Types of STORIES: complete classification

The story is a short story that has been part of our literary culture for a long time. In fact, there are popular tales that are those that were orally narrated and that were explained among peoples and societies, thus passing from generation to generation. But, in addition to the popular ones, there are many other types of stories that are worth knowing. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to offer you a complete list of all the types of stories that exist so that you can get closer to this genre of literature.

Index

1. Definition of short story: what is it
2. Folk tale, one of the types of traditional tales
3. Literary tale
4. Subtypes of literary stories

Before we start talking about the different types of stories that exist, it is important that we understand the concept well. The characteristics of the stories they are very decisive to differentiate this type of narration from another such as the novel. Above all, the highlight is its extension:

It can be written by one or more authors who tell us the story of few characters (sometimes just one) and that have surprising elements and a final twist that is usually unexpected. It can be transmitted from both written form (literary tale) as of oral form (folk tale) and the objective that is pursued can be very varied: to launch a message, a moralistic or ethical objective, to excite the reader or listener, and so on.

Another of the great differences between a short story and a novel is that the former pursues the objective of launching an idea of fast and easy while in the novel secondary stories converge as well as characters and subplots.

You must know how There are only 2 types of stories: the popular and the literary. But within each of these types, lie subtypes that we are also going to analyze.

Image: GK Chesterton

If we talk about the most traditional types of stories in the history of literature, we have to start by talking about the popular tale since it was the first to appear in our society. It is a short story that was transmitted from generation to generation and from town to town orally. These stories are usually characterized by narrating imaginary events that have a message behind.

There are many variations of the same folk tale, and the reason is that depending on who was telling it, elements were modified or innovations were added that did not exist in the original. Therefore, we can speak that it is a tale of collective creation whose real origin is unknown since the one that has come down to us has been an already adulterated version; in fact, it is common for the authorship of these stories is unknown.

There are different types of folk tales that we include in the following classification:

Fairy tales

Today, fairy tales are known to us mainly from the Brothers Grimm and, also, by Disney. However, the origin of these stories is popular and is inspired by characters from the imaginary of fantasy to be able to give a message that will penetrate the mind of society. It is for this reason that in this type of story fantastic beings appear like the fairies, elves, goblins, etcetera, which are the protagonists or charactersstory highlights.

Nowadays, when we talk about fairy tales that story that has a happy ending comes to mind, but this was not the case in its origins. In fact, if we read the stories of the Brothers Grimm we will find some pretty crude endings and not suitable for sensitive people. The Disney industry that specializes in family audiences decided to change some endings to give a message of hope and joy, but that was not the main essence.

Some fairy tales well known by all and that are popular stories are:

• Rapunzel
• Hansel and Gretel
• little Red Riding Hood
• Cinderella

Fables

Within popular tales we also find fables, that is, short stories that are starring animals or inanimate objects and pursuing a motivational didactic intention ethical. It is intended primarily for children and has featuresvery particular.

Myths and legends

Although it may not seem like it, myths and legends are also popular tales that have been passed down from generation to generation thanks to orality. The stories of classic heroes such as Aquiles or El Cid Campeador are legends that have been magnified over time and that are part of our literary corpus. This kind of story baby of reality but literary touches and stylistic devices are added to achieve a more impressive effect among the public.

How did folk tales come to us? Basically it has been thanks to the fact that some authors decided to transcribe these stories in written form and, therefore, today we can know them. The Grimm brothers They were one of the authors who most contributed to the fixation of this type of narrative.

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Another of the types of classic and traditional stories is the literary tale. It is a type of narration that, unlike oral, yes it is written and therefore fixed with a structure, a plot and some characters concrete. The parts of the story they are well defined and structured. Literary stories do have an author who signs the story and, therefore, we are no longer dealing with a literary product of collective creation but rather individual.

When writing this type of story, the author consciously uses a determined style, a specific lexicon and, ultimately, gives it a literary essence. In the case of folk tales, it is not so much the form that matters as the content and, on the other hand, in the literary ones, the form and the content go hand in hand and have the same importance.

In this text, the objective is no longer only to express an idea or knowledge, but the author can have many motivations for writing it. It is a text that is actively written and that has an exact direction to express the ideas that you want to express. Count Lucanor It is the first literary story in Spanish that we have evidence of, a compilation of more than 50 stories where a count asks his advisor about matters of the kingdom.

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Within literary stories, we find many subtypes that refer to distinct subgenres. Next we are going to offer you a list with some of these stories that are most frequent in our literature so that, thus, you can get to know them better:

Fantastic tales

They drink from the influence of popular fairy tales but, in these cases, they are stories that have been created by an author and that have a fixed beginning, middle and end. Fantastic and supernatural beings usually appear in this type of story that can be so much part of the imaginary of stories of fairies as of many other worlds: they can be gnomes, elves, witches, but also aliens, ghosts, unknown entities, etc. That they are fantastic means that they are inspired by fantasy to explain its history.

Tales of suspense and mystery

Other types of literary stories that are very much in vogue lately are those that are inspired by a universe of suspense and mystery. They can be detective, police, crime stories, etc., and they usually have a very well-crafted plot and a simple and direct narrative. They are stories that have a very agile pace and that will make you turn the pages quickly.

Children's or adult stories

There are also stories that can be classified according to age for which they are intended. For example, there are children's stories that are specially written for the little ones and where magical or fantastic elements are usually used to tell a story. Typically this story is didactic or moralistic and is intended to instruct. On the other hand, there are also stories for adults that are aimed at an older audience and with literary tastes. They are more elaborate constructions and they can deal with many topics. One of the great storytellers for adults is Julio Cortazar.

Historical tales

This type of storytelling is inspired by the subgenre of myths and legends. That is to say, it takes a historical and, therefore, real element to give it a literary and heroic atmosphere (or anti-heroic, depending on the author's intention). This type of story mixes real events with fictional facts and aims to delight but, at the same time, present some historical fact that is of interest to the author.

Micro-stories

And we finish this lesson on the types of stories to tell you about a literary subgenre that has emerged a few years ago but that has already earned a prominent position in the history of literature: micro-stories. They are much shorter stories that are told in a few lines and that basically launch an idea in a literary and poetic way. They are very schematic stories with very simple characters that seek to express an idea in an original way: through poetic language, through irony, surprise, etc.

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If you want to read more articles similar to Types of stories: complete classification, we recommend that you enter our category of Literary concepts.

• Espinosa, A. M. (1923). Spanish folk tales (Vol. 1). Stanford University.
• Goyanes, M. B. (1949). The Spanish tale in the 19th century. Superior Council of Scientific Investigations.