Literary texts written in Latin or ancient Greek are part of classical literature.
The literary text is one that uses literary language, a type of language that pursues a certain aesthetic goal to capture the reader's interest. The author of literature looks for the right words to express his ideas in a refined manner and according to a certain style criterion.
It should be noted that a text is a coherent set of statements that forms a unit of meaning and that has communicative intent (it intends to transmit a message). The literary , for its part, is linked to literature , which is the set of knowledge to read and write well.
Characteristics of a literary text
Many and varied are the characteristics that identify a literary text. However, among all of them we could highlight the following:
- Aesthetic communicative intention . Its function is to create a work of art, hence its purpose is predominantly artistic and not practical (useful).
- Own world . Whether the references used by the writer of literary texts are real or not, what is clear is that he advocates creating and developing a world in which the reader will fully immerse himself when he begins to read.
- Originality . The text must come from the mind of an author willing to tell his audience his own story, which he did not copy.
It is important to clarify that literary texts can present very different characteristics from each other. Each literary genre has its particular features: there are different kinds of narrators and protagonists of all kinds, with very varied plots.
A science fiction story , to mention one case, seems to have little in common with a crime novel. However, both are literary texts since they share the essential characteristics already mentioned.
A historical novel is a literary text that combines real events and protagonists with fictional actions and characters.
Classification according to type
In addition to the above, we cannot ignore the existence of a great variety of types of literary texts. Among them the following stand out:
- Tale . Short in length, fictional and with few characters.
- Novel . The origin of this type of text is found in Antiquity, which is one of the most important in literature and is divided into a multitude of genres.
- Legends . Literary texts based on real events and adorned with fantasy .
- Poetry . In verse and rhyme, it usually appeals to feelings and emotions.
- Fable . Creating a moral and making the reader learn a lesson is what this type of literary text basically aims to achieve, which can be written in prose or verse, usually has a limited length and falls within the realm of fiction .
- Essay : It is proposed to investigate and reflect on a certain topic.
It is possible to adapt a literary text to transfer it to another medium, such as theater or cinema.
Examples of literary text
Suppose an author narrates a conflict between two dogs . The plot revolves around how these dogs establish alliances with other animals, design strategies and carry out different actions to prevail over the opponent. The writer uses a personification of the protagonists, who speak and demonstrate behaviors typical of human beings. This work constitutes a literary text that, due to its characteristics, could be classified as children's literature.
Let's take a real example. "The Da Vinci Code" is a creation of American novelist Dan Brown that became a bestseller. In the book, the author combines certain historical data with fantasy elements to expose a conspiracy involving the fate of the Holy Grail , the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper . Although literary criticism was quite harsh, the publication of this thriller was a huge editorial and commercial success.
Let's think about the version of "Puss in Boots" by Charles Perrault . In this story, you can read fragments such as "The Marquis of Carabás did what his cat advised him" and "The cat began to scream with all his might: 'help, help'." It is a literary text intended for children where the cat speaks and shows great intelligence to deceive even a king.
The importance of aesthetics
The aesthetics of the literary text will depend on the author himself and can be achieved through various linguistic resources and literary techniques. Among these resources we must mention grammatical resources (through the addition, suppression or repetition of structures), semantic resources (through the alteration of the meaning of words, such as metaphor or metonymy ) and phonic resources (plays with the meanings of words). words ).
For example: "If you drink, don't drive. Take care of your family" is an informative text that transmits a message but without any aesthetic intention. On the other hand, a text like "If a cup of seductive nectar crosses your path, graciously thank and reject the treat, since said substance may have been prepared by the devil himself to put the existence of your loved ones at risk" It is literary: the message is comparable to the previous one in terms of content, but the language used is very different.
This example highlights how the type of text depends on the communicative intention . It makes no sense to adorn a text with language games or fancy words if you want to clearly reach as many readers as possible.