Essential Literary Genres and Movements Explained

Literary Genres

Epic

• Compositional poetry written in long lines to be recited by a bard.
• It tells memorable actions for humanity or for specific people.
• The characters stand out for their heroism and embody the values of their people.
• Uses a solemn and worshipful language style.

Story

• It is narrative and short.
• Written in prose.
• Interacts with few characters.
• It is fictional, but may be based on real events.
• Due to its brevity, it does not develop secondary issues.

Novel

• It is narrative and relatively large.
• Written in prose.
• Interacts with multiple characters.
• Presents different spaces.
• Has several lines of action.
• Develops a central theme and several side themes.

Lyric Poetry

• It is subjective: it shows the inner feelings of the lyrical self.
• Generally written in verse.
• Attaches importance to content and form, utilizing literary construction of meaning.

Drama

• Divided into acts, tables (change of scenery), and scenes (character output or input).
• The main text contains the dialogues and soliloquies told by the characters.
• The secondary text consists of the stage directions (clarifications for the director and actors).

Literary Movements

Realism

• Represents the world objectively and deals with issues of reality.
• May be used in local settings.
• Describes in detail the physical environment and actions.
• Uses popular language and presents regional customs.
• Highlights the differences between social classes, contrasting economically powerful characters with those in poor conditions.
• Raises the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat as a basis for social conflict.

Naturalism

• Tries to copy reality faithfully, even in its repulsive aspects.
• Presents facts and actions in a grotesque, raw manner.
• Focuses on the somber aspects of life, such as poverty.
• Relies on determinism: the belief that human destiny is determined by heredity, environment, and the historical moment.

Avant-Garde

• Reacts against sentimentality.
• Breaks with morphosyntactic rules, punctuation, meter, and rhyme.
• Promotes a playful attitude, including resources that favor sound.
• Introduces novel similes and metaphors based on the free association of ideas.
• Places great importance on dreams and the irrational.
• Includes eroticism.

Essay

• It is expository, critical, and subjective: it presents the author's ideas.
• Written in prose.
• It is partial: it delves into the issue.
• It has a universal topic: can be about any subject (science, philosophy, etc.).