CLASSIFICATION of LITERARY TEXTS

Image: Slideshare

Literature is one of the most important parts of a Language since it is the most creative part of it. So that you know a little more about it, in this lesson from a TEACHER we want to show you what the classification of literary texts. First of all, it should be noted that there are different literary genres and that these will be the ones that mark the classification that we are going to offer you below.

In order to establish a classification of literary textsWe must first ask what these types of text are. Let's see, therefore, their own characteristics and how we can distinguish them from non-literary texts.

They have been created in an original way with the aim that they remain in time as they were written. They have a aesthetic sense that seeks beauty and awakening moods and feelings in the reader. It is a disinterested communication since it does not seek the purpose immediately. Despite this, many authors do have their own purpose when writing a literary text, such as social, political, denunciation, etc.

The reader cannot establish a response with the issuer, that is, it is a one-sided reader that does not establish a relationship with the author. In other words, the sender is addressing a universal receiver and therefore no contact is established between the two. Instead, the reader does show a contact with the message that the author transmits.

You can learn more about this topic in this other lesson from a TEACHER on Definition and characteristics of the literary text.

Image: My CEIP students Virginia Pérez

Literary texts are traditionally divided into genres. These genres are a set of characteristics whose objective is to classify the different texts based on the form of composition or their content. Thus, we can recognize three types of genres within literature:

• Lyric or lyrical genre.
• Narrative or narrative genre.
• Drama or dramatic genre.

The lyric is in charge of express the author's emotions and feelings, it establishes a strong influence of this in the text and uses the expressive function of language as the main one. Although it is also possible to find lyrical texts written in prose, the most common is that they are composed in verse. Thus, within lyrical literary texts we find the following classification:

• Eclogue: it is an idealization of life in the countryside and nature. They are usually written in verse, but it is also possible to find some eclogues written in prose.
• Elegy: it has a very varied theme but always expressed in an intimate and nostalgic tone. The most popular elegies are those composed during the Middle Ages, which always focus on the theme of death expressed as a song of lament before it.
• Epigram: usually expressed in the form of a sonnet since the Renaissance. It is a very sharp poem with a scathing character that seeks the coup at the end of it thanks to the use of some concise expression.
• Epistle: they are letters written in verse and that have a moralizing and formal character. These are not private correspondence between two people, but are intended to be published. Its theme is usually related to moral or philosophical content.
• Ode: it is written in verse and is intended to be accompanied by an instrument. They are usually performed in the form of a song and seek the exaltation of a specific character, a landscape or a relevant event. Always use a raised tone that magnifies what is being told.
• Satire: used to highlight those human defects, be it their behaviors or their weaknesses and they are a Latin creation. Its main characteristic is irony which is often mixed with mockery to show a contrast with the reprehensible behaviors and acts that the author wants to convey.
• Carol: It is a popular genre that appears for the first time in Spain in the 15th century. These are songs composed of several eight-syllable verses that are combined with a repeating chorus. The themes dealt with in them are above all religious and are intended to be sung with musical accompaniment.

You can learn more about this genre with this other lesson about the Origin of the lyrical genre.

Image: SlidePlayer

Narrative texts can be expressed in both verse and prose and in them predominates the language referential function. That is, in a narrative genre the author is the one who tells the story by making his characters speak in it. It is one of the most common genres today and the most widely read. These is the classification of this type of literary genre:

• Epic: the author seeks, through it, to relate historical or legendary events using a majestic tone centered on the figure of a specific individual. They usually include descriptions of battles or historical scenes that may include the inclusion of supernatural forces. Many characters appear in them with prominence within the text and who use a very formal speech.
• Sing of deed: the epic is similar, but unlike that one, this one has a popular character. They come derived from oral tradition and were composed to be sung by minstrels.
• Novel: in them different themes can be mixed with feelings and experiences of the author, as well as social criticism. They are designed to entertain the reader and bring feelings to the surface. They are long narratives expressed in prose that have characters and events that must face a conflict. It is the most widespread today and experienced its greatest growth in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Story: is a short story in which few characters appear focused on a main action. They tend to seek emotion and some of them have a moralizing intention. They usually tell an imaginary fact.

It can be composed in verse or prose and is characterized by the story is narrated by the characters they interact with each other. That is, the author makes them speak and does not intervene in the story. Due to this lack of a narrator, they are intended to be represented. This is the drama genre classification:

• Auto sacramental: seeks the exaltation of the sacrament of the Eucharist and deals with the dogmas of the Catholic Church with a purely allegorical character.
• Comedy: They usually have a happy ending and a happy tone. His characters are usually simple men and women who show a sweetened version of reality.
• Appetizer and skit: they are short pieces that are represented in a single act and are written in prose or verse. They have a light theme and the appetizer look for humor and the farce achieves a more humorous and picaresque tone. They are born of popular tradition.
• Melodrama: related to the serials and the love theme that seek the emotion of the public to reach their most sensitive part.
• Tragedy: they show an action that has no remedy that is capable of generating feelings of compassion and terror in the characters. These will take you to a state of catharsis that will allow you to overcome and show the greatness of the human being in the face of injustices.
• Tragicomedy- Strikes a balance between tragedy and comedy to offer a more realistic view.