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Epic is a type of literature, the main epic genres. What is an epic? Main genres of epic

Video tutorial 2: Literary genera and genres

Lecture: Literary genera. Genres of literature

Literary genera

Epic- a story about past events. Large epic works contain descriptions, reasoning, lyrical digressions, dialogues. The epic involves participation large quantity characters, many events not limited by time or space. In works of an epic nature, a significant role is assigned to the storyteller or narrator, who does not interfere with the course of events and evaluates what is happening detachedly and objectively (novels by I. Goncharov, stories by A. Chekhov). Often the narrator tells a story he heard from the narrator.


Lyrics unites a lot of poetic genres: sonnet, elegy, song, romance. A lyrical work is easy to distinguish from the other two main types of literature - epic and drama - by the lack of eventfulness and the presence of an image of a person’s inner world, a description of the changes in his moods and impressions. In lyrics, a description of nature, an event or an object is presented from the perspective of personal experience.

Between these main types of literature there is an intermediate one, lyric-epic genre. Lyric-epic combines epic narrative and lyrical emotionality into one whole (A. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”).


Drama- main literary genre, existing in two forms - a type of stage action and a literary genre. IN dramatic work There is no detailed narrative description; the text consists entirely of dialogues, remarks, and monologues of the characters. In order for a stage action to have signs of drama, a conflict is necessary (the main and only one, or several conflict situations). Some playwrights masterfully know how to show internal action, when the characters are just thinking and worrying, thereby “moving” the plot towards the denouement.


So, let’s remember what the difference is between the main literary genres:

    Epic - an event is told

    Lyrics - the event is experienced

    Drama - an event is depicted


Genres of literature

Novel– belongs to the epic genre of literature, is distinguished by a significant time period for the development of the plot, and is filled with many characters. Some novels trace the fate of several generations of one family (“family sagas”). In a novel, as a rule, several storylines, complex and deep life processes are shown. A work written in the genre of a novel is full of conflicts (internal, external); events do not always maintain their chronological order.

Topics

Structural varieties

autobiographical
parable
historical
feuilleton
adventurous
pamphlet
satirical
novel in verse
philosophical
epistolary, etc.
adventure, etc.

Novel - epic describes wide strata folk life V climaxes, at the breaking point historical eras. Other features of an epic are similar to the features of a novel as an epic work. The genre includes " Quiet Don"M. Sholokhov, "War and Peace" by L. Tolstoy.


Tale– prose work average volume ( less romance in terms of the amount of text and the number of characters, but more of a story).

Compositional features: the story is characterized by a chronicle development of events; the author does not pose large-scale historical tasks to the reader. Compared to the novel, the story is a more “chamber” literary genre, where the main action is focused on the character and fate of the main character.


Story is a work of short prose form. Characteristic features:

    short duration of events,

    a small number of characters (there may be only one or two characters),

    one problem,

    one event.

Feature article- a literary prose work of small form, a type of story. The essay touches on mostly essential social problems. The plot is based on facts, documents, and observations of the author.


Parable- a short prose story of an instructive nature, the content is conveyed using allegories, in an allegorical manner. The parable is very close to a fable, but unlike it, it does not end the story with a ready-made moral, but invites the reader to think for himself and draw a conclusion.


Poetry


Poem– voluminous poetic plot work. The poem combines the features of lyricism and epic: on the one hand, it is a detailed, voluminous content, on the other - inner world the hero is revealed in all details, his experiences, movements of the soul are carefully examined by the author.


Ballad. Works written in the ballad genre are not so common in modern literature, like poetry or songs, but in earlier times ballad creativity was very widespread and popular. In ancient times (presumably in the Middle Ages), a ballad was folklore work ritual in nature, combining song and dance. A ballad is easily recognized by its narrative plot, its subordination to a strict rhythm, and repetitions (refrains) of individual words or entire lines. The ballad was especially loved in the era of romanticism: the thematic diversity of the genre allowed romantic poets to create fantastic, fabulous, historical, humorous works. Quite often, plots from translated literature were taken as a basis. The ballad experienced its rebirth at the beginning of the 20th century; the genre developed during the years of development of the ideas of revolutionary romance.


Lyric poem. The most beloved representative of the poetic genre by readers and listeners is the lyric poem. Small in volume, often written in the first person, the poem conveys feelings, moods, experiences lyrical hero, or directly the author of the poem.


Song. Short-form poetic works containing stanzas (verse) and refrain (chorus). As a literary genre, song is in the culture of every nation; these are the oldest examples of amateur oral creativity – folk songs. Songs are composed in the most various genres: there are historical, heroic, folk, humorous, etc. A song may have an official author - a professional poet, a song may have a collective author (folk art), songs are composed by professional amateurs (the so-called “author’s”, amateur song).


Elegy. You can guess what an elegy is by translating the meaning of the word from Greek language- “plaintive song.” Indeed, elegies always bear the imprint of a sad mood, sadness, sometimes even grief. Some philosophical experiences of the lyrical hero are turned into elegiac form. Elegiac verse was very popular among romantic poets and sentimentalists.


Message. A letter in verse addressed to a specific person or group of people is called “message” in poetry. The content of such a work could be friendly, lyrical, mocking, etc.


Epigram. This small poem could be quite capacious in content: often just a few lines contained a capacious, devastating description of a person or several persons. Two circumstances gave recognition to the epigram: wit and extreme brevity. A. Pushkin, P. Vyazemsky, I. Dmitriev, N. Nekrasov, F. Tyutchev were famous for their magnificent, sometimes unpleasant epigrams. In modern poetry outstanding masters A. Ivanov, L. Filatov, V. Gaft are considered “striking lines”.


Oh yeah was composed in honor of an event or a specific person. Poetic work small form was filled with solemn content, distinguished by stilted presentation (“lofty calm”) and pomposity. If the Ode was dedicated to a reigning person, the small form could be significantly “enlarged” so that the poet could note in verse all the excellent qualities of the addressee.


Sonnet– a poem of 14 lines (4+4+3+3), has certain rules of construction:


Three-liner. Denouement


Three-liner. A denouement is planned

Quatrain. Development of the exhibition


Quatrain. Exposition

The final line of the denouement expresses the essence of the poem.


Comedy, tragedy, drama


It's very difficult to define funny. What exactly causes laughter? Why is it funny?

Comedy(Greek “cheerful song”) from its inception to the present day has been the most beloved species stage work And literary creativity. In works of comedic content, authors depict human types and various life situations in a comic manifestation: ugliness is presented as beauty, stupidity is presented as a manifestation of a brilliant mind, etc.

There are several types of comedies:

    “High” (“Woe from Wit”) – serious life situation presented against the background of the actions of comic characters.

    Satirical (“The Inspector General”) – exposes characters and actions in a funny, absurd light.

    Lyrical (“ The Cherry Orchard") - there is no division of heroes into “good” and “bad”, there is no action, there is no visible conflict. Sounds, details, and symbolism become important.

Tragedy- a special dramatic genre: the work does not and cannot have a happy ending. The plot of the tragic work lies in the irreconcilable clash of the hero with society, with Fate, with the outside world. The outcome of a tragedy is always sad - in the finale the hero always dies. Were especially tragic ancient greek tragedies created according to strictly prescribed rules. Later (in the 18th century), tragedy began to gradually lose its genre rigor, moving closer to drama. New genres are being formed - heroic historical, tragic drama. IN late XIX V. the unification of tragedy and comedy took place, new genre - tragicomedy.

Drama differs as a genre of literature and as a type of stage performance.

To understand the features of drama, one can compare the features and characteristic features of tragedy and dramatic work.

Epic (type of literature)

A significant role for the epic genres is played by the image of the narrator (storyteller), who talks about the events themselves, about the characters, but at the same time delimits himself from what is happening. The epic, in turn, reproduces and captures not only what is being told, but also the narrator (his manner of speaking, his mentality).

An epic work can use almost any artistic medium known in literature. The narrative form of an epic work “promotes the deepest penetration into the inner world of man.”

Literature

  • Khalizev V. E. Theory of literature. - M., 2009. - P. 302-303.
  • Belokurova S. P. Dictionary of literary terms.

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See what “Epic (genus of literature)” is in other dictionaries:

    - (Greek from ero to say) works of epic poetry. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. EPOS [gr. epos word, story, song] lit. narrative literature, one of the three main types... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

    EPOS, epic, many. no, husband (Greek word epos) (lit.). 1. Narrative type of literature (as opposed to drama and lyrics). 2. The totality of works of this kind, combined common theme, common nationality, chronology, etc.... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

    A; m. [from Greek. epos word, narrative] 1. Special. Narrative type of literature (as opposed to poetry and drama). Great masters of epic. 2. A set of folk heroic songs, tales, poems, united by a common theme, national... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    epic- a, m. 1) only units. One of the three (along with lyric and drama) main types of literature, which are works of a narrative nature. Epic and drama. Epic and lyrics. 2) Set of works folk art(usually… … Popular dictionary of the Russian language

    I m. Narrative, in contrast to drama and lyric poetry, is a type of literature. II m. A set of works of folk art: folk songs, tales, poems, etc., united by a single theme or common nationality. III m. Row... ... Modern Dictionary Russian language Efremova

    epic- A; m. (from the Greek épos word, narrative) see also. epic 1) special Narrative genre of literature (as opposed to poetry and drama) Great masters of epic. 2) A set of folk heroic songs, tales, poems, united by a common theme... ... Dictionary of many expressions

    GENUS LITERARY- GENUS LITERARY, series literary works, similar in the type of their speech organization and cognitive focus on an object or subject, or the act of artistic expression itself: the word either depicts objective world, or expresses... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

    Edward (edouard Rod, 1857 1910) Swiss novelist who wrote in French. language He studied in Bern, then in Berlin. From 1887 to 1893 he was a professor of general literature in Geneva, then moved to Paris. His first novels were written in the spirit of naturalism... ... Literary encyclopedia

    Epic, lyric, drama. It is determined according to various criteria: from the point of view of methods of imitation of reality (Aristotle), types of content (F. Schiller, F. Schelling), categories of epistemology (objective subjective in G.V.F. Hegel), formal... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    GENUS LITERARY, one of three groups of works fiction epic, lyric, drama. The tradition of generic division of literature was founded by Aristotle. Despite the fragility of the boundaries between genera and the abundance of intermediate forms (lyric epic ... ... Modern encyclopedia

Books

  • Content of artistic forms. Epic. Lyrics. Theater, Gachev G.D. What meaning does the very form of a work of art radiate? Its type and genre, this or that structure, plot, rhythm? Why does a playwright perceive the world differently than a lyricist or writer...

There is no word that would be so sweeping, smart, would burst out from under the very heart, would seethe and vibrate so much, as aptly said Russian word. Gogol Nikolay Vasilievich

Epic (epic type of literature)

In the epic genre of literature (other - gr. epos - word, speech), the organizing beginning of the work is the narrative about the characters ( characters), their destinies, actions, mindsets, about the events in their lives that make up the plot. This is a chain of verbal messages or, more simply, a story about what happened earlier.

Narration is characterized by a temporary distance between the conduct of speech and the subject of verbal designations. It (remember Aristotle: the poet talks “about an event as something separate from himself”) is conducted from the outside and, as a rule, has the grammatical form of the past tense. The narrating (telling) character is characterized by the position of a person remembering what happened earlier. The distance between the time of the depicted action and the time of the narration about it is perhaps the most significant feature of the epic form.

The word "narrative" is used in different ways when applied to literature. In a narrow sense, this is a detailed designation in words of something that happened once and had a temporary duration. In more broad meaning narration also includes descriptions, i.e., the recreation through words of something stable, stable or completely motionless (these are most of the landscapes, characteristics of the everyday environment, the appearance of characters, their mental states).

Descriptions are also verbal images of something that repeats itself periodically. “It used to be that he was still in bed: / They carried notes to him,” it is said, for example, about Onegin in the first chapter of Pushkin’s novel. In the same way, the narrative fabric includes the author’s reasoning, which plays a significant role in L.N. Tolstoy, A. France, T. Mann.

In epic works, the narrative connects to itself and, as it were, envelops the statements of the characters - their dialogues and monologues, including internal ones, actively interacting with them, explaining, supplementing and correcting them. AND artistic text turns out to be an alloy narrative speech and characters' statements.

Works of the epic kind make full use of the arsenal artistic means accessible to literature, easily and freely master reality in time and space. At the same time, they do not know the limitations in the volume of text. Epic as a type of literature includes both short stories(medieval and Renaissance short stories; the humor of O’Henry and the early A.P. Chekhov), as well as works designed for prolonged listening or reading: epics and novels, covering life with extraordinary breadth. Such are the Indian "Mahabharata", the ancient Greek "Iliad" and "Odyssey" by Homer, "War and Peace" by L. N. Tolstoy, "The Forsyte Saga" by J. Galsworthy, " gone With the Wind" M. Mitchell.

An epic work can “absorb” such a number of characters, circumstances, events, destinies, and details that are inaccessible to either other types of literature or any other type of art. At the same time, the narrative form contributes to the deepest penetration into the inner world of a person. She is quite accessible to complex characters, possessing many traits and properties, incomplete and contradictory, in motion, formation, development.

These possibilities of the epic type of literature are not used in all works. But the word “epic” is firmly associated with the idea of ​​the artistic reproduction of life in its integrity, of revealing the essence of an era, of scale and monumentality creative act. There are no groups (neither in the field of verbal arts nor outside it) works of art, which would so freely penetrate simultaneously into the depths of human consciousness and into the breadth of people’s existence, as stories, novels, and epics do.

In epic works, the presence of a narrator is deeply significant. This is a very specific form of artistic reproduction of a person. The narrator is an intermediary between the person depicted and the reader, often acting as a witness and interpreter of the persons and events shown.

The text of an epic work usually does not contain information about the fate of the narrator, about his relationships with the characters, about when, where and under what circumstances he tells his story, about his thoughts and feelings. The spirit of storytelling, according to T. Mann, is often “weightless, ethereal and omnipresent”; and “for him there is no division between “here” and “there.” And at the same time, the narrator’s speech has not only figurativeness, but also expressive significance; it characterizes not only the object of the statement, but also the speaker himself.

Any epic work captures the manner of perceiving reality inherent in the one who narrates, his characteristic vision of the world and way of thinking. In this sense, it is legitimate to talk about the image of the narrator. This concept has firmly entered into the use of literary criticism thanks to B. M. Eikhenbaum, V. V. Vinogradov, M. M. Bakhtin (works of the 1920s). Summarizing the judgments of these scientists, G. A. Gukovsky wrote in the 1940s: “Every image in art forms an idea not only of what is depicted, but also of the depicter, the bearer of the presentation... The narrator is not only a more or less specific image” . but also a certain figurative idea, principle and appearance of the speaker, or in other words - certainly a certain point of view on what is being presented, a psychological, ideological and simply geographical point of view, since it is impossible to describe from anywhere and there can be no description without a descriptor."

The epic form, to put it differently, reproduces not only what is being told, but also the narrator; it artistically captures the manner of speaking and perceiving the world, and ultimately, the mindset and feelings of the narrator. The appearance of the narrator is revealed not in actions or in direct outpourings of the soul, but in a kind of narrative monologue. The expressive beginnings of such a monologue, being its secondary function, are at the same time very important.

There can be no full perception folk tales without paying close attention to them narrative style, in which, behind the naivety and ingenuousness of the one who tells the story, gaiety and slyness are discerned, life experience and wisdom. It is impossible to feel the charm of the heroic epics of antiquity without grasping the sublime structure of thoughts and feelings of the rhapsode and storyteller. And it is even more unthinkable to understand the works of A. S. Pushkin and N. V. Gogol, L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky, N. S. Leskov and I. S. Turgenev, A. P. Chekhov and I. . A. Bunin, M. A. Bulgakov and A. P. Platonov are beyond comprehension of the “voice” of the narrator. The living perception of an epic work is always associated with close attention to the manner in which the story is told. A reader sensitive to verbal art sees in a story, tale or novel not only a message about the life of the characters with its details, but also an expressively significant monologue of the narrator.

Literature available different ways narratives. The most deeply rooted and represented type of narration is one in which there is, so to speak, an absolute distance between the characters and the one who reports on them. The narrator recounts the events with calm calm. He understands everything and has the gift of “omniscience.” And his image, the image of a being who has risen above the world, gives the work the flavor of maximum objectivity. It is significant that Homer was often likened to the celestial Olympians and called “divine.”

The artistic possibilities of such a narrative are considered in the German classical aesthetics of the Romantic era. In the epic, “a narrator is needed,” we read from Schelling, “who, with the equanimity of his story, would constantly distract us from too much involvement in the characters and direct the attention of the listeners to the net result.” And further: “The narrator is alien to the characters... he not only surpasses the listeners with his balanced contemplation and sets his story in this mood, but, as it were, takes the place of “necessity”.”

Based on such forms of storytelling, dating back to Homer, classical aesthetics of the 19th century. argued that the epic genre of literature is artistic embodiment a special, “epic” worldview, which is marked by a maximum breadth of outlook on life and its calm, joyful acceptance.

Similar thoughts about the nature of narration were expressed by T. Mann in the article “The Art of the Novel”: “Perhaps the element of narration is the eternal Homeric principle, this prophetic spirit of the past, which is endless, like the world, and which knows the whole world, most fully and worthy embodies the element of poetry." The writer sees in the narrative form the embodiment of the spirit of irony, which is not a coldly indifferent mockery, but is filled with cordiality and love: “... this is something that nourishes tenderness for little things,” “a view from the heights of freedom, peace and objectivity, not overshadowed by any moralizing.” .

There are three types of fiction: epic(from Greek Epos, narrative), lyrical(it was called a lyre musical instrument, accompanied by chanting poems) and dramatic(from Greek Drama, action).

In the epic genre of literature (other - gr. epos - word, speech), the organizing principle of the work is the narrative about the characters (actors), their destinies, actions, mentalities, and the events in their lives that make up the plot. This is a story about what happened earlier.

The narration is told from the outside and, as a rule, has the grammatical form of the past tense. The narrator is characterized by the position of a person remembering what happened earlier. The distance between the time of the depicted action and the time of the narration about it is perhaps the most significant feature of the epic form.

The word "narrative" is used in different ways when applied to literature. In a narrow sense, this is a detailed designation in words of something that happened once and had a temporary duration. In a broader sense, narration also includes descriptions, i.e., the recreation through words of something stable, stable or completely motionless (these are most landscapes, characteristics of the everyday environment, the appearance of characters, their mental states).

In epic works, the narrative connects to itself and, as it were, envelops the statements of the characters - their dialogues and monologues, including internal ones, actively interacting with them, explaining, supplementing and correcting them. And the literary text turns out to be a fusion of narrative speech and statements of characters.

Works of the epic kind make full use of the arsenal of artistic means available to literature; they easily and freely master reality in time and space. At the same time, they do not know the limitations in the volume of text. Epic as a type of literature includes both short stories (medieval and Renaissance short stories; the humor of O'Henry and the early A.P. Chekhov), and works designed for prolonged listening or reading: epics and novels, covering life with extraordinary breadth. Such are the Indian “Mahabharata”, the ancient Greek “Iliad” and “Odyssey” by Homer, “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy, “The Forsyte Saga” by J. Galsworthy, “Gone with the Wind” by M. Mitchell.

An epic work can “absorb” such a number of characters, circumstances, events, destinies, and details that are inaccessible to either other types of literature or any other type of art. At the same time, the narrative form contributes to the deepest penetration into the inner world of a person. She is quite accessible to complex characters, possessing many traits and properties, incomplete and contradictory, in motion, formation, development.

But the word “epic” is firmly associated with the idea of ​​the artistic reproduction of life in its integrity, of revealing the essence of an era, of the scale and monumentality of the creative act. There are no groups of artistic works (neither in the sphere of verbal art nor beyond) that would so freely penetrate simultaneously into the depths of human consciousness and into the breadth of people’s existence, as they do stories, novels, epics.

EPIC GENRES

Folk epic: myth, poem (epic) (Heroic, Strogovoinskaya, Fairy-tale-legendary, Historical, etc.), fairy tale, epic, thought, legend, tradition, ballad, parable. Small genres: proverbs, sayings, riddles.

What is the epic genre? The fact is that it is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. This is due to the fact that this genre contains several varieties. Let's figure out what this epic genre is, and what directions does it contain? And also in what connects epic and lyric poetry.

What is a literary genre?

It seems that at the beginning of the story about the genres of epic works it would be advisable to understand the concept literary genre as such. The word "genre" comes from the French genre, taken from the Latin, which contains the word genus, both of which mean "kind, genus."

As for the literary genre, it is such groups of works of literature that develop historically and are united by a set of a number of properties. Such properties are both substantive and formal in nature. This is how they differ from literary forms, which are distinguished only on the basis of formal characteristics. Genre is often confused with a type of literature, which is incorrect.

Now let's move on to a direct consideration of the question of what this is - an epic genre.

What is the essence of the concept?

An epic (this is also the name of the genre we are considering) is one (just like drama and lyrics) that tells about events that supposedly happened in the past. And the narrator remembers them. Characteristic feature epic is the embrace of existence in such various aspects, How:

  • Plastic volume.
  • Extension in time and space.
  • Plot content, or eventfulness.

Aristotle on the nature of the epic

Ancient Greek philosopher of the 4th century BC. e. Aristotle in his work “Poetics” wrote that the epic genre is (in contrast to dramatic and lyrical works) impartiality and objectivity of the author at the time of narration. According to Aristotle, the features of the epic are the following:

  1. Wide coverage of reality, which means depiction of both the private lives of individual characters and phenomena occurring in public life.
  2. The revelation of people's characters during the course of the plot.
  3. Objectivity in storytelling, in which the author’s attitude towards his characters and the world depicted in the work occurs through the selection of artistic details.

Varieties of epic

As mentioned above, there are several types of epic genres that can be combined based on their volume. These are large, medium and small. Each of these types includes the following varieties:

  • The major ones include epic, novel, epic poem (poem-epic).
  • The type of story that belongs to the middle category is the story.
  • Small ones include short stories, short stories, and essays.

Some more details about the types of works that belong to the epic genres will be discussed below.

Anything else to note? There are also folklore, folk- epic genres, such as epics, fairy tales and historical songs.

What else is the meaning of the epic?

The features of this genre are also the following:

  • A work classified as epic is not limited in its scope. As V. E. Khalizev, who was a Soviet and Russian literary critic, said, epic refers to a type of literature that contains not only short stories, but also works designed for long-term reading or listening - epics, novels.
  • In the epic genre, a large role belongs to the image of the storyteller (narrator). He, talking about the events themselves, about the characters, at the same time separates himself from what is happening. But at the same time, in the narration itself, not only what is being told is reproduced, imprinted, but also the mindset of the narrator, his manner of presentation.
  • In the epic genre, it is possible to use almost any artistic means known in literature. Its inherent narrative form allows for the deepest penetration into the inner world of an individual.

Two large forms

Leading genre epic literature until the 18th century was The source of its plot is folk legend, whose images are generalized and idealized. The speech reflects a relatively unified popular consciousness, and the form is usually poetic. An example is Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey".

In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was replaced as the leading genre by the novel. The plots of the novels are mainly drawn from modern reality, and the images become more individualized. The speech of the characters reflects the multilingualism of social consciousness, which is sharply differentiated. The form of the novel is prosaic. Examples include novels written by Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Looping

Epic works strive for the most complete reflection of life's realities, so they tend to be combined into cycles. An illustration of this trend is the epic novel called “The Forsyte Saga.”

It represents a monumental series of diverse works describing the life of the wealthy Forsyth family. In 1932, for Galsworthy's inherent art of storytelling, of which The Forsyte Saga is the pinnacle, the writer was awarded Nobel Prize on literature.

Epic means “narration”

An epic (from the ancient Greek ἔπος - “word, narration” and ποιέω - “I create”) is an extensive narrative, which is presented either in verse or in prose, and is dedicated to outstanding historical events on a national scale. IN in a general sense An epic is a complex, long history that includes a series of large-scale events.

The predecessors of the epic were epic songs that were half lyrical and half narrative in nature. They were caused by the exploits of a tribe or clan, dedicated to the heroes around whom they were grouped. Such songs were formed into large-scale poetic units called epics.

In epics classified as heroic-romantic, their main characters purposefully and actively participate in significant historical events, in the process of which the formation of their personality takes place, as, for example, in A. N. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter I”. There are also “moral descriptive” epics, which tell about the state of society in a comic way, such as “Gargantua and Pantagruel” by Rabelais or “ Dead Souls» Gogol.

Epic and lyrical genres

The two genres are interconnected and in some cases can form a kind of symbiosis. To understand this, let's define lyrics. This word comes from the Greek λυρικός, which means “performed to the sound of a lyre.”

This type of literature, also called lyric poetry, reproduces a person’s personal feeling, his attitude towards something, or the mood of the author himself. Works in this genre are characterized by emotionality, sincerity, and excitement.

But there is also an intermediate option between poetry and the epic genre - this is lyric-epic. There are two sides to such works. One of them is observation and evaluation by the reader from the side of the plot narrative, presented in the form of poetry. And the second, which, however, is closely related to the first, is that he receives a certain lyrical (emotional) assessment of the narrator. Thus, lyric-epic is characterized by both epic and lyrical principles in displaying the surrounding reality.

Lyric-epic genres include such genres as:

  • Poem.
  • Ballad.
  • Stanzas.