LITERARY PERIODS
Literary eras : they are the different periods in
which literature has developed throughout the
history of humanity. Several literary eras are
recognized:
Preclassical era, classical era, medieval era,
Renaissance era, baroque era, neoclassical
era, romantic era, modernist era and
postmodernist era. Each era corresponds to a
set of characteristics that are typical of human
literary and artistic development from ancient
times to the present day, as follows:
1. Preclassical era : (19th century BC > 8th
century BC) Traditionally this era is considered
mythical, that is, man tries to explain the origin
of the universe, the world and man through the
intervention of supernatural beings. Man's
concern for nature, the explanation of natural
phenomena, the relationship between man and
God, the origin of peoples, moral norms for the
behavior of people are recognized as
characteristic characteristics of this period and
expressed in literature. man and the
conservation of the traditions, uses and
customs of these peoples. In this period,
myths, legends, apologists and some works
were born that would later give shape to what
we today call epics and epic songs. The literary
development of this period occurs mainly in
Eastern countries: China, India and in the
Middle East, especially Egypt and Judea.
2. Classical period: (8th century BC ---> 3rd
century AD) corresponds to the development of
Greek and Latin cultures. In this period there is
a concern to try to explain man, the world and
the universe in a rational way, likewise the
literary expression corresponds to the refined
use of the predominant languages; For this
reason, the literature that is a product of
classical culture acquires well-defined
characteristics that can be summarized as
follows:
Balance between form and content, that is,
between expression and message, conscious
use of literary resources, concern for the
separation or classification of different types of
works, the description of human prototypes, the
narration of heroic deeds that They reflect the
duty of the people who originate them. In this
period, literature acquired a high degree of
development, especially in Greece, where two
of the greatest epics of universal literature
appeared: “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” epic
works that mix legendary, mythical, and unreal
events from the origins of the Greek people
that, thanks to modern research, have been
proven in some way (for example: the real
existence of Troy, the site where, according to
the epic, the events narrated take place).
We owe Greek culture the classification of
works into clearly differentiated literary genres:
the epic or narrative genre, the dramatic or
theatrical genre, and the lyrical or poetic genre.
The written works from this period that have
come down to us endure as models of the art
of good writing.

3. Medieval era ( end of the 3rd century to the
14th century) after the fall of the Western
Roman Empire, Western Christianity takes hold
and all cultural manifestations correspond to
the religious ideals of Christianity: the
transience of life, the contemplation of God,
customs consistent with religious morality, in
general a theocentric vision that encompasses
all human activities. For the above reason,
most literary manifestations propose the
religious ideal. However, the popular and the
cultured are mixed, creating a curious
symbiosis between paganism and religion. In
this period, literature manifests itself in two
different ways: A cultured literature to which the
conservation of ancient texts is due, carried out
by clerics and which corresponds to the so-
called “Mester de clerecía”; And another,
carried out by the people based on oral
tradition, customs, myths, legends that we
know as “Mester de minstrelsy” in which
popular imagination and creativity are
experienced. It is important to note that in this
period vernacular languages were formed in
Europe. Product of literary development, the
songs of deeds appear.
4. Renaissance era (14th and 15th centuries)
new ideas that developed slowly at the end of
the medieval period as well as new
geographical discoveries gave rise to the so-
called Renaissance in which the theocentric
vision of the Middle Ages was changed by the
anthropocentric one characteristic of that
period. A movement called Humanism
appeared that expanded the vision of man and
the world. In this period all the arts flourish, just
name painting, architecture and of course
literature. Greco-Latin models are emulated
and renewed especially in poetry and narrative;
The advent of the modern novel is being
prepared. The great epic poems that take up
the exploits of the heroes and the deeds of the
great discoverers belong to this period, for
example “Os Lusíadas” which has as its
theme the expedition of Vasco da Gama.
Apparently disparate figures such as
Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Bocaccio, Nícolo
Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci, William
Shakespeare among others are considered
within this period. In poetry, there are important
contributions such as the sonnet and the
meters introduced by Petrarch.
5 . Baroque era (16th and 17th centuries)
Baroque art is fundamentally characterized by
excess of ornament, the use of literary figures,
twisted forms and in some cases hermeticism
in the language. Although the Baroque existed
throughout Europe and was developed
fundamentally as a religious art such as
cathedrals, it also occurs in literature,
especially Spanish literature, where two large
aspects are configured: conceptism and
culteranism, which we will talk about later.
Likewise, the figure of Miguel de Cervantes
and his work “The Ingenious Gentleman Don
Quixote of La Mancha” appears, considered
the first modern novel .
6. Neoclassical era ( late 17th century and
part of the 18th century) neoclassicism was
based on the imitation of classical models.
However, the era is dominated by Reason.
This makes possible the pedagogical ideal of
literature: teaching through it. Genres such as
the fable and the essay flourish; The balance is
maintained between substance and form, that
is, between content and form of expression.
Furthermore, the adventure novel appears,
classical French theater develops and the
ideas of Enlightenment, Enlightenment and the
Encyclopedia spread, which would later give
rise to Romanticism.
7. Romantic era ( late 18th century and 19th
century). Literary Romanticism covers the
period between approximately 1790 and 1830,
although in America it extended until the end of
the century due to its late appearance due to
the wars of independence. The emergence of
this literary school is largely due to the
dissemination of the ideas of the
Enlightenment, the Enlightenment and the
Encyclopedia that had preceded the French
Revolution. The romantic spirit exalts
subjectivism, the predominance of feelings
over reason, the breaking of norms. For the
romantics, the literary work did not necessarily
have to be in accordance with reality; but to
specify the moods of the writer. The content,
the message, is then more important than the
form. The author evades reality and takes
refuge in his own “I”; This does not prevent him
from having a critical attitude towards society.
8. Modernist era (end of the 19th century and
beginning of the 20th century) The modernist
literary era is linked to the search for formal
perfection, therefore it evades reality, it refers
to fantastic worlds, princesses, remote
landscapes. From this conception, the so-
called “art for art's sake” arises. In modernism
form prevails over content. Despite the
temporal transience, modernism is considered
a literary school. The development of
modernism occurred especially in poetry.
9. Postmodern or avant-garde era ( From the
second decade of the 20th century to the
present day) This period is marked by the
intense development of the technique and
production methods inherited from the second
half of the 19th century and those of the early
technological development. of the 20th century:
the automobile, photography, the phonograph,
weapons, etc. The development of socialist
ideas, the appearance of psychoanalysis, world
wars, new theories on language expressed in
different intellectual currents such as the one
expounded by Ferdinand de Saussure,
according to which words are mere signs with
which we express reality and that do not
coincide with the essence of the objects, but
are arbitrarily placed by each culture, made
possible new forms of artistic expression that
incorporated new discoveries and conflicts in
various movements, collectively called “avant-
garde”.
New techniques and symbols become evident
in art and literature. Likewise, Avant-garde
shows admiration for progress and
technological products, new narrative
techniques, the use of factory smoke as a
symbol of the new era, unusual syntax,
experimental techniques in the use of
language, calligrams, creation of terms or
words, etc.
LITERARY GENRES

The genre of the novel and its variants
Many times a novel is defined by its length and its
narrative nature, as well as its structure. Although
today this definition is much more blurred, since
many writers write novels in which not only does
"the novelistic" fit, but also make room for essays,
inserted stories or other variants. So, at the outset,
we can say that each genre is open. There's a
reason we're talking about creative writing. The
novel has generally agreed limits and
characteristics (length, complex narrative structure,
plot arc, symbolic resolution of plots...), and in turn,
it is divided as a genre into multiple subgenres,
each with its own formal rules. . We highlight some:
 Science fiction/fantastic novel : science fiction
and fantasy are not the same, but the supernatural
appears in both elements. If someone writes a
science fiction novel, they will be closer to
technology and the future. Fantasy involves
approaching completely invented and often
timeless worlds (The Lord of the Rings)
 Adventure novel : The adventure novel has a fairly
rigid structure, in which the movement of a
character through different events and geographies
takes precedence.
 Autofiction novel : a type of new literary
subgenre. Here, the narrator talks about himself,
makes fiction about himself. We do not invent
worlds or travel. The journey is only internal, in the
consciousness and what the narrator sees.
 Detective novel : another subgenre of the novel,
and one of the most frequented by readers and
writers. The detective novel has quite limited rules.
It generally presents suspense stories or mysteries
in which the resolution of a crime or misdemeanor
is at stake.
The story and the short form
The story is distinguished from the novel by its
length and also by its structure and approach.
Furthermore, the short form itself accepts different
subgenres and variants. We start, for example,
from the classic genre of the fairy tale, and we see
how, throughout the history of literature, the
classification has been expanded:
 Fairy tale : The fairy tale or fable ruled human
narratives for many centuries. Nowadays, this type
of story, always allegorical and symbolic, has
become closer to children, so it is still necessary to
master it if we are interested in writing children's
literature.
 The modern story : writers like Kurt Vonnegut or
Raymond Carver wrote decalogues and guides for
writing good stories - from the modern point of
view, where the rules are more open and give rise
to formulas different from that of the fairy tale.
 The short story : they usually have a length that
does not exceed one page. It's about pills, events,
sudden blows. The art of the short story requires a
lot of capacity for synthesis and abstraction.
 Writing aphorisms : the tiniest part of literary
creation: artifacts that are not much longer than a
simple sentence. Without a doubt, one of the most
difficult genres to master (some references in this
area: Franz Kafka or Augusto Monterroso)
The essay, a genre that spreads into other
genres
Since 2000 (even a little before) literary genres
have begun to blur. We saw it very well in the work
of some authors such as Enrique Vila-Matas or WG
Sebald. These two authors, very successful in the
late 90s, composed novels in which, suddenly, the
essay genre acquired a great presence. That is,
modern writers often hybridize genres. But... how is
the essay inserted into a fictional text? Or more
simply: how do you properly write the genre of the
essay? In the essay, imagination no longer plays as
much as the capacity for synthesis and
interrelation. An essay text presents ideas,
elaborates them and draws conclusions. All of this
can be mixed, of course, with a narrative text, and
we would thus have a hybrid. So mastering the art
 of the essay is also important for a fiction writer
(think documentation, descriptions, digressions...)
Literary genres according to Aristotle
Let's see how the modern classification that we
have presented differs from the classification that
Aristotle presents in his poetics. Let us remember
that his text is more than two thousand years old:
from this, let us look at the similarities of what he
proposes compared to what we propose. Aristotle
distinguishes between three types of literary
genres.
 Within the lyrical genre there are the elegy, the
hymn, the ode or other variants of poems, each one
determined by a style (for example, the elegy is
adopted to sing to the deceased).
 The dramatic genre includes tragedy, comedy and
other variants that, within the context of theater,
imply different styles and approaches.
 In the didactic genre: Essay, biography, chronicle,
etc., would be the subgenres of the didactic genre.

 Epic genre : it is the old way of defining the current

narrative genre. Narration, description and dialogue
form the epic genre, which usually relates invented
or real events with narrative intention (explaining
the events themselves).
 Lyrical genre : Its usual expression is the poem.
With the lyrical genre, the emotional is expressed in
a symbolic key. There is not so much interest in the
facts, but in what is extracted from them.
 Dramatic genre : the one closest to theater. This AUTHOR OF ROMEO AND JULIET
genre is based on a specific episode, without a
narrator and with dialogue as a key element.
 Didactic genre : the essay would be a modern
derivative. In the didactic genre the final intention
is, always and above all, to teach something. It
does not focus so much on how it is narrated, but
on what what is narrated implies.

LITERARY SUBGENRES
From these three general categories, we get to
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616) was an English
know the subgenres into which they are divided.
poet and playwright, considered one of the best
For Aristotle, subgenres often correspond to
playwrights in world literature. He arrived in London
"literary forms." That is, stylistic ways that we
around 1588 and, four years later, he had already
approach each genre. For example:
achieved notable success as a playwright and
theatrical actor. He wrote Romeo and Juliet around
 Within the epic genre we find the fable, the epic,
1595, very famous for its poetic treatment of
the story or the novel, four different forms of writing
youthful love ecstasies. He was born on 23 April
that coincide in their desire to "explain something."
1564 and died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in
Stratford church.

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