Literary Genres

Literature is an artistic expression that is difficult to conceptualize. To help us better understand it, in his Poetic Art, Aristotle defined what we call literary genres.

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Gilda Radner

It is interesting to note that the Literary genre theory’s history can be told from Greco-Roman Antiquity when Western culture’s first poetic manifestations also appeared.

Literary genres bring together a set of works that have similar characteristics in form and content.

The Similarity of Work and Style

This classification can be made according to semantic, syntactic, phonological, formal, and contextual criteria. They fall into three basic categories: epic, lyrical, and dramatic. It is also worth noting that literary texts are currently organized into three genres: narrative, lyric, and dramatic. In the epic or narrative genre, there is a narrator’s presence, responsible for telling a story in which the characters.

How did literary genres come about?

The classification of literary genres was proposed in classical antiquity by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) in his Poetic work. According to him:

The lyrical literary genre represented the “sung word” since, in the past, literary texts were recited and accompanied by musical instruments.

The epic genre meant the “narrated word.” It portrayed the glorious events of a hero in extensive poems called epics. Over time, this genre has expanded, and today, it is called “narrative.”

The dramatic genre symbolized the “represented word” and brought together texts written for a play.

We interpret the world through stories… everybody makes sense of things in their own way, but if you have stories, it helps.

Paula Rego

Published by iSpirit Publishing, these articles are meant to answer all the questions that one may have on entering the Imagination world armed with a Pen and paper! It is our hope that they will guide you on this new journey of excitement and discovery.