Genre in Literature 

Perhaps this concept is little known to those who dislike writing or reading, but is a topic of utmost importance to anyone looking to start writing a book or manual. But what exactly does it mean to prefer one genre to another? And why, since ancient times, scholars have always been concerned with distinguishing between different literary works?

Literary sciences have always been divided into various genres, which makes it easier for the reader to classify them, critical reasoning and choice. The first general distinction is made between poetry, prose and theater, the latter being characterized since ancient times by very different communicative fields.

Prose is a literary form of "memorial writing", but also jurisprudence and ancient history: works that require clear, fluid and direct writing to be understood by even less experienced readers, such as the works of Caesar and Cicero (for citing some of the most important examples of our ancient history) or collections of jurisprudence that have come down to our days from Roman law, thanks to the codification of medieval law.

The volume and purpose of the poem are completely opposite because they try to create the musicality of the sound through the rhythm of the words and the order expressed in the poetic verses.

Finally, when we talk about the literary genre of "prose," we mean more fiction, or rather the writing of a story or novel. In different forms of storytelling, you, in turn, can find different genres, such as photo novels and scripts (the former are novels for images, and the latter are real-life TV and film scenarios).

But what are literary genres, why are there different types and why do you need to know them before writing a book?

Answers to these questions cannot be given without taking into account some considerations associated with the scientists of classical literature many centuries ago. In fact, since ancient times, there has been a need to catalog all works with a very specific title, primarily for reasons of order and concreteness. All books differ in genres (categories), which depend on the story they tell the reader. Thus, all works differ in the story they tell, and everyone chooses the book of the genre that he likes best, based on his personal preferences. The first important difference today, though general and very varied, is what is being done between fable, fairy tale, and novel, each of which differs in categories.

What is a literary genre?

Literary genre can be defined as "the category of literary writing." It is not easy to pinpoint the various genres of literature that exist, because it is a widely debated topic by the eminent literary scholars themselves. A general classification of the subject has been made since the Renaissance, but the correct differentiation of literary genres is still a concept in continuous evolution, but above all without specific connotations. Before analyzing in detail the various genres that have survived to this day, it is important to focus on the evolution of this subject, starting from the dawn of the literary tradition: an analysis that cannot ignore the need to mention some of the classics.

In literature, the definition of various literary categories is one of the most controversial problems of antiquity, starting with the Renaissance, the period when the Poetics of Aristotle was analyzed. In fact, it was Plato who highlighted the early distinctions between the mimetic, narrative and mystical genres, highlighting how important it was to classify the various works created by eminent scientists in order to become an excellent communication tool as well. Therefore, since the past, various literary genres have been distinguished on the basis of certain elements, but never created a hierarchical and strict order, as is often the case today.

According to the canons of classical literature, in order to classify a genre, several elements must be taken into account, including the author's method of writing and the nature of the topics covered: characteristics that, according to the classics, make it possible to determine which category a work belongs to. Over the years, various "genre theories" have been formulated, although the fundamental era was the era of romanticism, when scholars distinguished between "epic, lyric and drama." Based on the classification of classical works, it is easy to determine the genre of the work, based on the nature of the topics discussed in the work, by establishing the identity of its content on the basis of the topic and form under consideration (thus, taking into account the prevalence of the topics covered: for loving, creative or adventurous examples).

Some narrative works explicitly declare their genre without leaving the reader in any doubt, often using a subtitle that can guide his choice and direct him towards the book he prefers. This does not mean that the genre is always and in any case easily recognizable by the reader, often the text cannot immediately reveal its category, because often the cover, title or plot do not give unambiguous indications, but they force the reader to ask questions in advance to get additional information. which can guide him towards the right choice. On the other hand, more formalized literary genres, or those that leave the reader in no doubt (such as epic, tragedy, and comedy), are all those that tell an ancient story and have been reproduced over the centuries with new interpretations. and codification, but never deviating from the original plot, for example, Greek stories or the great classics of Italian literature (think of genres explicitly defined by the authors themselves, for example, the works of Homer and Virgil, clearly labeled as "classical" "works).

Given that the definition of literary genres is an activity that has always been carried out, that is, a concept subject to variation, rethinking and adjustments, there is no absolute classification indicating a universal definition, but a general classification can still be made. outside, dividing different genres into different fundamental groupings.