Characteristics of Literary Language and Genres
Characteristics of Literary Language
Literary language is characterized by its distinct features across different genres:
Lyric
Lyric emphasizes self-expression, often using:
- First-person perspective
- Exclamations, appeals, and evaluative adjectives
- Repetition of phonic, morphosyntactic, or semantic resources
Narrative
Narrative, whether in verse or prose, focuses on:
- Verbal actions
- Setting, dialogue, and narration
- A narrator (the narrative voice that guides and brings life to the characters)
Theater
Theater has its own pace in dialogue, incorporating:
- Oral language
- Visual gestural code
- Characters, attention, and conflict
Didactic
Didactic works feature exposition and argumentation.
Literary Genres
Literary genres are structural models that allow us to group literary texts according to a set of traits that make up the form, structure, and tone of the theme.
Lyric Genre
The lyric genre is where the sender expresses their feelings through the medium of discourse. The basic elements are subjective, expressive, and poetic function, so that expression is essential, even though manifestations are usually in verse, they can also be in prose.
Major Forms
- Hymn: High-pitched, focuses on praise.
- Ode: Focuses on an event or person.
- Song: Melancholy, often about love.
- Eclogue: Expresses the feelings of shepherds.
- Epistle: Offers confidences.
Minor Forms
- Elegy: Expresses sentiments about the death of a loved one.
- Letrilla: Can be loving and festive, with a chorus.
- Romance: Non-stanzaic, loving, wide-ranging popular theme.
- Carol or Madrigal: Cult.
Narrative Genre
The narrative genre presents true or fictitious events. Basic elements include:
- Conscious manipulation of reality.
- Organizational resources.
- Selection of elements adapted to the writer’s reality.
Distinct manifestations:
- Epic: Long, collective creation, sings of a people’s heroes and exploits.
- Epic Poem: Sung, about national heroes’ exploits.
- Medieval Epic Poem: Epic song or recitation of local heroes’ exploits.
- Narrative: Brief, oral, and collective.
- Affair: Typical Spanish prose.
- Novel: Normally extensive fictional matter.
- Story: Short issue, imaginary characters, oral, may be called a moral fable.
- Caption: Traditional character, reflects created fantastical events.
Dramatic Genre
The dramatic genre is meant to be performed before an audience, whether as written text or scenic execution. Essential creations include:
Major Works
- Tragedy: Characters face a significant conflict.
- Drama: Combines elements of tragedy and comedy.
- Comedy: Represents the festive and cheerful side of life, with a happy ending.
Minor Works
- Auto Sacramental: Religious theme.
- Entremés: Comic, makes a grotesque of reality.
- Farce: Achieves a comical end with exaggerated characters.
- Vaudeville: Love, based on humor and a sense of song.
- Opera: Theatrical musical works, accompanying literature with music and dance.
- Zarzuela: Popular dramatic work alternating light music and singing.
- Operetta: A frivolous kind of opera.
- Magazine: Gay character, dialogue and music alternating.
Didactic Genre
The didactic genre aims to indoctrinate the reader. The most usual forms are:
- Fable: Generally short, in verse, with a moral. Often features animals with human behavior.
- Epistle: Text in letter form, used to satirize, moralize, or comfort without demonstration.
- Essay: Presents a personal and subjective matter with a clear desire for style.
Arrangement of Genres
Requires revision of poetics in some respects: tags and originality, interaction of phonic aspects, resources, and special attention to dramatic figures.
Analysis of Narrative Work
Requires analysis of:
- Elements of narration
- Narrator’s point of view
- Characters
Analysis of Dramatic Work
Requires analysis of:
- Space and time
- Characters and their relationship
- Theater techniques and stage design
Analysis of Didactic Work
Requires special attention to:
- Suitability of arguments and approaches to the topic
- Its suggestive character