Literary Arts: Definition, Functions, and Genres

Definition of Literary Arts

Literary manifestation is an art whose raw materials are the units of language. The writer manipulates these units to produce an aesthetic and emotional effect on the receiver. In other words, it includes texts that have been developed with an artistic intention.

Defining Elements of Literature

• Fiction: Refers to the peculiar relationship that literary works have with reality, verisimilitude.
• Aesthetic language: Used for creating impressions and emotions in the reader.

Functions of Literature

• Diversion/Entertainment: Reading is one of the usual distractions for many people.
• Transmission of Ideas/Didactic: Throughout history, literature has transmitted many ideas and has served speculative thought for improving society.
• Cause Delight/Pleasure/Excitement: This is a principal function, so important that it is brought out in the definition of literature.

Literary Genres

These are categories established by tradition that allow us to classify literary works by their common features. They also serve as a model for the literary part in the writing process (writer). They have a historical character and have evolved over time, responding to a specific time.

Epic/Narrative

An author recounts the facts and actions of characters. The presence of a narrator is key (external-internal). Use of time (prolepsis - flashback). Base: history, development of the facts, and chronological frame, the order in which they are told.

Verse

• Epic: An epic poem of great length in which the facts are usually heroic, related to the origins of the community.
• Epic Poem: An epic poem, often narrating the exploits of a real or fictional hero, of songs out of romance.
• Epic Poem: Written works by learned authors who emulated the epics of the classical era.

Prose

• Novel: The most cultivated genre in recent centuries, therefore constantly evolving. A long story starring characters who often show complex psychological development throughout the story. Feature: the possibility of combining different patterns, mixing day and age, places, and distinct environments of action, involving several recounts, and accommodating disparate textual materials.
• Short Story: A short, simple story. The characters are characterized, and the facts present a simple and linear, didactic purpose.