Understanding Narrative Texts and Literary Genres

Narrative Texts

Narrative is the telling of real or imagined events that happen to characters in a specific place and time. In every narrative, there is a story (the series of events that have occurred in reality or in the fiction we imagine) and a discourse (which is the expression of those facts, with order and structure).

Elements of Narrative

• Author: The real person who writes the story.
• Narrator:
  • Third-person: Tells what happens to others.
    • Omniscient Narrator: Knows everything, even the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
    • Absent Narrator: Only accounts for the most visible or external aspects.
  • First-person: Can tell what happened to them as the protagonist of an autobiography (e.g., Lazarillo de Tormes).
  • Witness Narrator: Tells what they saw or knew.
• Plot: The set of events and adventures that happen to the characters in the narrative.
• Theme: The fundamental idea that synthesizes what is narrated.
• Setting: The place where actions occur.
• Time: The time in which events occur.
  • External Time: Where the action is located (e.g., Civil War, the future).
  • Internal Time: Refers to the duration of the action.

Narrative Structure

• Parts of the Narrative:
  • Exposition: Presents the action, characters, and setting.
  • Rising Action: Exposes the intrigue, problem, or conflict.
  • Climax/Resolution: The point at which situations are dealt with until the end.
• Narrative Styles:
  • Direct Style: Reproduces the words literally, e.g., "trust in her."
  • Indirect Speech: Links the words with a verb, e.g., "trust, said it."

There are narrative, descriptive, argumentative, expository, and oral texts.

Literary Genres

Literary genres are the different groups into which literary works can be classified (e.g., epic, lyric, dramatic, and didactic).

Epic Subgenres

• Epic: A long poem narrating heroic exploits of old, e.g., "Homer's Odyssey."
• Epic Poem: A heroic poem that tells facts crucial to a town or civilization, e.g., "Camoens' Lusiads."
• Epic Poem (Medieval): Celebrates a hero, e.g., "Song of My Cid."
• Romance: Popular poems coming from epics and diverse topics.

Narrative Subgenres

• Novel: Extended prose narrative, e.g., "Don Quixote."
• Story: A short story; if didactic, it is called a fable.
• Short Novel: Somewhere between a story and a novel in length.
• Legend: Story of a historical character where a wonderful element prevails.

Lyric

In lyric, the expression of the author's feelings predominates. Formal molds include the poem, verse, measure, rhyme, rhythm, and stanza.

Lyric Subgenres

The eclogue, the elegy, the ode, and satire.

Literary Topics

These are topics that recur throughout the history of literature.