What are Literary Texts?

Literary texts are those that are part of one of the genres of literature and artistic writing, in which the form given to the message is of vital importance, as well as its content. They are distinguished from other types of texts in this respect by their strictly aesthetic intentions.

The creation of literary texts has accompanied man since ancient times, whether as ritual chants, lyrical odes, epic or dramatic narratives and many other forms that, over time, crystallized into a series of genres, called “literary genres”.

Just like other forms of art, the great literary texts constitute part of the artistic and historical heritage of the different civilizations, since they are printed not only as a specific reference point (an era, social and political conditions, specific) but also as a particular and individual feeling of the artist, whose subjectivity and sensitivity produce the work of art.

Characteristics Of Literary Text

Poetic intention

Unlike other forms of text, literary writing offers an aesthetic experience to the reader: a reading from which a spiritual learning is derived, an astonishment at the functioning of the text itself, rather than the acquisition of specific knowledge, as would be the case, for example, with the reading of a newspaper or the instructions to use an appliance.

Subjectivity

The literary text is the result of two sensitivities in contact: that of the author and that of the reader. In this sense, it is not an objective, informative text that seeks to explain to the reader things about reality, but often questions it from a subjective point of view, from an original and unrepeatable approach.

Spirit of the time

At the same time, literary texts capture the so-called “spirit of the times”, which is what is called the collective feeling that characterizes a community or an entire civilization during a specific period. For example, the existentialist novels captured the pessimism and depression that followed the two World Wars (First and Second) in the mid-20th century.

Language

The handling of language in literary texts is, at least, different. A literary text can allow itself breaks with the grammatical norm (especially frequent in poetry) for aesthetic purposes, and in general, a use of language not as a tool to transmit information, but as a material to make the work of art. The “style” of a writer is, in that sense, his particular and original way of using language.

Free of charge

The reading of literary texts is free of charge, i.e. free of charge, with no specific objectives and no use whatsoever. Oscar Wilde, a famous British writer, said that art is “profoundly useless” because it does not fulfil any pragmatic purpose in the lives of its readers, other than spiritual enrichment or entertainment.

Fictionality

Literary texts are mostly works of fiction (especially narrative). That is to say, they relate events that did not really occur, but that come from the imagination and inventiveness of the author, who re-elaborates reality according to his particular view of the world and his specific sensibilities.

This is more complex to perceive in poetry and essay, since the author’s subjectivities are not embodied in a story but in a description or an explanation, respectively.

Verisimilitude

Although fictional or imaginative in nature, literary texts are plausible, that is, credible. Its operation depends on a “covenant of suspension of disbelief” between the author and the reader, in which the latter undertakes to read the text as if it were true, even though he or she is aware that it is not. In return, the author promises to build it in such a way that the artifice is held to the last page.

Imitative character

Literary texts imitate reality, that is to say, they copy, reformulate and use it as a raw material for the construction of literary works. In this sense, literary texts are said to be “mimetic”: they are representations, imaginations, versions of real experience.

Literary Genres

There are specific forms of literary texts, which are distinguished from each other according to their general rules of operation, and which are:

Narrative: Literary texts in which a story is displayed, by the voice of a narrator. These stories contain more or less fictional, even fantastic, characters and events, captured in an original and credible way.

Poetry: One of the most difficult genres to define, as it can take on a multiplicity of forms. It is a poetic description, through figurative or metaphorical language, of some relevant experience in the subjectivity of the author.

Dramaturgy: The writing of texts for a theatrical performance, by actors and on a specific stage. They lack a narrator, although they also represent stories.

Legitimation

Literary texts last over time and are passed on from generation to generation, as they are considered valuable, relevant and important for the education of future citizens.

In this sense, there are mechanisms for legitimizing works, that is to say, they choose those that endure and those that are left aside, those that are valuable for the sensitivity of an era and those that are less so. Thus, it is often said that literature is a historical construction.