Epic genres in volume. The story as a genre of literature. Two large forms

Features of the story genre :

1. Small volume.
2. The short duration of the events described.
3. A small number of heroes.
4. A story has a plot and composition.
5. What is depicted in the story looks truthful and corresponds to real life.
6. There is no moralizing in the story.

Plot- a chain of episodes, events.

Plot elements :

1. EXPOSITION- background, outlining the characters and circumstances that developed before the development of the main storyline.
2. TIE- the starting point for the development of the main storyline, the main conflict.
3. ACTION DEVELOPMENT- part of the plot between the beginning and the climax.
4. CLIMAX- the highest point of development of action, conflict tension before the final denouement.
5. INTERCLOSURE- completion of the plot, resolution (or destruction) of the conflict.

Composition- connection, docking different parts works, including episodes (everything that is not a plot).

Composition elements :

1. Portrait- description of the hero’s appearance.
2. Scenery- description of nature.
3. Monologue- speech of one hero.
4. Dialogue- speech of two or more characters.
5. Author's digression- an assessment, remark, observation made by the author of a work.

Examples of composition elements from the story "Bezhin Meadow"

Scenery

It was a beautiful July day, one of those days that only happen when the weather has settled for a long time. From early morning the sky is clear; morning dawn does not burn with fire: it spreads with a gentle blush. The sun - not fiery, not hot, as during a sultry drought, not dull purple, as before a storm, but bright and welcomingly radiant - floats up peacefully under a narrow and long cloud, shines freshly and sinks into its purple fog. The upper, thin edge of the stretched cloud will sparkle with snakes; their shine is like the shine of forged silver... But then the playing rays poured out again, and the mighty luminary rose merrily and majestic, as if taking off. Around noon there usually appear many round high clouds, golden-gray, with delicate white edges. Like islands scattered along an endlessly overflowing river, flowing around them with deeply transparent branches of even blue, they hardly move from their place; further, towards the horizon, they move, crowd together, the blue between them is no longer visible; but they themselves are as azure as the sky: they are all thoroughly imbued with light and warmth.

Portrait

The first, the eldest of all, Fedya, you would give about fourteen years. He was a slender boy, with beautiful and delicate, slightly small features, curly blond hair, light eyes and a constant half-cheerful, half-absent-minded smile. He belonged, by all accounts, to a rich family and went out into the field not out of necessity, but just for fun. He was wearing a motley cotton shirt with a yellow border; a small new army jacket, worn saddle-back, barely rested on his narrow shoulders; A comb hung from a blue belt. His boots with low tops were just like his boots - not his father's.

Monologue

That's how. My brother Avdyushka and I had to do it, and with Fyodor Mikheevsky, and with Ivashka Kosy, and with the other Ivashka, from the Red Hills, and with Ivashka Sukhorukov, and there were other kids there; There were about ten of us guys - like the whole shift; but we had to spend the night in the roller, that is, it’s not that we had to, but Nazarov, the overseer, forbade it; says: “What, they say, do you guys have to trudge home; There’s a lot of work tomorrow, so you guys don’t go home.” So we stayed and lay all together, and Avdyushka began to say that, guys, how will the brownie come?.. And before he, Avdey, had time to speak, suddenly someone came over our heads; but we were lying at the bottom, and he came in at the top, near the wheel. We hear: he walks, the boards under him bend and crack; Now he passed through our heads; the water will suddenly make a noise and noise along the wheel; the wheel will knock, the wheel will start spinning; but the screens at the palace are lowered. We marvel: who raised them, that the water began to flow; however, the wheel turned, turned, and remained. He went again to the door at the top and began to go down the stairs, and so obeyed, as if he was in no hurry; the steps under him even groan... Well, he came up to our door, waited, waited - the door suddenly flew open. We were alarmed, we looked - nothing... Suddenly, lo and behold, the form of one vat began to move, rose, dipped, walked, walked through the air, as if someone was rinsing it, and then fell back into place. Then another vat's hook came off the nail and onto the nail again; then it was as if someone was going to the door and suddenly he started coughing and choking, like some kind of sheep, so loudly... We all fell in such a heap, crawling under each other... How scared we were about that time!

The epic is divided into folk and author's. Moreover folk epic was the forerunner of the author's epic. Such examples of epic genres as novel, epic, story, short story, essay, short story, fairy tale and poem, ode and fantasy together represent the entire array fiction. Throughout the epic genres, the type of storytelling varies. Depending on whose person the description is being written - the author (the story is told in the third person) or a personified character (the story is told in the first person), or on behalf of a specific narrator. When the description is made in the first person, options are also possible - there may be one narrator, there may be several, or it may be a conventional narrator who did not take part in the events described.

Features of epic genres

If the narration is told from a third person, then some detachment and contemplation in the description of events are assumed. If from the first or several persons, then several different views arise on the events being interpreted and the personal interest of the characters (such works are called author’s works). Characteristics The epic genre is a plot (presuming a sequential change of events), time (in the epic genre it assumes the presence of a certain distance between the events described and the time of description) and space. The three-dimensionality of space is confirmed by the description of portraits of characters, interiors and landscapes. Features of the epic genre characterize the latter's ability to include elements like lyrics ( lyrical digressions), and dramas (monologues, dialogues). Epic genres seem to overlap with each other.

Forms of epic genres

There are three structural forms of the epic - large, medium and small. Some literary scholars omit the middle form, classifying the story as a large story, which includes a novel and an epic. There is a concept of an epic novel. They differ from each other in the form of narration and plot. Depending on the issues raised in the novel, it can be historical, fantastic, adventurous, psychological, utopian and social. And these are also features of the epic genre. The number and globality of topics and questions that can be answered by this literary form, allowed Belinsky to compare the novel with the epic of private life.

TO average shape refers to a story, and a short story, a short story, an essay, a fairy tale, a parable and even an anecdote constitute a small epic form. That is, the main epic genres is a novel, story and story that literary criticism characterizes as, respectively, “a chapter, a leaf and a line from the book of life.”

Components of epic genres

An epic poem is a poetic (sometimes prosaic - “ Dead Souls") is a genre whose plot, as a rule, is devoted to the celebration of the national spirit and traditions of the people. The term “novel” itself comes from the name of the language in which the first printed works were published - Romanesque (Rome or Roma, where works were published in Latin). A novel can have a lot of features - genre, composition, artistic and stylistic, language and plot. And each of them gives the right to attribute the work to a specific group. Eat social novel, moral descriptive, cultural-historical, psychological, adventure, experimental. There is an adventure novel, there is English, French, Russian. Basically, a novel is a large, artistic, most often prose work, written according to certain canons and rules.

The middle form of artistic epic

The features of the ethical genre “story” lie not only in the volume of the work, although it is called a “small novel”. There are much fewer incidents in the story. Most often it is dedicated to one central event. Story - prose small piece narrative character, describing a specific incident from life. It differs from a fairy tale in its realistic coloring. According to some literary scholars, a story can be called a work in which there is a unity of time, action, event, place and character. This all suggests that the story, as a rule, describes one episode occurring with one character at a specific time. There are no clearly defined definitions of this genre. Therefore, many believe that a story is Russian name novella, which was first mentioned in Western literature back in the 13th century and was a small genre sketch.

How literary genre The novella was approved by Boccaccio in the 14th century. This suggests that the novella is much older than the story in age. Even A. Pushkin and N. Gogol classified some stories as novellas. That is, a more or less clear concept defining what a “story” is arose in Russian literature in the 18th century. But there are no obvious boundaries between a story and a novella, except that the latter at its very beginning resembled more of an anecdote, that is, a short funny sketch of life. The novella has retained some of the features inherent in it in the Middle Ages to this day.

Representatives of the small form of artistic epic

A story is often confused with an essay for the same reasons - the lack of a clear formulation suggesting the presence of writing rules. Moreover, they arose almost simultaneously. Feature article - short description single phenomenon. Nowadays it is more of a documentary story about real event. In the name itself there is an indication of brevity - to outline. Most often, essays are published in periodicals- newspapers and magazines. Due to the massive nature of the phenomenon, it is worth noting such a genre as “fantasy”, which is gaining popularity in Lately. It appeared in the 20s of the last century in America. Lovecraft is considered his ancestor. Fantasy is a type of fantastic genre that has no scientific basis and consists entirely of fiction.

Representatives of “lyrical prose”

As noted above, by three literary families in our time, a fourth has been added, representing those that stood out in independent group such lyric-epic genres of literature as poem, ballad, song. Features of this literary kind consist in combining the storyline with a description of the experiences of the narrator (the so-called lyrical “I”). The name of this genre contains its essence - the combination of elements of lyricism and epic into one whole. Such combinations have been found in literature since antiquity, but these works emerged as an independent group at a time when interest in the personality of the narrator sharply began to manifest itself - in the era of sentimentalism and romanticism. Lyric-epic genres are sometimes called " lyrical prose" All types, genres and other literary divisions, complementing each other, ensure the existence and continuity of the literary process.

More on the topic of the epic - .

Genre is a type of literary work. There are epic, lyrical, dramatic genres. There are also lyric epic genres. Genres are also divided by volume into large (including romance and epic novel), medium ( literary works“medium size” - stories and poems), small (short story, short story, essay). They have genres and thematic divisions: adventure novel, psychological novel, sentimental, philosophical, etc. The main division is related to the types of literature. We present to your attention the genres of literature in the table.

The thematic division of genres is rather arbitrary. There is no strict classification of genres by topic. For example, if they talk about the genre and thematic diversity of lyrics, they usually highlight love, philosophical, landscape lyrics. But, as you understand, the variety of lyrics is not exhausted by this set.

If you set out to study the theory of literature, it is worth mastering the groups of genres:

• epic, that is, prose genres (epic novel, novel, story, short story, short story, parable, fairy tale);
• lyrical, that is, poetic genres (lyric poem, elegy, message, ode, epigram, epitaph),
• dramatic – types of plays (comedy, tragedy, drama, tragicomedy),
• lyroepic (ballad, poem).

Literary genres in tables

Epic genres

• Epic novel

  Epic novel- a novel depicting folk life at turning points historical eras. "War and Peace" by Tolstoy, " Quiet Don» Sholokhov.

• Novel

  Novel– a multi-issue work depicting a person in the process of his formation and development. The action in the novel is full of external or internal conflicts. By topic there are: historical, satirical, fantastic, philosophical, etc. By structure: novel in verse, epistolary novel, etc.

• Tale

  Tale – epic work average or large shape, constructed in the form of a narrative about events in their natural sequence. Unlike the novel, in P. the material is presented chronically, there is no sharp plot, there is no cunning analysis of the feelings of the characters. P. does not pose tasks of a global historical nature.

• Story

  Story– small epic form, a short work with a limited number of characters. In R. most often one problem is posed or one event is described. The novella differs from R. in its unexpected ending.

• Parable

  Parable- moral teaching in allegorical form. A parable differs from a fable in that its art material draws from human life. Example: Gospel parables, the parable of the righteous land, told by Luke in the play “At the Bottom.”

Lyrical genres

• Lyric poem

  Lyric poem- a small form of lyrics written either on behalf of the author or on behalf of a fictional person lyrical hero. Description inner world the lyrical hero, his feelings, emotions.

• Elegy

  Elegy- poem, imbued with sentiments sadness and sadness. As a rule, the content of elegies is philosophical reflections, sad thoughts, grief.

• Message

  Message- a poetic letter addressed to a person. According to the content of the message, there are friendly, lyrical, satirical, etc. The message may be addressed to one person or group of people.

• Epigram

  Epigram- a poem that makes fun of a specific person. Character traits- wit and brevity.

• Oh yeah

  Oh yeah- a poem distinguished by solemnity of style and sublimity of content. Praise in verse.

• Sonnet

  Sonnet– a solid poetic form, usually consisting of 14 verses (lines): 2 quatrains (2 rhymes) and 2 tercet tercets

Dramatic genres

• Comedy

  Comedy- a type of drama in which characters, situations and actions are presented in funny forms or imbued with the comic. There are satirical comedies (“The Minor,” “The Inspector General”), high comedies (“Woe from Wit”) and lyrical ones (“The Cherry Orchard”).

• Tragedy

  Tragedy- a work based on an irreconcilable conflict in life, leading to the suffering and death of the heroes. William Shakespeare's play "Hamlet".

• Drama

  Drama- a play with an acute conflict, which, unlike the tragic one, is not so sublime, more mundane, ordinary and can be resolved one way or another. The drama is based on modern rather than ancient material and establishes a new hero who rebelled against circumstances.

Lyric epic genres

(intermediate between epic and lyric)

• Poem

  Poem- average lyric-epic form, a work with a plot-narrative organization, in which not one thing is embodied, but whole line experiences. Features: the presence of a detailed plot and at the same time close attention to the inner world of the lyrical hero - or an abundance of lyrical digressions. Poem “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol

• Ballad

  Ballad- a medium lyric-epic form, a work with an unusual, intense plot. This is a story in verse. A story told in poetic form, historical, mythical or heroic character. The plot of a ballad is usually borrowed from folklore. Ballads “Svetlana”, “Lyudmila” V.A. Zhukovsky

Epic

Epic (from epic and Greek poieo - I create) is an extensive piece 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: “The 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 in critical 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 story and novella are the genres with which they usually begin their literary creativity young prose writers.

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. Wherein actors As a rule, animals, plants or various things appear.

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 is “The 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, compliance 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