10 Characteristics of Literary Texts

We explain what a literary text is and what the language it uses is like. Also, what are its general characteristics and literary genres.

In literary texts the particular feeling of an artist is reflected.

What are literary texts?

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

The creation of literary texts has accompanied man since ancient timeswhether as ritual songs, 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, great literary texts constitute part of the artistic and historical heritage of different civilizationssince they contain not only a specific reference (a specific time, social, political conditions) but also a feel particular and individual of the artist, whose subjectivity and sensitivity produce the work of art.

See also: Narrative text.

Features of literary texts:

1. poetic intention

Literary texts provide spiritual learning.

Unlike other forms of text, literary writings offer an aesthetic experience to the reader: a reading from which spiritual learning emerges, an amazement at the functioning of the text itself, instead of the acquisition of specific knowledge, as would occur, for example, with reading a newspaper or instructions for use an appliance.

2. Subjectivity

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

3. The spirit of the age

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

4. Language

A writer’s “style” is his or her particular and original way of using language.

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

More in: Literary language.

5. Free

The reading of literary texts is carried out free of charge, that is, freely, without specific objectives and without any useOscar Wilde, the famous British writer, said that art is “profoundly useless” because it does not fulfill any pragmatic purpose in the lives of its readers, other than spiritual enrichment or entertainment.

6. Fictionality

Literary texts come from the imagination and inventiveness of the author.

Literary texts are, for the most part, works of fiction (especially narrative). That is, They relate events that did not really occurbut rather come from the imagination and inventiveness of the author, who reworks reality according to his particular view of the world and his specific sensibilities.

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

7. Verisimilitude

Despite being fictional or imaginative in nature, literary texts They are plausible, that is, credible. Its operation depends on a “suspension of disbelief pact” between the author and the reader, in which the latter agrees to read the text as if it were true, despite being aware that he is not. In exchange, the author promises to build it in such a way that the artifice is sustained until the last page.

8. Imitative character

Literary texts are versions of real experience.

The literary texts They imitate reality, that is, they copy it, reformulate it, use it as raw material. for the construction of the literary work. In that sense, literary texts are said to be “mimetic”: they are representations, imaginations, versions of real experience.

9. Literary genres

Dramaturgy is the writing of texts intended for theatrical performance.

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 told by a narrator. These stories contain more or less fictional, even fantastic, characters and events, expressed in an original and credible way.
• Poetry. One of the most difficult genres to define, since it can take on a multiplicity of forms. It is a poetic description, using figurative or metaphorical language, of some relevant experience in the author’s subjectivity.
• Dramaturgy. The writing of texts intended for a theatrical performance, by actors and on a specific stage. They lack a narrator, despite representing stories as well.

10. Legitimation

The literary texts They endure over time, being transmitted from generation to generationsince they are considered valuable, relevant and important for the education of future citizens.

In that sense, there are devices for legitimizing works, that is, they choose which ones last and which ones are set aside, which ones are valuable for the sensibility of an era and which ones are not so valuable. Thus, it is often said that literature is a historical construction.