What is literary language and its characteristics

We have already commented on several occasions that we are lucky enough to speak and express ourselves in a language that has great richness. Spanish has a huge vocabulary and number of registers, which allows us a huge number of uses. So that we are aware of it, we are going to focus on this lesson of a TEACHER in knowing what is literary language and her CARACTERISTICS.

Within the language, we find various typologies. One of its large divisions distributes it into natural language, which is the one we talk about in an ordinary way among friends and family, and in artificial language, which is used with some conscious objective, and within which we find various typologies, such as the literary, which is the one that concerns us in this lesson that is already beginning.

We begin this lesson on what is literary language and its characteristics talking about the definition of this type of language. As we have commented, within artificial language we find various types, such as scientific, technical, literary and formal language.

When it comes to our knowledge of literary language, we need to know that it is the type of language that writers use in an artistic way. It can be assimilated to cultured language, although it can also include vulgar or colloquial turns as needed by the narration or speech.

Through this kind of language, a writer finds a way of expressing and transmitting ideas in a stylized way, using beauty that captures the reader's attention. This is how the development of complex plots and communication can be achieved where forms matter, since their expressions go beyond the mere explicit content of the message. For example, if we stick to character creation, using a different accent or jargon will help us is reporting a role in the story, given its origin, its way of speaking, its social traits, etc.

Literary language is used in the form of verse or prose. That is, if we refer to poetry, obviously verse is used, while a novel will always opt for prose, as is logical.

Literary language can be seen intermingled with other types. Being malleable, it can be used in journalistic pieces or in memoirs, for example.

It should also be noted that, depending on the content and structure, it can be observed in various genres, such as the actual narrative, but also in others like the didactic, the essayistic or the lyrical and dramatic.

And to finish this lesson on what is literary language and its characteristics, we continue speaking of other characteristics that, although they are not main, they are very specific and we cannot to forget. They are as follows:

• Use of fiction: the message that creates this type of language is fictitious, that is, it does not have to correspond to an external reality if it is not desired. Versatility can be used to transport the reader to various dimensions of reality, but also of unreality.
• Shape is important: In this type of language, the form is more important than the message itself. For this, the order of the words and their selection can be varied to obtain musicality, for example. That is, take great care of the lexical and syntactic construction.
• Poetic function: it pursues an aesthetic purpose, so it takes advantage of any expressive possibility to produce curiosity in the reader.
• Using figures: both at a rhetorical and literary level, use figures for aesthetic, expressive or persuasive purposes. In other words, it uses words in an unconventional way to give extra meanings to the text.