GENRES OF LITERATURE

DRAMA POETRY FICTION NON-FICTION

Tragedy Epic-poem NOVEL Essay

Comedy Sonnet Short-story Treatise

Ballad Tale Biography

Ode Novella Newspaper Article

Elegy
 FICTION

• A definition: The term derives from the Latin «fingere» and became
famous in the XVIII century to describe the narrative of imaginary
events or characters as opposed to the narrative of historical events or
personalities.
• Therefore, NARRATIVE FICTION is
THE NARRATION OF A SUCCESSION OF FICTIONAL EVENTS
 The Rise of the Novel
Together with Journalism, the best expression of Augustan prose was the
NOVEL
The term comes from the Latin «Novus» and refers to a prose work which was new
not only in the sense that it was original (not traditional), but also because it
reported, or pretended to report, recent events

What is a novel?
«A fictitious prose narrative of considerable length in which characters and actions
representative of real life are portrayed in a plot of more or less complexity»
In other words, novels portray characters and actions of the real life and generally
give the reader the impression that they resemble ordinary life.
 FEATURES OF A NOVEL
• 1. Time Setting f. The chronological sequence of events
• 2. Place Setting a. The speaking voice telling the story
• 3. Characters d. The place where the story is set
• 4. Plot e. The way the story is told
• 5. Story b. The angle from which the story is told
• 6. Narrator c. The time when the action takes place
• 7. Point of view g. Persons, animals or beings in the
story who perform the action or moving the
story among a plot line
 Some Reasons for the Rise of the Novel
Character- Sketches in the periodicals (In «The Spectator» appeared
an imaginary club of lawyers, merchants, men of letters, as Mr
Spectator himself or Sir Roger de Coverly, commenting on the
important social or politcal events from their point of view)
The spread of literacy among the Middle Class
The diffusion of lending and circulating libraries
The novel followed the rise in importance of the Middle Class to which
it was primarly addressed
Reading a novel beacame a form of entertainment as an alternative to
poetry or drama
 PIONEERS OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL
• D.DEFOE
• SAMUEL RICHARDSON
• HENRY FIELDING
• JOHNATAN SWIFT
THE FEATURES OF THE XIX CENTURY NOVEL (Early Vitctorian novel) VS THE
MODERN NOVEL
 PLOT-Generally long and articulate
with subplots; plots assume a key
role in the narration together with
descriptions of places, events and
characters; it follows a chronological
order and may cover relatively long
periods
 CHARACTERS- Generally flat
characters, described in detail and
externally; the readers perceive their
psychological traits by their
behaviours or reactions
 NARRATOR-mostly third person
omniscient provides a comment on
the plot and a unique point of view
(his own or of the character he
sympathezis with); the narration is
realistic and objective
 Writers and readers shared social
and moral values
 PLOT- Became unimportant and often
inexistent (nothing happens, no action)>the
characters inner flow/train of thoughts and
perception=stream of consciousness;
narrative tecnique: INTERIOR MONOLOGUE
(the verbal expression of a psychic
phenomenon); the events are not necassarily
set in a chronological order and TIME is the
internal time of the character (relative and
subjective, not objective)-HISTORICAL TIME VS
PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME (BERGSON)
 CHARACTERS-Round; little exterior
descriptions, they are presented in their inner
life; they have a psychological depth and
complexity
 NARRATOR- loses its authority and is nearly
(Woolf) or totally (Joyce) absent; the point of
view shifts from one character to another
(multiperspective reality);subjective narration