The Essay: Characteristics, Genres, and History
The Essay
Trial
It is not a narrative written in prose interpretation that exposes an individual on any topic or problem of a philosophical, historical, political, social, literary, etc. nature. (Purpose: to communicate ideas.
Characteristics
- Prose non-fiction with argumentative ideas
- Creative writing
- Texts are short or extended, fragmented
- Personal reflection
- Structure centered on exhibition and argumentation
- Length: between a book and an article
- Method to submit ideas: argumentative statement, develop it, and reach conclusions
Topics
- Literary Essays: Combine several topics and content with literary language
- Scientific Essays: Disclose scientific and technical aspects in accordance with the public
- Informative Essays: Generally cover current issues
- Political Essays: Expose political ideology
Textual Streams
In the essay: there is no fixed structure, predominantly textual argument and exposition. It is an evaluative discourse.
Essay Genres
- Memory/Journal: Autobiographical works, but: memory is written retrospectively (past tense verbs) while the journal is written in the present (present tense verbs)
- Systematic Dissertation: Large and fragmented reflection on a topic
- Epistle or Sham Letter: Follows the structure of a letter
- Pretend Dictionary: Independent texts arranged alphabetically according to title
- Dialogue: Conversations characterized by the exchange of ideas
- Gloss: Short essay where the reader is invited to reflect on various topics
- Travel Book: Stories of experiences or memories of a journey
- Dictum: Short sentence that enunciates a standard scientific, philosophical, or moral argument without developing it
- Opinion: Short text that appears in the press and expresses the author’s view on a particular subject
Item 4: Linguistic and Stylistic Resources of the Essay
Subjectivity and Presence of the Sender in the Text: The sender always takes a determined position, often using first-person speech. It expresses the writer’s opinion on the subject treated by mechanisms of modalization (change of register or language variety may indicate distance from what is being said). Dialogism and Presence of the Receiver: Relationship to the conversation: features of orality and strategies are used. The reader is present when the sender asks questions and anticipates their reactions. Enunciative Polyphony and Intertextuality: Enunciative Polyphony: Different enunciative voices are used, sometimes the main voice incorporates opposing viewpoints to reflect or counter-argue. Intertextuality: When a text includes references to other texts or refers to other enunciators (direct or indirect quotes, style references, popular expressions, famous phrases, sayings). Register: Combines formal and informal resources of orality. Expressive Resources: (All three contribute to the friendliness of the text). Paradox: Seemingly contradictory expressions that appear to say something absurd. Irony: It says the opposite of what it should say, trusting the receiver to interpret the statements as an expressive resource and not as reality; it cannot be understood without context. Humor: Resource that makes the message more engaging and accessible to the reader. In the essay, we often use: evaluating adjectives, sayings, evaluating adverbs (well, unfortunately), verbs of opinion (I think, I believe), periphrasis of obligation and probability. The sentence is not modality-enunciative.
The Essay in the 20th Century
Brief Historical Overview
The essay has precedents in ancient Greco-Roman times (epistles) and classic authors (Plato, Plutarch), but Montaigne is considered the father of the essay. He combined ideological content with friendliness and was the creator of the first “Essais”. The Renaissance (the genre had not yet achieved full identity) managed to give it full identity thanks to the dialectic and rational attitude. The Baroque was the exception due to strong cultural and ideological hardening, but the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century (Voltaire) continued to nurture it. 19th Century: In England, authors continued to write essays, but a differentiation began between the scientific treatise and the evaluative essay. Twentieth Century: After World War II, there was another resurgence of the genre thanks to the humanist conception. In our literature, the beginning of the Noucentisme movement is marked by the publication of the Glossary by Eugeni d’Ors, which often uses aphorisms, articles, and short essays, with a series of political and cultural theories. Postwar: Works by (Josep Ferrater Mora, Jaime Vicens Vives, Manuel Sanchis Guarner).
Manuel Sanchis Guarner
Philologist, historian, and folklorist, he was one of the signatories of Normes 32. He studied the variations in dialects within the Catalan language area. After the war, he was imprisoned. Then he moved to Majorca and worked on the development of Catalan-Valencian-Balearic. He authored over a hundred studies of linguistics, literary history, essays, etc. Examples: The Renaissance in the Valencian Country (1981), the noteworthy Valencian Grammar (Valencian regulations, 1950), and The Valencian Language (highly influential essay, 1962). He received the Honor Award of Catalan Letters in 1974. Valencia was always grateful for his work for the recovery of the Valencian language, especially after he suffered a bomb attack in 1978. He died in 1981.