Fictional Literature: An overview Part2

Introduction

Fictional literature is composed of three genres, types, or classes. They are poetry, drama, and prose. Each one of them is particular in the way it is produced and in terms of form (language structure and textual structure) and in terms of content, tone, and the way it is produced (style and technique of writing). These genres are universal i.e. they are known in all cultures and produced in all languages of the world.

Types of Fictional Literature

Prose

Prose is the most typical form of language and is derived from the Latin word prosa which literally means straightforward. In literature, prose refers to the literary or written form of the language of ordinary speech. We often talk about a book written in prose style or continuous form. It is a type of literary writing that is produced simply. It does not rely on a particular formal structure like poetry or drama. Prose writer simply says things without necessarily trying to say them beautifully or using an ornamented style. He relies on the narrative style with the presence of dialogue or conversation where necessary. Prose tells stories of different sizes. The language used in prose is an everyday language with full grammatical structure and straightforward style. Prose most known types are: fictional prose, nonfictional prose

-           Nonfictional Prose: It is a piece of writing based on facts and real stories of real people in real settings. For example biographies, autobiographies, essays, letters…etc.

-           Fictional Prose: The word fiction originates from Latin fingo which means to form, shape, make, or model. It refers to something made up or imagined. This type relies on the author’s imagination of the story. Thus, its elements are fully or partly imaginative. For example novels, short stories, fables, tales, and others.

·         Novel:  a literary piece of prose fiction originates from the Italian novella signifying something new and small.  It is an extended piece of prose.

·         Fable: antedated to the time of word-of-mouth or the oral storytelling periods. It has a simple structure and generally contains a moral message e.g. Aesop’s or La Fontaine’s beast fables

·         Tale: it is also an ancient type of fiction; with a simple structure too but it comprises wonderful events and supernatural elements E.g. The Canterbury Tales. There are two common types: folk tales and fairy tales  

·         Short story:  it is quite modern than the aforementioned types; it is more realistic; its structure is not so simple; fully described events and characters; it is based on one character; there are two special types: epiphany and story of initiation.

Drama

Drama is one of the first forms of storytelling in human history. Dating back to at least the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece, drama became an important part of celebrations for gods, and competitions were held for the best new work of drama.

Drama holds a story that is predestined to be performed by actors on a stage (theatrical performance) before an audience. First, it was written in verse (like poetry) but today it is written even in prose. The producer of drama is called a ‘dramatist’ or a ‘playwright’. The dramatic text is composed of dialogues between characters. Aristotle defines drama as: “man in action or man’s action”. Also, Marjory Bolton says: “drama is literature that talks and walks before our eyes”. Drama is a story with all the elements of a story like characters or the actors, setting, actions, conflicts, themes, and the plot.

The most important characteristic of drama is acting on a stage in front of an audience. It generally comprises dialogues between characters. Drama has many types that can be classified according to the themes, mood, and resolution of the play. The most known ones are Tragedy, Comedy, Melodrama, Farce, and Historical plays.

-            Tragedy: Tragedies are stories with serious tones that end with sadness, death, or a catastrophe. They are written to generate pity, calamities, and fear. For example Shakespeare's Hamlet.

-           Comedy: It enfolds a lighter tone and it is written to generate joy, laughter, and happiness. It ends happily. For example Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

-           Melodrama: This type represents common figures or heroes (good and bad) who are put in serious thrilling, sentimental and regularly risky circumstances. Much exaggeration is played in this type of drama. For example Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie.

Poetry

The word poetry is derived from the Greek “poiesis”, meaning a "making" or"creating". It is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities with or without its ostensible meaning. Poetry may be used either as an independent art by itself or in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns or lyrics. Earlier definitions of poetry focused on the uses of speech in rhetoric, drama, song and comedy. Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Poetry's use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations