Over the millennia cultural development Humanity has created countless literary works, among which we can distinguish some basic types that are similar in the way and form of reflecting human ideas about the world around us. These are three types (or types) of literature: epic, drama, lyric.

What is different about each type of literature?

Epic as a type of literature

Epic(epos - Greek, narrative, story) is a depiction of events, phenomena, processes external to the author. Epic works reflect the objective course of life, human existence as a whole. Using various artistic means, the authors of epic works express their understanding of historical, socio-political, moral, psychological and many other problems that live with human society in general and each of its representatives in particular. Epic works have significant visual potential, thereby helping the reader to understand the world around them and comprehend the deep problems of human existence.

Drama as a genre of literature

Drama(drama - Greek, action, action) is a type of literature, the main feature of which is the stage nature of the works. Plays, i.e. dramatic works are created specifically for the theater, for production on stage, which, of course, does not exclude their existence in the form of independent literary texts intended for reading. Like the epic, drama reproduces the relationships between people, their actions, and the conflicts that arise between them. But unlike the epic, which is narrative in nature, drama has a dialogical form.

Related to this features of dramatic works :

2) the text of the play consists of conversations between the characters: their monologues (the speech of one character), dialogues (a conversation between two characters), polylogues (simultaneous exchange of remarks by several participants in the action). That is why speech characteristic turns out to be one of the most important means of creating a memorable character for a hero;

3) the action of the play, as a rule, develops quite dynamically, intensively, as a rule, it is allocated 2-3 hours of stage time.

Lyrics as a type of literature

Lyrics(lyra - Greek, musical instrument, to the accompaniment of which poetic works and songs were performed) is distinguished by a special type of construction of an artistic image - this is an image-experience in which the individual emotional and spiritual experience of the author is embodied. Lyrics can be called the most mysterious type of literature, because it is addressed to the inner world of a person, his subjective feelings, ideas, and ideas. In other words, a lyrical work serves primarily the individual self-expression of the author. The question arises: why do readers, i.e. other people turn to such works? The whole point is that the lyricist, speaking on his own behalf and about himself, miraculously embodies universal human emotions, ideas, hopes, and the more significant the author’s personality, the more important his individual experience is for the reader.

Each type of literature also has its own system of genres.

Genre(genre - French genus, type) - a historically established type of literary work that has similar typological features. Genre names help the reader navigate the vast sea of ​​literature: some people love detective stories, others prefer fantasy, and still others are a fan of memoirs.

How to determine What genre does a particular work belong to? Most often, the authors themselves help us in this, calling their creation a novel, story, poem, etc. However, some author’s definitions seem unexpected to us: let us remember that A.P. Chekhov emphasized that “ The Cherry Orchard"is a comedy, not a drama at all, but A.I. Solzhenitsyn considered One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich to be a story, not a novella. Some literary scholars call Russian literature a collection of genre paradoxes: the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin”, the prose poem “Dead Souls”, the satirical chronicle “The History of a City”. There was a lot of controversy regarding “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy. The writer himself said only about what his book is not: “What is War and Peace? This is not a novel, still less a poem, still less a historical chronicle. “War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” And only in the 20th century did literary scholars agree to call brilliant creation L.N. Tolstoy's epic novel.

Every literary genre has a number of stable characteristics, knowledge of which allows us to classify a specific work into one group or another. Genres develop, change, die out and are born, for example, literally before our eyes, a new genre of blog (web loq) - a personal online diary - has emerged.

However, for several centuries there have been stable (also called canonical) genres.

Literature of literary works - see table 1).

Table 1.

Genres of literary works

Epic genres of literature

Epic genres are primarily distinguished by their volume; on this basis they are divided into small ( essay, story, short story, fairy tale, parable ), average ( story ), large ( novel, epic novel ).

Feature article- a small sketch from life, the genre is both descriptive and narrative. Many essays are created on a documentary, life basis; they are often combined into cycles: classic sample- “A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy” (1768) English writer Laurence Stern, in Russian literature - this is “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” (1790) by A. Radishchev, “Frigate Pallada” (1858) by I. Goncharov” “Italy” (1922) by B. Zaitsev and others.

Story- small narrative genre, which usually depicts one episode, incident, human character, or an important incident in the life of the hero that influenced him future fate(“After the Ball” by L. Tolstoy). Stories are created both on a documentary, often autobiographical basis (“Matryonin’s Dvor” by A. Solzhenitsyn) and through pure fiction (“The Gentleman from San Francisco” by I. Bunin).

The intonation and content of stories can be very different - from comic, funny ( early stories A.P. Chekhov") to the deeply tragic (" Kolyma stories"V. Shalamov). Stories, like essays, are often combined into cycles (“Notes of a Hunter” by I. Turgenev).

Novella(novella Italian news) is in many ways akin to a short story and is considered its variety, but is distinguished by the special dynamism of the narrative, sharp and often unexpected turns in the development of events. Often the narrative in a short story begins with the ending and is built according to the law of inversion, i.e. reverse order, when the denouement precedes the main events (“Terrible Revenge” by N. Gogol). This feature of the construction of the novella will later be borrowed by the detective genre.

The word “novella” has another meaning that future lawyers need to know. In Ancient Rome, the phrase “novellae leges” (new laws) referred to laws introduced after the official codification of law (after the Code of Theodosius II in 438). The novellas of Justinian and his successors, published after the second edition of the Justinian Code, later formed part of the code of Roman laws (Corpus iuris civillis). IN modern era a novel is a law submitted to parliament (in other words, a draft law).

Fairy tale- the most ancient of the small epic genres, one of the main ones in oral creativity any people. This is a small work of a magical, adventurous or everyday nature, where fiction is clearly emphasized. Another important feature folk tale- its edifying character: “A fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it, good fellows lesson". Folk tales are usually divided into fairy tales (“The Tale of the Frog Princess”), everyday tales (“Porridge from an Ax”) and tales about animals (“Zayushkina’s Hut”).

With development written literature literary tales arise that use traditional motifs and symbolic possibilities folk tale. The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) is rightfully considered a classic of the genre of literary fairy tales, his wonderful “The Little Mermaid”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “ The Snow Queen", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "Shadow", "Thumbelina" are loved by many generations of readers, both very young and quite mature. And this is far from accidental, because Andersen’s fairy tales are not only extraordinary and sometimes strange adventures of heroes, they contain deep philosophical and moral meaning, enclosed in beautiful symbolic images.

From European literary fairy tales XX century became a classic " A little prince"(1942) French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. And the famous “Chronicles of Narnia” (1950 - 1956) by the English writer Cl. Lewis and “The Lord of the Rings” (1954-1955), also by the Englishman J.R. Tolkien, are written in the fantasy genre, which can be called a modern transformation of an ancient folk tale.

In Russian literature, of course, the fairy tales of A.S. remain unsurpassed. Pushkin: “Oh dead princess and seven heroes”, “About the fisherman and the fish”, “About Tsar Saltan...”, “About the golden cockerel”, “About the priest and his worker Balda”. An excellent storyteller was P. Ershov, the author of “The Little Humpbacked Horse.” E. Schwartz in the 20th century creates the form of a fairy tale play, one of them is “The Bear” (another name is “ An ordinary miracle") is well known to many thanks to the wonderful film directed by M. Zakharov.

Parable- also very ancient folklore genre, but, unlike fairy tales, parables contained written monuments: Talmud, Bible, Koran, monument of Syriac literature “Teachings of Akahara”. A parable is a work of instructive, symbolic nature, distinguished by sublimity and seriousness of content. Ancient parables, as a rule, are small in volume, they do not contain detailed story about events or psychological characteristics character of the hero.

The purpose of the parable is edification or, as they once said, teaching wisdom. IN European culture The most famous parables from the Gospels are: prodigal son, about the rich man and Lazarus, about the unrighteous judge, about the crazy rich man and others. Christ often spoke to his disciples allegorically, and if they did not understand the meaning of the parable, he explained it.

Many writers turned to the genre of parables, not always, of course, putting a high religious meaning into it, but rather trying to express in an allegorical form some kind of moralistic edification, as, for example, L. Tolstoy in his late creativity. Carry it. V. Rasputin - Farewell to Matera" can also be called a detailed parable, in which the writer speaks with anxiety and sorrow about the destruction of the "ecology of conscience" of man. Many critics also consider the story “The Old Man and the Sea” by E. Hemingway to be part of the tradition of literary parables. The famous contemporary Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho also uses the parable form in his novels and stories (the novel “The Alchemist”).

Tale- a medium literary genre, widely represented in world literature. The story depicts several important episodes from the hero’s life, usually one story line and a small amount characters. The stories are characterized by great psychological intensity; the author focuses on the experiences and changes in mood of the characters. Often main theme The love of the protagonist becomes the story, for example, “White Nights” by F. Dostoevsky, “Asya” by I. Turgenev, “Mitya’s Love” by I. Bunin. Stories can also be combined into cycles, especially those written on autobiographical material: “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth” by L. Tolstoy, “Childhood”, “In People”, “My Universities” by A. Gorky. The intonations and themes of the stories are extremely diverse: tragic, addressing acute social and moral issues (“Everything Flows” by V. Grossman, “House on the Embankment” by Yu. Trifonov), romantic, heroic (“Taras Bulba” by N. Gogol), philosophical , parables (“The Pit” by A. Platonov), mischievous, comic (“Three in a Boat, Not Counting the Dog” by the English writer Jerome K. Jerome).

Novel(gotap French originally, in the late Middle Ages, any work written in a Romance language, as opposed to those written in Latin) is a major epic work in which the narrative is focused on the fate of an individual. The novel is the most complex epic genre, which is distinguished by an incredible number of themes and plots: love, historical, detective, psychological, fantasy, historical, autobiographical, social, philosophical, satirical, etc. All these forms and types of the novel are united by its central idea - the idea of ​​personality, human individuality.

The novel is called the epic of private life because it depicts the diverse connections between the world and man, society and the individual. The reality surrounding a person is presented in the novel in different contexts: historical, political, social, cultural, national, etc. The author of the novel is interested in how the environment influences a person’s character, how he is formed, how his life develops, whether he managed to find his purpose and realize himself.

Many attribute the origin of the genre to antiquity, such as Long's Daphnis and Chloe, Apuleius's The Golden Ass, and the knightly romance Tristan and Isolde.

In the works of classics of world literature, the novel is represented by numerous masterpieces:

Table 2. Examples of classic novels by foreign and Russian writers (XIX, XX centuries)

Famous Novels Russian writers of the 19th century .:

In the 20th century, Russian writers develop and enhance the traditions of their great predecessors and create no less wonderful novels:

Of course, none of such enumeration can claim completeness and exhaustive objectivity, this especially applies to modern prose. In this case, the most named famous works, which glorified both the country’s literature and the name of the writer.

Epic novel. In ancient times there were forms heroic epic: folklore sagas, runes, epics, songs. These are the Indian “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”, the Anglo-Saxon “Beowulf”, the French “Song of Roland”, the German “Song of the Nibelungs”, etc. In these works, the hero’s exploits were exalted in an idealized, often hyperbolic form. The later epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” by Homer, “Shah-name” by Ferdowsi, while retaining the mythological character of the early epic, nevertheless had expressed connection with real history, and the theme of the intertwining of human destiny and the life of the people becomes one of the main ones in them. The experience of the ancients will be in demand in XIX-XX centuries, when writers try to comprehend the dramatic relationship between the era and individual personality, talk about the tests that morality, and sometimes the human psyche, are subjected to at the moment of the greatest historical upheavals. Let us remember the lines of F. Tyutchev: “Blessed is he who visited this world in its fatal moments.” The poet's romantic formula in reality meant the destruction of all familiar forms of life, tragic losses and unfulfilled dreams.

The complex form of the epic novel allows writers to artistically explore these problems in all their completeness and inconsistency.

When we talk about the genre of the epic novel, of course, we immediately remember “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy. Other examples can be mentioned: “ Quiet Don"M. Sholokhov, "Life and Fate" by V. Grossman, "The Forsyte Saga" by the English writer Galsworthy; the book of the American writer Margaret Mitchell “Gone with the Wind” can also with good reason be classified as this genre.

The very name of the genre indicates a synthesis, a combination of two main principles in it: novel and epic, i.e. related to the theme of the life of an individual and the theme of the history of the people. In other words, the epic novel tells about the destinies of the heroes (as a rule, the heroes themselves and their destinies are fictitious, invented by the author) against the background and in close connection with epoch-making historical events. So, in “War and Peace” - these are the fates of individual families (Rostov, Bolkonsky), beloved heroes (Prince Andrei, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha and Princess Marya) at a turning point for Russia and all of Europe historical period the beginning of the 19th century, the Patriotic War of 1812. In Sholokhov's book, the events of the First World War, two revolutions and a bloody civil war tragically invade the life of the Cossack farm, the Melekhov family, and the fate of the main characters: Grigory, Aksinya, Natalya. V. Grossman talks about the Great Patriotic War and its main event - Battle of Stalingrad, about the tragedy of the Holocaust. “Life and Fate” also intertwines historical and family themes: the author traces the history of the Shaposhnikovs, trying to understand why the destinies of the members of this family turned out so differently. Galsworthy describes the life of the Forsyte family throughout the legendary victorian era in England. Margaret Mitchell - central event in US history, Civil War between North and South, which radically changed the lives of many families and the fate of the most famous heroine American literature- Scarlett O'Hara.

Dramatic genres literature

Tragedy(tragodia Greek goat song) is a dramatic genre that originated in Ancient Greece. The emergence of ancient theater and tragedy is associated with the worship of the cult of the god of fertility and wine Dionysus. A number of holidays were dedicated to him, during which ritual magical games were played with mummers and satyrs, whom the ancient Greeks imagined as two-legged goat-like creatures. It is assumed that it was precisely this appearance of the satyrs singing hymns to the glory of Dionysus that gave such a strange name in translation to this serious genre. Theatrical performance in Ancient Greece was given magical religious significance, and theaters built in the form of large arenas under open air, have always been located in the very center of cities and were one of the main public places. Spectators sometimes spent the whole day here: eating, drinking, loudly expressing their approval or censure of the spectacle being presented. Heyday ancient Greek tragedy associated with the names of three great tragedians: this is Aeschylus (525-456 BC) - the author of the tragedies “Chained Prometheus”, “Oresteia”, etc.; Sophocles (496-406 BC) - author of “Oedipus the King”, “Antigone”, etc.; and Euripides (480-406 BC) - the creator of “Medea”, “Troyanok”, etc. Their creations will remain examples of the genre for centuries; people will try to imitate them, but they will remain unsurpassed. Some of them (“Antigone”, “Medea”) are still staged today.

What are the main features of the tragedy? The main one is the presence of an insoluble global conflict: in ancient tragedy this is the confrontation between fate, fate, on the one hand, and man, his will, free choice, on the other. In tragedies more later eras this conflict acquired a moral and philosophical character, as a confrontation between good and evil, loyalty and betrayal, love and hatred. It has an absolute character; the heroes who embody the opposing forces are not ready for reconciliation or compromise, and therefore the ending of the tragedy often involves a lot of death. This is how the tragedies of the great English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) were constructed; let us remember the most famous of them: “Hamlet”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, “Macbeth”, “Julius Caesar”, etc.

In the tragedies of the 17th century French playwrights Corneille (Horace, Polyeuctus) and Racine (Andromache, Britannicus), this conflict received a different interpretation - as a conflict of duty and feelings, rational and emotional in the souls of the main characters, i.e. . acquired a psychological interpretation.

The most famous in Russian literature is the romantic tragedy “Boris Godunov” by A.S. Pushkin, created on historical material. In one of his best works, the poet acutely raised the problem of the “real trouble” of the Moscow state - a chain reaction of impostures and “terrible atrocities” that people are ready for for the sake of power. Another problem is the attitude of the people to everything that happens in the country. The image of the “silent” people in the finale of “Boris Godunov” is symbolic; discussions continue to this day about what Pushkin wanted to say by this. Based on the tragedy, the opera of the same name by M. P. Mussorgsky was written, which became a masterpiece of Russian opera classics.

Comedy(Greek komos - cheerful crowd, oda - song) - a genre that originated in Ancient Greece a little later than tragedy (5th century BC). The most famous comedian of that time was Aristophanes (“Clouds”, “Frogs”, etc.).

In comedy with the help of satire and humor, i.e. comic, moral vices are ridiculed: hypocrisy, stupidity, greed, envy, cowardice, complacency. Comedies, as a rule, are topical, i.e. addressed to social issues, exposing the shortcomings of the authorities. There are sitcoms and character comedies. In the first, a cunning intrigue, a chain of events (Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors) are important; in the second, the characters of the heroes, their absurdity, one-sidedness, as in the comedies “The Minor” by D. Fonvizin, “The Tradesman in the Nobility”, “Tartuffe”, written by the classic genre, French comedian of the 17th century Jean Baptiste Moliere. In Russian drama, it turned out to be especially popular satirical comedy with her sharp social criticism, such as, for example, “The Inspector General” by N. Gogol, “The Crimson Island” by M. Bulgakov. A. Ostrovsky created many wonderful comedies (“Wolves and Sheep”, “Forest”, “Mad Money”, etc.).

The comedy genre invariably enjoys success with the public, perhaps because it affirms the triumph of justice: in the finale, vice must certainly be punished and virtue must triumph.

Drama- a relatively “young” genre that appeared in Germany in the 18th century as lesedrama (German) - a play for reading. The drama is addressed to Everyday life person and society, everyday life, family relationships. I'm interested in drama first and foremost. inner world human, this is the most psychological of all dramatic genres. At the same time, this is also the most literary of stage genres, for example, the plays of A. Chekhov are largely perceived more as texts for reading, rather than as theatrical performances.

Lyrical genres of literature

The division into genres in lyrics is not absolute, because the differences between genres in this case are conditional and not as obvious as in epic and drama. More often we distinguish lyrical works according to their thematic features: landscape, love, philosophical, friendly, intimate lyrics, etc. However, we can name some genres that have pronounced individual characteristics: elegy, sonnet, epigram, epistle, epitaph.

Elegy(elegos Greek plaintive song) - a poem of medium length, usually of moral, philosophical, love, confessional content.

The genre arose in antiquity, and its main feature was considered to be the elegiac distich, i.e. dividing a poem into couplets, for example:

The longed-for moment has arrived: my long-term work is over. Why is this incomprehensible sadness secretly disturbing me?

A. Pushkin

In the poetry of the 19th-20th centuries, the division into couplets is no longer such a strict requirement; now the semantic features that are associated with the origin of the genre are more significant. In terms of content, the elegy goes back to the form of the Ancient funeral “laments”, in which, while mourning the deceased, they simultaneously remembered his extraordinary virtues. This origin predetermined the main feature of the elegy - the combination of grief with faith, regret with hope, acceptance of existence through sadness. Lyrical hero Elegy is aware of the imperfection of the world and people, his own sinfulness and weakness, but does not reject life, but accepts it in all its tragic beauty. A striking example- “Elegy” by A.S. Pushkin:

Crazy years of faded fun

It's hard for me, like a vague hangover.

But like wine - sadness days gone by

In my soul, the older I get, the stronger it is.

My path is sad. Promises me work and grief

The coming troubled sea.

But I don’t want, O friends, to die;

I want to live so that I can think and suffer;

And I know I will have pleasure

Between sorrows, worries and worries:

Sometimes I’ll get drunk again with harmony,

I will shed tears over the fiction,

And maybe - at my sad sunset

Love will flash with a farewell smile.

Sonnet(sonetto Italian song) - the so-called “solid” poetic form, which has strict rules of construction. The sonnet has 14 lines, divided into two quatrains and two tercets. In quatrains only two rhymes are repeated, in terzettos two or three. The methods of rhyming also had their own requirements, which, however, varied.

The birthplace of the sonnet is Italy; this genre is also represented in English and French poetry. The 14th century Italian poet Petrarch is considered the luminary of the genre. He dedicated all his sonnets to his beloved Donna Laura.

In Russian literature, the sonnets of A.S. Pushkin remain unsurpassed; poets of the Silver Age also created beautiful sonnets.

Epigram(epigramma Greek, inscription) - a short mocking poem, usually addressed to a specific person. Many poets write epigrams, sometimes increasing the number of their ill-wishers and even enemies. The epigram on Count Vorontsov turned out to be bad for A.S. Pushkin by the hatred of this nobleman and, ultimately, expulsion from Odessa to Mikhailovskoye:

Popu, my lord, half-merchant,

Half-sage, half-ignorant,

Semi-scoundrel, but there is hope

Which will be complete at last.

Mocking poems can be dedicated not only to a specific person, but also to a general addressee, as, for example, in the epigram of A. Akhmatova:

Could Beach, like Dante, create?

Did Laura go to praise the heat of love?

I taught women to speak...

But, God, how to silence them!

There are even known cases of a kind of duel of epigrams. When the famous Russian lawyer A.F. Kony was appointed to the Senate, his ill-wishers spread an evil epigram about him:

Caligula brought his horse to the Senate,

It stands, dressed in both velvet and gold.

But I will say, we have the same arbitrariness:

I read in the newspapers that Kony is in the Senate.

To which A.F. Kony, who was distinguished by his extraordinary literary talent, replied:

(epitafia Greek, funeral) - a farewell poem to a deceased person, intended for tombstone. Initially this word was used in a literal sense, but later acquired a more figurative meaning. For example, I. Bunin has a lyrical miniature in prose “Epitaph”, dedicated to farewell to the Russian estate that was dear to the writer, but forever a thing of the past. Gradually, the epitaph is transformed into a dedication poem, a farewell poem (“Wreath to the Dead” by A. Akhmatova). Perhaps the most famous poem of this kind in Russian poetry is “The Death of a Poet” by M. Lermontov. Another example is “Epitaph” by M. Lermontov, dedicated to memory Dmitry Venevitinov, poet and philosopher, died at the age of twenty-two.

Drama is a literary (dramatic), stage and cinematic genre. It became especially widespread in the literature of the 18th-21st centuries, gradually displacing another genre of drama - tragedy, contrasting it with predominantly everyday plots and a style closer to everyday reality. With the emergence of cinema, it also moved into this art form, becoming one of its most widespread genres (see the corresponding category).

Dramas usually specifically depict the private life of a person and his conflict with society. At the same time, the emphasis is often placed on universal human contradictions, embodied in the behavior and actions of specific characters.

Two tasks of the drama:

2. give a director’s interpretation, a new interpretation of the author’s intention in the stage production of the work.

2 (Greek - action) depiction of events and relationships between characters on stage (a special way of writing text). The direct expression of the author's point of view in the text is contained in the stage directions.

Folk: Game, Ritual, Folk drama, Raek, Nativity scene

Tragedy, Comedy: situations, characters, masks...

Drama: philosophical social historical social-philosophical. Vaudeville, Farce, Tragifarce

FORM AND CONTENT literature- fundamental literary scholars. concepts that generalize ideas about external and inner sides lit. works and at the same time relying on the philosopher. categories of form and content. As in other spheres of culture, form (F.) in literature not only objectifies the content (S.): it acts as its ordering measure and organizing principle.

In reality, form and content are inseparable, because form is nothing more than the content, as we perceive it, and content is nothing more than the internal meaning of a given form.

The form of the work includes: style, genre, composition, artistic speech, rhythm.

Both to form and content: plot.

A literary critic often has to focus his main attention either on content or on form, but his efforts will be fruitful only if he does not lose sight of the relationship, interaction, unity of form and content, otherwise he will be dealing with either the subject of literature (that is, to characterize the social, everyday, ideological, moral, psychological features of the recreated reality), or with its material (that is, to analyze the stylistic and linguistic properties of the speech element from which the writer came , creating an art form).

STRUCTURE literary work - the structure of a work of verbal art, its internal and external organization, the way of connecting its constituent elements. The presence of a certain structure ensures the integrity of the work, its ability to embody and convey the artist’s expression. content. For the reader’s perception, the work exists precisely as a concrete integrity.

No matter how unique the structure of each specific work may be, it has a number of common features with the principles of structure of other works of the same genre, the same kind and style, artistic movement, and ultimately - literature as an art form and, finally, all art in general.

Structural model of any lit. prod. can be represented - of course, for clarity - in the form of a core surrounded by several shells.

1. Theme and idea (core)

2. Inner shape- a system of images that has purely ideal character: it covers everything represented by the imagination, although described in words, - from micro-images-tropes (metaphors, comparisons, metonymies, etc.) to images-characters and their interaction.

3. External shape - system material resources the implementation of ordinary linguistic fabric and its organization according to laws dictated by the content; We are talking about such means that make it possible to achieve activation of the sound side of the text (in verse these are rhymes, assonances, alliterations) and which implement its rhythm. and compositional orderliness, sequential development of action, principles of descriptions, character dialogue, direct authorial speech, etc.

The dramatic genre of literature has three main genres: tragedy, comedy and drama in the narrow sense of the word, but it also has such genres as vaudeville, melodrama, and tragicomedy.

Tragedy (Greek tragoidia, lit. - goat song) is “a dramatic genre based on the tragic collision of heroic characters, its tragic outcome and filled with pathos...”266.

The tragedy depicts reality as a clot of internal contradictions; it reveals the conflicts of reality in an extremely tense form. This is a dramatic work, which is based on an irreconcilable conflict in life, leading to the suffering and death of the hero. Thus, in a collision with the world of crimes, lies and hypocrisy, the bearer of advanced humanistic ideals, the Danish prince Hamlet, the hero of the tragedy of the same name by William Shakespeare, tragically dies.

Tragic conflicts in Russian literature of the 20th century. reflected in the dramaturgy of M. Bulgakov (“Days of the Turbins”, “Running”). In literature socialist realism they acquired a unique interpretation, since the dominant one in them became a conflict based on an irreconcilable clash of class enemies, and main character died in the name of an idea (“Optimistic Tragedy” by Vs. Vishnevsky, “Storm” by V.

Comedy (Latin sotoesIa, Greek kotosIa, from kotoe - cheerful procession and 6с1ё - song) is a type of drama in which characters, situations and actions are presented in funny forms or imbued with the comic1.

Comedy has given birth to different genre varieties. There are comedy of situations, comedy of intrigue, comedy of characters, comedy of manners ( domestic comedy), a slapstick comedy. There is no clear boundary between these genres. Most comedies combine elements of different genres, which deepens the comedic characters, diversifies and expands the very palette of the comic image. This is clearly demonstrated by Gogol in “The Inspector General”

In terms of genre, a distinction is also made between satirical comedies (“The Minor” by Fonvizin, “The Inspector General” by Gogol) and high comedies, close to drama. The action of these comedies does not contain funny situations. In Russian drama, this is primarily “Woe from Wit” by A. Griboedov. There is nothing comical in Chatsky’s unrequited love for Sophia, but the situation in which the romantic young man has put himself is comical. The position of the educated and progressive-minded Chatsky in the society of the Famusovs and the Silents is dramatic. There are also lyrical comedies, an example of which is “The Cherry Orchard” by A.P. Chekhov.

Tragicomedy abandons the moral absolute of comedy and tragedy. The attitude that underlies it is associated with a sense of the relativity of existing life criteria. Overestimation of moral principles leads to uncertainty and even abandonment of them; subjective and objective principles are blurred; a unclear understanding of reality can cause interest in it or complete indifference and even recognition of the illogicality of the world. The tragicomic attitude dominates in them at turning points in history, although the tragicomic principle was already present in the dramaturgy of Euripides (“Alcestis”, “Ion”).

Drama as a genre appeared later than tragedy and comedy. Like tragedy, it tends to recreate acute contradictions. Like a view dramatic kind it became widespread in Europe during the Enlightenment and was then conceptualized as a genre. Drama became an independent genre in the second half of the 18th century. among the enlighteners (philistine drama appeared in France and Germany). It indicated an interest in the social way of life, in the moral ideals of a democratic environment, in the psychology of the “average person.”

Drama is a play with an acute conflict, which, unlike the tragic, is not so sublime, more mundane, ordinary and one way or another resolvable. The specificity of the drama lies, firstly, in the fact that it is based on modern, and not on ancient material, and secondly, the drama affirms a new hero who has rebelled against his fate and circumstances. The difference between drama and tragedy is in the essence of the conflict: tragic conflicts are insoluble, because their resolution does not depend on the personal will of a person. The tragic hero finds himself in a tragic situation involuntarily, and not because of a mistake he made. Dramatic conflicts, unlike tragic ones, are not insurmountable. They are based on the clash of characters with forces, principles, traditions that oppose them from the outside. If the hero of a drama dies, then his death is largely an act of voluntary decision, and not the result of a tragically hopeless situation. Thus, Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” by A. Ostrovsky, acutely worried that she has violated religious and moral norms, not being able to live in the oppressive environment of the Kabanovs’ house, rushes into the Volga. Such a denouement was not mandatory; The obstacles to the rapprochement between Katerina and Boris cannot be considered insurmountable: the heroine’s rebellion could have ended differently.

Movie genres

Drama

More drama! - Zosya exclaimed. She put on her hat and headed towards the exit. Alexander Ivanovich followed her, although he understood that he should not have gone.

Ilf and Petrov, “The Golden Calf”

Drama- a literary and cinematic genre that appeared in the eighteenth century and almost immediately gained universal recognition, is also quite popular in modern world. It is distinguished by the predominance of scenes from everyday life, close to ordinary reality. It is quickly becoming one of the most widespread genres not only in literature, but also in cinema since its appearance in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

A little history of Drama

Drama, as we know it now, actually appeared in the eighteenth century, but if we move for a while to the theater Ancient Greece, then you can find such genres as tragedy and comedy. If these two directions were meaningfully generalized, then the result would be a drama. Later, in medieval Europe, drama was considered not only as a theatrical production, but also as an independent, neutral genre, intermediate between tragedy and comedy, but in the course of numerous changes in fashion, interests, and other things, by the eighteenth century, drama completely absorbed most other genres.

What is the deep meaning of Drama?

The essence dramas consists in the inevitable collision of characters of different beliefs on the border of opinions and interests, which, as a rule, differ sharply. And everything would be great, but sometimes excessive pride and confidence in one’s own rightness can lead to very disastrous consequences for the heroes. Meanwhile, unlike a tragedy, the sad ending of the drama is not at all predetermined, which arouses additional public interest.

Drama in literature

Drama is, first of all, a type of literature (together with epic and lyric poetry), which is based on some kind of action. At the same time, the closeness of drama to epic is emphasized: in both cases, an objective reflection of reality occurs through clashes of interests of heroes, struggles, events, actions, and other actions.

But those events that are described in the epic are narrated as something that has already happened, while in drama they are understood as something living, unfolding in the present time. However, one should not draw conclusions about the superiority of one literary genre over another; they are all unique. Drama is endowed with artistic means that are characteristic only of it. The playwright, as a rule, relies on the process of action itself, during which the viewer or reader becomes a living witness of what is happening. The heroes of the work characterize themselves by their actions and language, evoking various emotions in the viewer: sympathy and understanding or hatred and indignation, respect or pity.

As for drama in the theater, a wide variety of methods are combined here: music, architecture, painting, facial expressions, dancing... This is all the result of the coordinated efforts of the production team: playwright, actors, director, production designers, etc. theatrical production drama must take into account specific features that are unique to it: the construction of the plot, the originality of the characters. The drama is designed for a collective emotional impact, trying to amaze the viewer with the severity of conflicts and the ever-increasing tension between the parties.

Drama is usually divided into bourgeois and symbolist.. Meshchanskaya depicts the life of a specific person; the conflict of the production is usually closely connected with contradictions within a family or one house. Such dramas were created by famous domestic and foreign classics: Balzac, Ostrovsky, Tolstoy, Dumas and others.

The pioneer of symbolist drama is the Belgian playwright M. Maeterlinck. Essentially it is a drama based on philosophical teachings, attraction to mysticism, transition to the area of ​​illusory perceptions.

In the twentieth century, the drama genre is complemented by the techniques of the so-called absurd literature; an absurd reality begins to be depicted; the actions and actions of the characters are often illogical.

Drama in cinema

As correctly noted above, starting from the 20th century, cinema began to develop at an accelerated pace; in just two decades, films became color instead of black and white, instead of the “sticks and ropes” method, the latter began to be used for filming. Newest technologies. And along with this, the need and popularity of films of various genres is growing, among which drama has a special place.

As a rule, a film belonging to the drama genre contains extraordinary life situations, difficult morally and psychologically for the heroes, the ending of which is often unpredictable and can rarely be predicted immediately before the denouement, again unlike a tragedy. Special attention in such films, they focus not on the creation of colorful special effects and entertainment, but on the feelings and experiences of the characters. This is the most significant difference from comedy: drama is a serious genre with a deep meaning. This seriousness attracts the majority of viewers and arouses interest and a desire to penetrate into all the subtleties of the work (film), however, there are also those who believe that excessive seriousness is inappropriate in cinema, which is already too much in real life. Drama as a film genre has no clear definition, boundaries or limits. It includes many subgenres, including, for example, melodrama, where there is less seriousness and more emotion, or thriller, where there is intense passion and constant psychological stress. It is not for nothing that “thriller” translated from English means “to cause awe” and its goal is to create in the viewer a feeling of intense experience and excitement. For lovers of very intense emotions and sensations, there is another subgenre of drama - “Horror”, which for the most part is found only in cinema. Good film Horror is a film that can scare the viewer and evoke a wide variety of emotions and fears.