Prose is considered to be the natural structure of language for the expression of concepts.
Prose is the structure that language naturally takes to express concepts .
This form is not subject to certain measures or cadences, unlike verse. That is why prosaic language is usually defined in opposition to verse .
The link with poetry
Poetic prose is known as a work that presents the same elements as a poem (lyrical speaker, lyrical attitude, theme and object), although without its formal elements (such as rhyme and meter).
This type of poem, therefore, is written in prose, but it differs from the story or story by not having the narration of events as its goal, but rather its objective is to transmit sensations.
Micro-stories are the most common examples of poetic prose, since in them the aesthetic intention predominates over the desire to narrate. Antonin Artaud and Julio Cortazar are some of the authors who have been characterized by the development of poetic prose.
Types of prose
The following three types of prose are distinguished:
* colloquial : this is an unelaborated speech, expressed mainly orally;
* elaborate non-literary : this definition covers all forms of prose that, regardless of their degree of complexity, have not been created with literary intentions (as occurs with scientific, journalistic, essayistic, oratory , popularization and the legal);
* elaborate literary : all artistic prose, whether poetic, theatrical or narrative, is included in this classification, since it is created with literary intention.
Chivalric novels are part of fictional prose.
Literature in the 16th century
Renaissance prose, based on classical models, presented more innovations than verse. In a process that began with didactic prose and continued with fictional prose (later known as a novel ), new ideas merged with the narration of traditions that would transcend their space and time until they became eternal.
Two characteristic elements of didactic prose are dialogues (when two or more characters converse to try to persuade the other participants with rhetoric about various issues) and colloquiums (which have the ideal tone to transmit teachings in an attractive and grandiloquent way). .
The aesthetic level of the prose of the 16th century is considerable and this is because the didactics of the time demanded a strictly literary character . Some of the prominent writers of this branch were Saint Teresa of Jesus and the brothers Juan and Alfonso de Valdés.
Fiction novels and prose
Within the fictional prose of this century, we find several types of novels:
* sentimental : derived from medieval tradition, it is characterized by the intercalation of verses and prose, sometimes in epistolary format, and with love themes that relate it to song poetry;
* of chivalry : associated with two important French cycles, the Arthurian (of King Arthur's knights) and the Carolingian (of Charlemagne), it is a genre that bequeathed almost one hundred works to humanity;
* Moorish : thanks to « History of Abindarráez and the beautiful Jarifa » a style was spread that sought to alleviate the tensions between the Moors and the Christians through the idealization of their relationships;
*Byzantine : also known as Greek or adventure , it tells the difficulties of couples who must fight against the opposition of their families to live their love in freedom.
Finally, it is worth highlighting the importance of " El Lazarillo ", which gave rise to the modern novel , a type of story that allows the narration of credible events with realistic characters. It is worth mentioning that the interpretation of said work presents two very different poles: those who consider it a mockery are clearly opposed to those who see it as a social denunciation .
Colloquial use of the concept
In colloquial language , the notion of prose is used to refer to the excess of words to say unimportant things.
«Dr. Ramírez is a politician of fiery prose and few ideas» y "Enough with the prose: please summarize the main points of your project" son expresiones que muestran esta acepción del término.