Delimit the characteristics of the literary genre novel it is no easy task. However, Literature scholars have defined some parameters to help us identify the style among the others, especially among the short story and novel genres.
In Brazil, we immediately associated the telenovela with the soap operas, very popular genre around here. The association is not absolutely incorrect, given the imprecision in defining the gender margins. The novel differs from the short story in that it presents a longer narrative, just as it differs from the novel in being smaller. But, after all, what kinds of stories can be characterized as a soap opera? Massaud Moisés, professor of Portuguese Literature at the University of São Paulo between the years of 1973 and 1995, presented an important study that helps us to understand and better define gender in question. Understand the characteristics of the novel literary genre:
* Dramatic plurality: The novel presents several plots that throughout the narrative establish connections between them.
* Succession: The plot is developed sequentially, and at certain moments in the narrative, some resources that break this succession of events can be used.
* Time:The time of the novel literary genre is historical, that is, it is determined by the calendar and the clock.
* Space: Space and time in the telenovela are inseparable. Dramatic plurality will define spatial plurality, as, according to actions, characters can be continuously displaced to different environments in the narrative.
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* Language:The telenovela's language tends to be clear and objective, which may vary according to the historical circumstances inscribed in the narrative.
* Characters: In the novel, there is no limit of characters, the novelist can add or remove characters throughout the plot, a resource that will be important for the narrative thread.
* Plot: The narration follows a faster pace than that used in a short story or novel, even because it is the actions that guide the narrative. For this reason, the soap opera is such a convenient genre for teledramatization or radiodramatization.
* Narrative focus: The linearity of the novel depends on an omniscient writer, as the novelist is one who knows all aspects of the narrative, including psychological aspects of his characters.
We can say that the novel exceeds the limits of the short story by presenting more characters elaborated, and the same happens with time and space, which are explored more closely in the soap opera. In relation to the novel, the novel presents less situations or events. In Brazil, books are considered novels the alienist, by Machado de Assis, The death and death of Quincas Berro D'água, by Jorge Amado, Dried lives, by Graciliano Ramos, among other narratives whose plots range from one hundred to two hundred pages.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PEREZ, Luana Castro Alves. "Features of the novel literary genre"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/literatura/caracteristicas-genero-literario-novela.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
