The 12 Most Important Types Of Literature (with Examples)
Literature is one of the most genuine and ancient expressions of the human being. Because, although the first written testimonies are relatively recent, there is no doubt that, before leaving them in writing, our species already told stories and transmitted them orally from generation to generation.
Among this type of archaic literature we find not only mythical and epic stories, related to gods and heroes, but also the first signs of poetry, closely related to religiosity (hymns, songs to the gods, prayers, etc.).
We are going to do a brief review of the most important types of literature that exist ; We will examine them from a historical perspective and detail their most important characteristics.
It was Aristotle who, in the 4th century, classified literary testimonies for the first time in his work Poetics. Broadly speaking, the philosopher divided the literature of his time into four large groups of categories of literature: the epic, the lyrical, the dramatic and the didactic. This classification has remained more or less stable over time, although it has been subject to some modifications.
Let’s see, then, what the Aristotelian division consists of, one of the first ways (and, probably, the most common) of dividing the types of literature.
1. Epic or narrative literature
Aristotle included in the epic narratives that dealt with events, both true and fictitious In other words, these are texts that tell stories. This type of literature would include, of course, works such as Iliad wave Odysseyalso susceptible to being classified as epic poetry or epic due to its lyricism.
1.1 The novel
Epic or narrative literature has a clear example in contemporary times: the novel. This subgenre is generally an extensive and complex story, which has numerous characters and various plot points that are resolved over several pages
The origin of the novel is Roman medieval, chivalric novels written in Romance languages (hence the name). However, the “contemporary” novel did not emerge until the 19th century, and was definitively established as the narrative genre par excellence. From this glorious century of the novel we have wonderful authors such as Leo Tolstoy, Fédor Dostoyevski, Benito Pérez Galdós, Mary Anne Evans, the Brontë sisters or Émile Zola, followed by a long (very long) etcetera.
1.2 The story or short story
On the contrary, The story or story has a simpler structure, has fewer characters and, of course, is much shorter
This type of narrative has always been very popular, and there are numerous authors who have achieved fame with compilations of stories or stories. This is the case of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), Julio Cortázar (1914-1984), Franz Kafka (1883-1824), Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921) or Alice Munro (1931), among many others.
It is necessary to distinguish the traditional story from the story of a specific author. Just as the first is the fruit of oral tradition and is often similar to fable and myth due to its moralizing content, the second is a product of a writer’s imagination, and does not have to have any educational intention.
1.3. The fable
Another of the great types of literature included in the field of narrative is the fable. Although this subgenre could be included in the previous point, we consider it important to separate it, given the specific characteristics that the fable possesses. It is a story generally starring animals that has a high pedagogical or moral content (so, in some classifications, we can find it in didactic literature).
The fable is a resource widely used since ancient times to address ethical and moral issues. Famous are the well-known fables of Aesop (6th century BC), and, in more recent times, those of the Spanish fabulist Félix María de Samaniego (1745-1801). The latter is a clear example of the use of the ancient fable to transmit the ideas of the Enlightenment, whose educational vocation was transmitted perfectly with this type of narrative.
2. Lyrical literature
This second Aristotelian classification includes works that, more than transmitting facts, aim to show all the subjectivity of the author or singer The lyrical genre is the subjective genre par excellence, characterized by beautifying and enhancing resources of this feeling, such as metaphors, comparisons, hyperboles, etc.
This type of literature can be divided into many subgenres; Here we will only review the most important ones.
2.1. The ode
Very common since ancient times, the ode aims to praise the qualities of a character, a place, an idea, a fact… Compared to other types of literature, His tone is elevated and solemn, loaded with evident admiration and exaltation
The Ode to Joy by Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), later set to music by Beethoven, is one of the best known. In the Hispanic sphere, we have the odes Miracles of Our Lady by Gonzalo de Berceo, in which he sings praises to the Virgin Mary, or the numerous odes by Fray Luis de León.
The elegy is characterized by its sad and often desperate tone, as it sings of the death or departure of someone. It is a very common lyrical subgenre to remember illustrious deceased figures as demonstrated by Crying for Ignacio Sánchez Mejíasby Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), or the well-known Elegy to Ramón Sijéby Miguel Hernández (1910-1942).
23. The song
It is a type of poetic creation that generally sings of love. It has Provençal origin, and It was very in vogue during the time of the minstrels and troubadours although, later, authors such as Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) collected his legacy with works such as his Song book. As time advanced, the song gave rise to the sonnet.
2.4. The epigram
It is a lyrical subgenre little known today, but very common in ancient Greece. The epigram is a very short composition that highlights the qualities of a character In ancient times, epigrams were usually engraved on statues or tombstones, hence the name, epigram, “to write on.” The epitaphs on the tombs undoubtedly come from this type of poetry.
3. Dramatic literature
This type of literature obviously refers to theater, an activity that was very popular during the time of Aristotle. Indeed, theater was born and formed in Greece and, later, it took the form we know today.
3.1. The tragedy
Aristotle distinguished two types of theatrical genres: tragedy and comedy. The first, whose name literally means “song of the goat” (since the theater was originally related to the rituals of Dionysus), It encompasses compositions of a solemn and serious nature, generally with a dark ending from which a moral lesson can be extracted Some of the most famous Greek tragedies are the trilogy of King Oedipusby Sophocles.
3.2. The comedy
On the contrary, comedy revolves around laughter and criticism and has a much more cheerful character The author of comedy par excellence of Greek antiquity is Aristophanes, with works such as Lysistrata either Clouds.
3.3. The drama
Currently, there is talk of a third theatrical subgenre that makes up another type of literature: drama. Like tragedy, it presents complicated and conflictive situations, but, unlike it, It is not related to mythological stories nor does it have to contain any moral teaching
In other words; Drama is something rather intimate, of a certain group of people (or even just one), while tragedy has universal resonance. Some authors of stage dramas are the Swede Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) and the American Tennessee Williams (1911-1983).
The didactic genre gives importance to the message, not to the way of expressing it. That is to say, the author expresses a point of view and often tries to convince the reader , but to do so he usually uses clear and direct language, without the rhetoric and ornaments that other types of works might have. In Aristotle’s time it was a very important genre, since it brought into play the author’s oratory ability.
4.1. Essay
It is one of the most common didactic subgenres. Written in prose, it is a clear statement of an idea. Despite exposing his own opinion, the author is duly documented on the subject in question, and there is no room for invention or fantasy. Currently, it is one of the most popular non-fiction genres.
Essays can be literary, artistic, historical, scientific, philosophical. Any topic is susceptible to being studied and analyzed. Some essay examples are Essays on morals and politicsby David Hume (1711-1776) or the Essay on the origin of languagesby Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), both from the time of the Enlightenment, one of the periods that the essay most valued.
However, not only the 18th century saw this type of literature flourish: in the 19th century we find, for example, Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo (1856-1912), with works such as his monumental History of aesthetic ideas in Spainand, already in the 20th century, Luis Araquistáin (1886-1959), with works such as About the Civil War and emigration.
4.2. The biography
Academic in tone, usually without literary embellishments, the biography It is the narrative of a person’s life The author of the biography is never the same as the character he focuses on; Otherwise, we would be talking about an autobiography.
Biography is a perfect way to know the details of someone’s life, whether it is a historical figure, a singer, an actor, etc. The author of the biography must be very well documented, since it is not a novelization of the person’s life (that would fall into the novel subgenre), but the idea is to objectively transmit everything related to his or her life. and his work.
