15 Examples of Types of Literature

There are different types of literature that are classified according to the period or the artistic movement of the works, according to the genre and according to the way in which the story is transmitted. For instance: medieval literature, classical literature, narrative literature.

Literature is a type of art that is made through words and that differs from other discourses, because it has an aesthetic purpose. However, the concept of literature changed and changes according to the time, since a text may not be considered as literature at a time, but later it can.

One of the most important characteristics of literature is that language is used with a poetic function and, therefore, it is distinguished from ordinary language, whose purpose is only communicative. To achieve this function, rhetorical figures or changes in the sense and meaning of words.

In addition, literature always supposes a fictional pact with the reader, that is, that the reader knows that this speech, whether oral or written, has to be interpreted as fiction and not as a narrative about something real.

Types of literature according to the time or artistic movement

Although the literary works of the same period or movement have differences, they also have certain characteristics in common. Taking into account these characteristics, the literature can be:

Types of literature according to literary genre

According to him gender in which it is inscribed, literature can be classified into:

Types of literature according to its mode of transmission

There are two modes of transmission of literature: oral and written.

Examples of types of literature

1. Ancient literature. Tao Te King (China - there is no consensus regarding its date and its author). It is a very important book in Chinese culture, because it develops central elements of Buddhism and Taoism, two religious and philosophical doctrines.
2. Classic literature. The metamorphoses by Ovid (8 d. C. - Rome). It is a very long poem that narrates events and myths from the origin of the universe to the contemporary time of this poet.
3. Medieval literature. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1400 - England). They are stories that are mostly written in verse and that are narrated by different characters who are supposedly participating in a story contest.
4. Renaissance literature. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quijote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1605 - Spain). This work is a parody of chivalric novels, since it tells the story of a man, Alonso Quijano, who goes crazy and thinks he is a knight.
5. Baroque literature. "Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea" by Luis de Góngora (1612 - Spain). This poem is an epilio, that is, a narrative and descriptive poem that narrates the myth of Galatea and Polyphemus, a Roman myth found in Ovid's Metamorphosis.
6. Romantic literature. Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley (1818 - England). This novel tells the story of a doctor, Frankenstein, who creates a monster that he later cannot control. This book is one of the most important in world literature and, in addition, it is a critical reading of the political and social theories of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
7. Contemporary literature. Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (1944 - Argentina). This is one of the most important storybooks in Argentine literature, since this book contains develop stories that are linked to philosophical, literary and traditional themes of Argentina and Latin America.
8. Avant-garde literature. Karawane by Hugo Ball (1917 - Germany). This poem does not have words that really exist, but they are words invented by the author to generate a purely sound effect. This poem is considered one of the founding poems of Dadaism.
9. Narrative literature. One hundred years of loneliness by Gabriel García Márquez (1967 - Colombia). This novel tells the story of the Buendía family and focuses on telling the lives of the different characters. The novel functions as a literary text, but it also has the objective of political and social denunciation.
10. Poetic literature. Rhymes by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1871 - Spain). This is a book of poems in which it is about love and loneliness and in which new poetic forms appear, such as free verse.
11. Dramatic literature. Sourceovejuna by Lope de Vega (1618 - Spain). In this play the social conflict that existed between the people of the town and the people who were in power is represented.
12. Essay literature. Dickens by Peter Ackroyd (1990 - England). In this essay, the author analyzes the biography and works of the 19th century author.
13. Oral literature. "Cinderella" (anonymous). This tale tells the story of a young woman who was raised by her stepmother and who, with the help of a fairy godmother, she managed to meet a prince, whom she later married. This story is a popular tale that began by being transmitted orally and later became a written text.
14. Written literature. 1984 by Georges Orwell (1948 - England). This novel is considered one of the most important literary works of the 20th century, since it tells a dystopian story in which people are controlled through technology.

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