Genre and subject matter. What are literary genres

Genres of literature

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

The genera, types and genres of literature do not exist as something immutable, given from the ages and eternally existing. They are born, theoretically realized, historically developed, modified, dominated, faded away or retreated to the periphery, depending on the evolution of artistic thinking as such. The most stable, fundamental is, of course, the extremely general concept of “genus”, the most dynamic and changeable is the much more specific concept of “genre”.

The first attempts at a theoretical substantiation of the genus make themselves felt in the ancient doctrine of mimesis (imitation). Plato in The Republic, and then Aristotle in Poetics, came to the conclusion that poetry is of three kinds, depending on what, how and by what means it imitates. In other words, the generic division of fiction is based on the subject, means and methods of imitation.

Separate remarks about the ways of organizing artistic time and space (chronotope), scattered in the Poetics, form the prerequisites for further division into types and genres of literature.

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

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

Genres of literature

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

Lyric poem (in prose)- a type of fiction, emotionally and poetically expressing the feelings of the author.

Melodrama- a type of drama, the characters of which are sharply divided into positive and negative.

fantasy subgenre of fantasy literature. The works of this subgenre are written in an epic fairy-tale manner, using the motifs of ancient myths and legends. The plot is usually based on magic, heroic adventures and travel; the plot usually contains magical creatures; The action takes place in a fairy tale world reminiscent of the Middle Ages.

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

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

Tale- medium form; a work that highlights a series of events in the life of the protagonist.

Poem- type of lyrical epic work; poetic storytelling.

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

Novel- large form; a work, in the events of which many characters usually take part, whose fates are intertwined. Novels are philosophical, adventure, historical, family and social.

Tragedy- a type of dramatic work that tells about the unfortunate fate of the protagonist, often doomed to death.

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

epic- a work or a cycle of works depicting a significant historical epoch or a major historical event.

Drama- (in the narrow sense) one of the leading genres of dramaturgy; a literary work written in the form of a dialogue of characters. Designed to be performed on stage. Focused on spectacular expression. The relationship of people, the conflicts that arise between them are revealed through the actions of the characters and are embodied in a monologue-dialogical form. Unlike tragedy, drama does not end in catharsis.

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. The question of a genre as a variety of one or another is rather complicated. This term is found in music, painting, architecture, theater, cinema, and literature.

Determining the genre of a work is a task that not every student can handle. Why is genre division necessary? Where are the boundaries that separate the novel from the poem, and the story from the short story? Let's try to figure it out together.

Genre in literature - what is it

The word "genre" comes from the Latin genus ( kind, genus). Literary reference books report that:

A genre is a historically developed variety of literary works, united by a set of formal and meaningful features.

It can be seen from the definition that in the process of genre evolution it is important to highlight three points:

1. each genre of literature is formed over a long period of time (each of them has its own history);
2. the main reason for its appearance is the need to express new ideas in an original way (substantive criterion);
3. distinguish one type of work from another is helped by external signs: volume, plot, structure, composition (formal criterion).

All genres of literature can be represented like this:

These are three typology options that help to attribute the work to a particular genre.

The history of the emergence of genres of literature in Rus'

The literature of European countries was formed according to the principle of moving from the general to the particular, from the anonymous to the author's. Artistic creativity both abroad and in Russia was fed by two sources:

1. spiritual culture, the center of which was monasteries;
2. folk speech.

If you look closely at the history of literature in Ancient Rus', you will notice how chronicles, patericons, lives of saints and patristic writings are gradually being replaced by new forms of narration.

At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, such genres of ancient Russian literature, as a word, walking (the ancestor of the travel novel), (everyday "splinter" of a moral parable), heroic poem, spiritual verse. On the material of oral traditions, which stood out separately during the period of the collapse of the ancient myth into a fairy tale epic and a realistic military story.

Interacting with foreign written traditions, Russian literature is enriched new genre forms: a novel, a secular philosophical story, an author's fairy tale, and in the era of romanticism - a poem, a lyrical poem, a ballad.

The realistic canon brings to life a problematic novel, story, short story. At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, genres with blurred boundaries again become popular: essay (), essay, short poem, symbolist. Old forms are filled with original meaning, they pass into each other, destroy the set standards.

Dramatic art has a powerful influence on the formation of the genre system. Set to theatricality changes the appearance of such genres familiar to the average reader as a poem, a story, a short story and even a small lyric poem (in the era of the “sixties” poets).

In modern literature, the genre canon remains open. There is a prospect of interaction not only within individual genres, but also within various types of art. Every year a new genre appears in literature.

Literature on genera and species

The most popular classification breaks down works “by gender” (all of its components are shown in the third column in the figure at the beginning of this publication).

To understand this genre classification, it is necessary to remember that literature, like music, is worth on the "three pillars". These whales, called genera, are in turn divided into species. For clarity, we present this structure in the form of a diagram:

1. The most ancient "whale" is considered epic. Its progenitor, which broke up into legend and legend.
2. appeared when humanity stepped over the stage of collective thinking and turned to the individual experiences of each member of the community. The nature of the lyrics is the personal experience of the author.
3. older than epic and lyric. Its appearance is associated with the era of antiquity and the emergence of religious cults - mysteries. Drama has become the art of the streets, a means of releasing collective energy and influencing masses of people.

Epic genres and examples of such works

The largest the epic forms known to modern times are the epic and the epic novel. The ancestors of the epic can be considered a saga, common in the past among the peoples of Scandinavia, and a legend (for example, the Indian "Tale of Gilgamesh").

epic is a multi-volume narrative about the fate of several generations of heroes in historically established circumstances and enshrined in cultural tradition.

A rich socio-historical background is required, against which the events of the characters' private lives unfold. For the epic, such features as the multicomponent plot, the connection between generations, the presence of heroes and anti-heroes are important.

Since it depicts large-scale events over the centuries, it rarely has a thorough psychological portrayal, but the epics created in the last few centuries combine these installations with the achievements of modern art. The Forsyte Saga by J. Galsworthy not only describes the history of several generations of the Forsyte family, but also gives subtle vivid images of individual characters.

Unlike the epic epic novel covers a shorter period of time (no more than a hundred years) and tells about 2-3 generations of heroes.

In Russia, this genre is represented by the novels "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy, "Quiet Flows the Don" by M.A. Sholokhov, "Walking through the torments" by A.N. Tolstoy.

to medium forms epic include novel and short story.

The term " novel” comes from the word “Roman” (Roman) and is reminiscent of the ancient prose narrative that gave birth to this genre.

The Satyricon by Petronius is considered an example of an ancient novel. In medieval Europe, the picaresque novel becomes widespread. The era of sentimentalism gives the world a novel-journey. Realists develop the genre and fill it with classical content.

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, the following types of novels:

1. philosophical;
2. psychological;
3. social;
4. intellectual;
5. historical;
6. love;
7. detective;
8. adventure novel.

There are many novels in the school curriculum. Giving examples, name the books of I.A. Goncharov "Ordinary History", "Oblomov", "Cliff", works by I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons", "Nest of Nobles", "On the Eve", "Smoke", "Nov". The genre of "Crime and Punishment", "The Idiot", "The Brothers Karamazov" by F. M. Dostoevsky is also a novel.

Tale does not affect the fate of generations, but has several storylines that develop against the backdrop of one historical event.

"The Captain's Daughter" A. S. Pushkin and "Overcoat" N.V. Gogol. V.G. Belinsky spoke about the primacy of narrative literature in the culture of the 19th century.

Small epic forms(story, essay, short story, essay) have one storyline, a limited number of characters and are distinguished by a compressed volume.

For example, stories by A. Gaidar or Yu. Kazakov, short stories by E. Poe, essays by V.G. Korolenko or an essay by V. Wolf. Let's make a reservation, sometimes it "works" as a genre of scientific style or journalism, but it has artistic imagery.

Lyric genres

Large lyric forms represented by a poem and a wreath of sonnets. The first is more plot-driven, which makes it related to the epic. The second is static. In a wreath of sonnets, consisting of 15 14-verses, a theme is described and the author's impressions of it.

In Russia, poems have a socio-historical character. "The Bronze Horseman" and "Poltava" A.S. Pushkin, "Mtsyri" M.Yu. Lermontov, “Who is it good to live in Rus'” N.A. Nekrasov, "Requiem" by A.A. Akhmatova - all these poems lyrically describe Russian life and national characters.

Small forms of lyrics numerous. This is a poem, ode, canzone, sonnet, epitaph, fable, madrigal, rondo, triolet. Some forms originated in medieval Europe (lyric poetry in Russia especially fell in love with the sonnet genre), some (for example, the ballad) became the legacy of German romantics.

Traditionally small Poetry works are usually divided into 3 types:

1. philosophical lyrics;
2. love lyrics;
3. landscape poetry.

Recently, urban lyrics have also emerged as a separate subspecies.

Dramatic genres

Drama gives us three classic genres:

1. comedy;
2. tragedy;
3. actual drama.

All three varieties of performing arts originated in ancient Greece.

Comedy was originally associated with religious cults of purification, mysteries, during which a carnival action unfolded on the streets. The sacrificial goat "comos", later called the "scapegoat", walked along the streets along with the artists, symbolized all human vices. According to the canon, they should be ridiculed by comedy.

Comedy is the genre of "Woe from Wit" by A.S. Griboedov and "Undergrowth" D.I. Fonvizin.

In the era of classicism, there were 2 types of comedy: comedy provisions and comedy characters. The first played with circumstances, gave one hero for another, had an unexpected denouement. The second pushed the actors in the face of an idea or task, giving rise to a theatrical conflict on which the intrigue rested.

If during a comedy the playwright expected the healing laughter of the crowd, then tragedy set out to evoke tears. It was bound to end in the death of the hero. Empathizing with the characters, the viewer or the cleansing.

Romeo and Juliet, as well as W. Shakespeare's Hamlet, were written in the tragedy genre.

Actually drama- this is the latest invention of dramaturgy, removing therapeutic tasks and making an installation for subtle psychologism, objectivity, play.

Definition of the genre of a literary work

How was the poem "Eugene Onegin" called a novel? Why did Gogol define the novel "Dead Souls" as a poem? And why is Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard a comedy? Genre designations are hints that there are right directions in the art world, but, fortunately, there are no forever beaten paths.

A little higher is a video that helps determine the genre of a literary work.

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

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

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

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

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

Also, types of literary works can be classified according to content:

• comedy;
• tragedy;
• drama.

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

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

Essay

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

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

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

epic

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

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

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

epic

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

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

There is also a moral epic. This is a special kind of narrative in literature, distinguished by its prosaic nature and ridicule of the comic state of society. Rabelais' "Gargantua and Pantagruel" is referred to him.

Sketch

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

Novel

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

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

Novella

The novella or short story is a key genre of fiction, having a smaller volume than the short story or novel. The main properties of the work include:

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

The creator of the stories is a novelist, and the collection of stories is a novelist.

Play

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

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

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

Tale

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

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

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

Feature article

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

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

Opus

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

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

In the literary sense, an opus is any scientific work or creation of the author.

Oh yeah

Ode - a poem (usually solemn), dedicated to a specific event or person. At the same time, an ode can be a separate work with a similar theme. In ancient Greece, all poetic lyrics, even the singing of the choir, were considered odes. From the time of the Renaissance, only high-flown lyrical poems, focusing on the images of antiquity, began to be called this way.

Vision

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

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

Each literary genre is divided into genres, which are characterized by features common to a group of works. There are epic, lyrical, lyrical epic genres, genres of dramaturgy.

epic genres

Fairy tale(literary) - a work in prose or poetic form, based on the folklore traditions of a folk tale (one storyline, fiction, depiction of the struggle between good and evil, antithesis and repetition as the leading principles of composition). For example, satirical tales by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.
Parable(from the Greek parabole - "located (placed) behind") - a small epic genre, a small narrative work of an instructive nature, containing moral or religious teaching, based on a broad generalization and use of allegories. Russian writers often used the parable as an interstitial episode in their works in order to fill the narrative with deep meaning. Let us recall the Kalmyk fairy tale told by Pugachev to Pyotr Grinev (A. Pushkin "The Captain's Daughter") - in fact, this is the culmination in the disclosure of the image of Emelyan Pugachev: "Than eating carrion for three hundred years, it is better to drink living blood once, and then what God will give!". The plot of the parable about the resurrection of Lazarus, which Sonechka Marmeladova read to Rodion Raskolnikov, suggests to the reader the idea of ​​​​a possible spiritual revival of the protagonist of the novel, F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment". In M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom", the wanderer Luka tells a parable "about the righteous land" to show how dangerous the truth can be for weak and desperate people.
Fable- a small genre of epic; plot-complete, having an allegorical meaning, the fable is an illustration of a well-known worldly or moral rule. A fable differs from a parable in the completeness of the plot; a fable is characterized by unity of action, brevity of presentation, the absence of detailed characteristics and other elements of a non-narrative nature that hinder the development of the plot. Usually a fable consists of 2 parts: 1) a story about an event, specific, but easily generalizable, 2) moralizing following or preceding the story.
Feature article- a genre, the hallmark of which is "writing from nature." In the essay, the role of the plot is weakened, because fiction is irrelevant here. The author of the essay, as a rule, narrates in the first person, which allows him to include his thoughts in the text, draw comparisons and analogies - i.e. use the means of journalism and science. An example of the use of the essay genre in literature is “Notes of a Hunter” by I.S. Turgenev.
Novella(Italian novella - news) is a kind of story, an epic action-packed work with an unexpected denouement, characterized by brevity, a neutral style of presentation, and a lack of psychologism. An important role in the development of the action of the novel is played by chance, the intervention of fate. A typical example of a Russian short story is the cycle of stories by I.A. Bunin "Dark Alleys": the author does not psychologically draw the characters of his heroes; a whim of fate, blind chance brings them together for a while and separates them forever.
Story- an epic genre of a small volume with a small number of heroes and the short duration of the events depicted. In the center of the narrative is an image of an event or life phenomenon. In Russian classical literature, the recognized masters of the story were A.S. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol, I.S. Turgenev, L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov, I.A. Bunin, M. Gorky, A.I. Kuprin and others.
Tale- a prose genre that does not have a stable volume and occupies an intermediate position between the novel, on the one hand, and the short story and short story, on the other, gravitating towards a chronicle plot that reproduces the natural course of life. The story differs from the story and the novel in the volume of text, the number of characters and issues raised, the complexity of the conflict, etc. In the story, it is not so much the movement of the plot that is important, but the descriptions: the characters, the place of action, the psychological state of a person. For example: "The Enchanted Wanderer" by N.S. Leskov, "Steppe" by A.P. Chekhov, "Village" by I.A. Bunin. In the story, episodes often follow one after another according to the principle of a chronicle, there is no internal connection between them, or it is weakened, therefore the story is often built as a biography or autobiography: "Childhood", "Boyhood", "Youth" L.N. Tolstoy, "The Life of Arseniev" by I.A. Bunin, etc. (Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia / edited by Prof. A.P. Gorkin. - M.: Rosmen, 2006.)
Novel(French roman - a work written in one of the "living" Romance languages, and not in "dead" Latin) - an epic genre, the subject of which is a certain period or a person's whole life; Roman what is it? - the novel is characterized by the duration of the events described, the presence of several storylines and a system of actors, which includes groups of equivalent characters (for example: main characters, secondary, episodic); a work of this genre covers a wide range of life phenomena and a wide range of socially significant problems. There are different approaches to the classification of novels: 1) according to structural features (novel-parable, novel-myth, novel-dystopia, novel-journey, novel in verse, etc.); 2) on issues (family, social, social, psychological, psychological, philosophical, historical, adventurous, fantastic, sentimental, satirical, etc.); 3) according to the era in which this or that type of novel dominated (knightly, enlightenment, Victorian, Gothic, modernist, etc.). It should be noted that the exact classification of genre varieties of the novel has not yet been established. There are works whose ideological and artistic originality does not fit into the framework of any one method of classification. For example, the work of M.A. Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita" contains both acute social and philosophical problems, in it the events of biblical history (in the author's interpretation) and contemporary Moscow life of the 20-30s of the XX century develop in parallel, scenes full of drama are interspersed satirical. Based on these features of the work, it can be classified as a socio-philosophical satirical novel-myth.
epic novel- this is a work in which the subject of the image is not the history of private life, but the fate of the whole people or an entire social group; the plot is built on the basis of nodes - key, turning point historical events. At the same time, the fate of the people is reflected in the fate of the heroes, like in a drop of water, and, on the other hand, the picture of people's life is made up of individual destinies, private life stories. An integral part of the epic are mass scenes, thanks to which the author creates a generalized picture of the flow of people's life, the movement of history. When creating an epic, the artist requires the highest skill in linking episodes (scenes of private life and mass scenes), psychological authenticity in drawing characters, historicism of artistic thinking - all this makes the epic the pinnacle of literary creativity, which not every writer can climb. That is why in Russian literature only two works created in the epic genre are known: “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy, "Quiet Flows the Don" by M.A. Sholokhov.

Lyric genres

Song- a small poetic lyrical genre, characterized by the simplicity of musical and verbal construction.
Elegy(Greek elegeia, elegos - a mournful song) - a poem of meditative or emotional content, dedicated to philosophical reflections caused by the contemplation of nature or deeply personal feelings about life and death, about unrequited (usually) love; the prevailing moods of the elegy are sadness, light sadness. Elegy is a favorite genre of V.A. Zhukovsky ("Sea", "Evening", "Singer", etc.).
Sonnet(Italian sonetto, from Italian sonare - to sound) - a lyrical poem of 14 lines in the form of a complex stanza. The lines of a sonnet can be arranged in two ways: two quatrains and two tercetes, or three quatrains and distich. In quatrains there can be only two rhymes, and in terzets - two or three.
The Italian (Petrarchian) sonnet consists of two quatrains with the rhyme abba abba or abab abab and two tercetes with the rhyme cdc dcd or cde cde, less often cde edc. French sonnet form: abba abba ccd eed. English (Shakespearean) - with rhyming scheme abab cdcd efef gg.
The classical sonnet presupposes a certain sequence of thought development: thesis - antithesis - synthesis - denouement. Judging by the name of this genre, particular importance is attached to the sonnet's musicality, which is achieved by alternating male and female rhymes.
European poets developed many original types of sonnet, as well as the wreath of sonnets, one of the most difficult literary forms.
Russian poets turned to the sonnet genre: A.S. Pushkin (“Sonnet”, “To the Poet”, “Madonna”, etc.), A.A. Fet (“Sonnet”, “Date in the Forest”), poets of the Silver Age (V.Ya. Bryusov, K.D. Balmont, A.A. Blok, I.A. Bunin).
Message(Greek epistole - epistole) - a poetic letter, in the time of Horace - philosophical and didactic content, later - of any nature: narrative, satirical, love, friendship, etc. A mandatory feature of the message is the presence of an appeal to a specific addressee, motives for wishes, requests. For example: “My Penates” by K.N. Batyushkov, "Pushchin", "Message to the Censor" by A.S. Pushkin and others.
Epigram(Greek epgramma - inscription) - a short satirical poem, which is a lesson, as well as a direct response to topical events, often political. For example: epigrams of A.S. Pushkin on A.A. Arakcheeva, F.V. Bulgarin, Sasha Cherny's epigram "To Bryusov's album", etc.
Oh yeah(from Greek ōdḗ, Latin ode, oda - song) - a solemn, pathetic, glorifying lyrical work dedicated to the depiction of major historical events or persons, talking about significant topics of religious and philosophical content. The ode genre was widespread in Russian literature of the 18th - early 19th centuries. in the work of M.V. Lomonosov, G.R. Derzhavin, in the early works of V.A. Zhukovsky, A.S. Pushkin, F.I. Tyutchev, but in the late 20s of the XIX century. other genres have come to replace the ode. Separate attempts by some authors to create an ode do not correspond to the canons of this genre (“Ode to the Revolution” by V.V. Mayakovsky and others).
lyric poem- a small poetic work in which there is no plot; the author focuses on the inner world, intimate experiences, reflections, moods of the lyrical hero (the author of a lyric poem and the lyrical hero are not the same person).

Lyric epic genres

Ballad(Provencal ballada, from ballar - to dance; Italian - ballata) - a plot poem, that is, a story of a historical, mythical or heroic nature, set out in poetic form. Usually a ballad is built on the basis of the dialogue of characters, while the plot does not have independent meaning - it is a means of creating a certain mood, subtext. So, “The Song of the Prophetic Oleg” by A.S. Pushkin has philosophical overtones, "Borodino" by M.Yu. Lermontov - socio-psychological.
Poem(Greek poiein - "to create", "creation") - a large or medium-sized poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot (for example, "The Bronze Horseman" by A.S. Pushkin, "Mtsyri" by M.Yu. Lermontov, "The Twelve" A .A. Blok, etc.), the system of images of the poem may include a lyrical hero (for example, "Requiem" by A.A. Akhmatova).
Poem in prose- a small lyrical work in prose form, characterized by increased emotionality, expressing subjective experiences, impressions. For example: "Russian language" I.S. Turgenev.

Drama genres

Tragedy- a dramatic work, the main conflict of which is caused by exceptional circumstances and insoluble contradictions that lead the hero to death.
Drama- a play, the content of which is connected with the image of everyday life; despite the depth and seriousness, the conflict, as a rule, concerns private life and can be resolved without a tragic outcome.
Comedy- a dramatic work in which the action and characters are presented in funny forms; comedy is distinguished by the rapid development of action, the presence of complex, intricate plot moves, a happy ending and simplicity of style. There are sitcoms based on cunning intrigue, a special set of circumstances, and comedies of manners (characters), based on the ridicule of human vices and shortcomings, high comedy, everyday, satirical, etc. For example, "Woe from Wit" by A.S. Griboyedov - high comedy, "Undergrowth" by D.I. Fonvizina is satirical.

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Links

• Sysoeva O. A. Genre approach to the study of literature in the framework of additional education (on the example of Sasha Sokolov's novel "School for Fools")
• Theoretical poetics: concepts and definitions. Reader for students of philological faculties. Compiled by N. D. Tamarchenko

Literature

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An elegy (έλεγεία) is a lyrical poem of a sad, thoughtful mood: such is the content that is now usually put into a word that had a different meaning in the former poetics. Its etymology is debatable: it is derived from the supposed chorus έ λέγε ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

At present, the most popular and richest form of literary works, reflecting modern life with all the variety of issues that concern it. To achieve such a universal meaning, the novel had to... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Crying is one of the ancient literary genres, characterized by lyric-dramatic improvisation on the themes of misfortune, death, etc. It can be made out both in verse and in prose. The style of crying is used, in particular, in some texts of the Bible ... Wikipedia

- (poetic) a certain kind of literary work. The main genres can be considered epic, lyrical and dramatic, but it is more correct to apply this term to their individual varieties, such as an adventure novel, a clownish comedy ... Literary Encyclopedia

Genre- GENRE (poetic) a certain type of literary work. The main genres can be considered epic, lyrical and dramatic, but it is more accurate to apply this term to their individual varieties, such as an adventure novel, ... ... Dictionary of literary terms

- (historical and special used in cinematography) a finished screenwriting work. It must contain a complete, consistent and specific description of the plot, consisting of developed scenes and episodes, dialogues and reveal images ... ... Wikipedia

GENRE- literary (from French genre genus, type), historically emerging type of literary work (novel, poem, ballad, etc.); in the theoretical concept of Zh., features characteristic of a more or less extensive group of works are generalized ... ... Literary Encyclopedic Dictionary

A; m. [French. genre] 1. A historically developed kind of art or literature, characterized by certain plot, compositional, stylistic, and other features; separate varieties of this genus. Musical, literary genres. ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary