character in their natural sequence. As a rule, the story does not pretend to pose global problems.

Widely known stories: “The Overcoat” by N. Gogol, “The Steppe” by A. Chekhov, “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by A. Solzhenitsyn.

Story

A story is a short work of fiction with a limited number of characters and events. A story may contain only one episode from the life of one character.

Short stories and short stories are the genres with which young prose writers usually begin their literary work.

Novella

A short story, like a short story, is a small work of art characterized by brevity, lack of descriptiveness, and an unexpected ending.

The short stories by G. Boccaccio, Pr. Merimee, S. Maughema.

Vision

A vision is a narration of events that were revealed in a (supposedly) dream, hallucination or lethargic sleep. This genre is characteristic of medieval literature, but is still used today, usually in satirical and fantastic works.

Fable

A fable (from “bayat” - to tell) is a small work of art in poetic form of a moralizing or satirical nature. At the end of the fable there is usually a short moralizing conclusion (the so-called moral).

The fable ridicules the vices of people. In this case, the characters, as a rule, are animals, plants or various things.

Parable

A parable, like a fable, contains a moral message in an allegorical form. However, the parable chooses people as heroes. It is also presented in prose form.

Perhaps the most famous parable- “Parable of prodigal son"from the Gospel of Luke.

Fairy tale

A fairy tale is a work of fiction about fictional events and characters, in which magical, fantastic forces appear. A fairy tale is a form of teaching children correct behavior and compliance with social norms. It also transmits important information for humanity from generation to generation.

Modern look fairy tales - fantasy - are a kind of historical adventure novel, the action of which takes place in a fictional world close to the real one.

Joke

An anecdote (French anecdote - tale, fable) is a small prose form, characterized by brevity, an unexpected, absurd and funny ending. An anecdote is characterized by a play on words.

Although many jokes have specific authors, as a rule, their names are forgotten or initially remain “behind the curtain.”

A widely known collection of literary anecdotes about the writers N. Dobrokhotova and Vl. Pyatnitsky, erroneously attributed to D. Kharms.

More detailed information on this topic can be found in the books of A. Nazaikin

Epic (type of literature)

A significant role for the epic genres is played by the image of the narrator (storyteller), who talks about the events themselves, about the characters, but at the same time delimits himself from what is happening. The epic, in turn, reproduces and captures not only what is being told, but also the narrator (his manner of speaking, his mentality).

An epic work can use almost any artistic means known to literature. The narrative form of an epic work “promotes the deepest penetration into the inner world of man.”

Literature

• Khalizev V. E. Theory of literature. - M., 2009. - P. 302-303.
• Belokurova S. P. Dictionary of literary terms.

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See what “Epic (genus of literature)” is in other dictionaries:

- (Greek from ero to say) works of epic poetry. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. EPOS [gr. epos word, story, song] lit. narrative literature, one of the three main types... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

EPOS, epic, many. no, husband (Greek word epos) (lit.). 1. Narrative type of literature (as opposed to drama and lyrics). 2. A set of works of this kind, united by a common theme, common nationality, chronology, etc.... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

A; m. [from Greek. epos word, narrative] 1. Special. Narrative type of literature (as opposed to poetry and drama). Great masters of epic. 2. A set of folk heroic songs, tales, poems, united by a common theme, national... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

epic- a, m. 1) only units. One of the three (along with lyric and drama) main types of literature, which are works of a narrative nature. Epic and drama. Epic and lyrics. 2) A set of works of folk art (usually... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language

I m. Narrative, in contrast to drama and lyric poetry, is a type of literature. II m. Set of works of folk art: folk songs, tales, poems, etc., united by a single theme or common nationality. III m. Row... ... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova

epic- A; m. (from the Greek épos word, narrative) see also. epic 1) special Narrative genre of literature (as opposed to poetry and drama) Great masters of epic. 2) A set of folk heroic songs, tales, poems, united by a common theme... ... Dictionary of many expressions

GENUS LITERARY- GENUS LITERARY, a series of literary works similar in the type of their speech organization and cognitive focus on an object or subject, or the act of artistic expression itself: a word either depicts objective world, or expresses... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

Edward (edouard Rod, 1857 1910) Swiss novelist who wrote in French. language He studied in Bern, then in Berlin. From 1887 to 1893 he was a professor of general literature in Geneva, then moved to Paris. His first novels were written in the spirit of naturalism... ... Literary encyclopedia

Epic, lyric, drama. It is determined according to various criteria: from the point of view of methods of imitation of reality (Aristotle), types of content (F. Schiller, F. Schelling), categories of epistemology (objective subjective in G. W. F. Hegel), formal... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

GENUS LITERARY, one of the three groups of works of fiction: epic, lyric, drama. The tradition of generic division of literature was founded by Aristotle. Despite the fragility of the boundaries between genera and the abundance of intermediate forms (lyric epic ... ... Modern encyclopedia

Books

• Content of artistic forms. Epic. Lyrics. Theater, Gachev G.D.. What meaning does the form itself radiate? work of art? Its type and genre, this or that structure, plot, rhythm? Why does a playwright perceive the world differently than a lyricist or writer...