Elements of Communication and Literary Genres
Understanding Communication
Communication is an act by which an individual (human, animal, or object) establishes contact with one or more others to transmit specific information.
Key Elements of Communication
- Issuer: The subject initiating the act of communication.
- Code: A set of interrelated signs and construction rules shared by the sender and receiver.
- Message: The result of coding; the carrier of the information transmitted.
- Channel: The physical medium through which the message circulates.
- Receiver: The subject who decodes and receives the message.
- Context: The set of factors and circumstances surrounding the message, which must be known to both the sender and receiver.
Functions of Language
- Denotative or Referential Function: Occurs when the sender uses language primarily to convey information to the receiver.
- Emotive or Expressive Function: Used to express feelings or desires.
- Conative or Appellative Function: Used when the speaker aims to influence or draw the attention of the listener.
- Phatic or Contact Function: Used to establish, maintain, or cut off communication contact.
- Poetic or Aesthetic Function: Used when seeking beauty in the message itself; focuses on the form of the oral or written message.
- Metalinguistic Function: Used when language is employed to talk about language itself.
Major Literary Genres
Lyric Genre
Expresses feelings and thoughts; the writer’s subjectivity prevails. Usually written in verse, but prose forms exist.
Epic Genre
Recounts real or imagined events involving the poet or others. It is generally objective. Traditionally expressed in verse.
Dramatic Genre
Used in theater, employing dialogue between characters to outline conflicts. Can be written in verse or prose. Its primary purpose is public performance.
Literary Subgenres
Lyrical Subgenres
- Ode: A lyric composition in verse, typically of considerable length, with a noble and elevated theme.
- Elegy: A lyric composition lamenting a death or loss.
- Eclogue: A composition, often in dialogue, typically featuring rural or pastoral life (bucolic poetry).
- Satire: A composition in verse or prose that censors or ridicules individual or collective vices or follies.
- Song: A verse poem, often with a theme of love, but capable of exalting other subjects.
Epic Subgenres (Verse)
- Epic: Narrates memorable actions important for humanity or a people.
- Epic Poem: Tells of heroic deeds, often to glorify a nation.
- Romance: Typically features eight-syllable verses with assonance rhyme in pairs, describing acts of war, chivalry, or adventure.
Narrative Subgenres (Prose)
- Story (Short Story): Can be popular/anonymous or literary. A brief narrative featuring invented events involving one or more characters, with a relatively simple plot. Sometimes has a moral purpose (apologue).
- Novel: A lengthy narrative, though variable in length, with a much more developed plot than a short story. Unlike the short story, the novel often delves deeper into characters’ thoughts, feelings, and spiritual evolution.
Dramatic Subgenres
- Tragedy: Represents terrible conflicts involving elevated or passionate characters who are often victims of uncontrollable passions. Typically ends with the protagonist’s downfall or death.
- Comedy: Represents the lighter, happier, or funnier aspects of human life through conflict, usually concluding with a happy outcome.
- Drama (as a subgenre): Represents serious problems, sometimes incorporating comic elements. The ending is often serious or bleak, but not necessarily tragic.
- Opera: A dramatic composition where characters sing their roles entirely, set to music. Essentially a dramatic poem set to music.
- Zarzuela: A Spanish literary-musical work combining spoken and sung scenes. Often reflects customs, popular concerns, or political satire through vivid portrayals.