O tale It is one of narrative genres most common in literary tradition Brazilian. Great authors like Álvares de Azevedo, Machado de Assis or Mario de Andrade, are recognized as excellent storytellers. Due to the importance of the genre, many colleges and universities ask candidates, in their entrance exams, to produce short stories. There are even some types or subcategories of this genre, among which are: o fairy tale or the fantastic tale.
Structure
the literary genre tale is structured like a short narrative which only involves a conflict. From this perspective, the moment of greatest tension of the genre is called climax. In addition, although it is not a rule, it is common for the story to have:
few characters;
limited space or setting;
reduced time frame.
A subcategory of short stories, popularized in the 20th century, is the microstory. In it, in one or two sentences, the whole structure of the genre appears. See below two microtales by famous authors of Modernity:
For sale: never used baby shoes.
Ernest Hemingway
A cage came out looking for a bird.
Franz Kafka
Note that, in both cases, there is a narrative with a unique conflict. In the first case, the conflict, at its climax, is the sale of never-used baby shoes. It is therefore suggested that the characters involved lost a child.
In the second example, the climax would be in the action of the cage character, who goes in search of a captive bird.
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Read too:literary genres
Elements
The structure of the short story is based on the fundamental elements of the narrative typology. In this sense, the textual genre in question must have:
Characters
This element corresponds to the beings that perform and sufferactions during the plot of the narratives. In this sense, both characters can be humans as other living beings, such as animals, plants Or until objects humanized. See, below, the presentation of the character Ana, from the short story “O amor”, by Clarice Lispector:
Hannah's children were good, a true and juicy thing. They grew up, took a bath, demanded for themselves, naughty, moments more and more complete. The kitchen was finally spacious, the stove was out of order. The heat was strong in the apartment they were slowly paying for. But the wind whipping at the curtains she had cut herself reminded her that if she wanted to, she could stop and wipe her forehead, looking at the calm horizon. Like a farmer. She had planted the seeds in her hand, not others, but these only. And trees grew. His quick conversation with the light collector grew, the water grew, filling the tank, his children grew, he grew the table with food, the husband arriving with the newspapers and smiling with hunger, the annoying singing of the employees of the building. Ana calmly gave everything her small, strong hand, her current of life.
In: LISPECTOR, C. Family relationships.
Note that the reader knows the character through the actions of Ana — “She had planted the seeds she had in her hand, not others, but these only” — as well as by the description from people close to her, such as her children or her husband. Also, about the scenario described: the kitchen, in particular, and the apartment, in general, are also elements that make the reader think about who this character would be.
To learn more about character building, click on here.
Storyteller
O storyteller is the one who tells the story to the reader, has types, as explained below.
1st person narrator: also known as character narrator, is one who participates in the plot that narrates. The verbs used are inflected in the 1st person of the speech.
observer narrator: does not participate in the story, it is someone external to it, unknown to the characters and irrelevant to the conflict. The verbs used are inflected in the 3rd person of the speech. It's important to say: this narrator tells only what he sees, not knowing the future or the characters' thoughts.
omniscient narrator: also does not participate in the story. However, unlike the observer, he is the type who knows the past, the future and the thoughts of the characters.
Time
This element in a narrative can be understood from two ways. On the one hand, we speak of time as the time when history occurs. For example, in the short story “Negrinha” by Monteiro Lobato, the plot takes place shortly after the slaves were freed, on May 13, 1888:
The excellent Dona Inacia was a master in the art of treating children. She came from slavery, she had been a slave master—and those fierce ones, friends to hear cake singing and cod crackling. He had never attached himself to the new regime—that black-and-white indecency and just about anything: the police! 'Any little thing': a maiden baked in the oven because you took a fancy to her; a novena of corncob because he said: 'How bad, the lady!'.
The 13th of May took the scourge out of his hands, but it didn't take his desire from his soul. She kept Negrinha at home as a remedy for frenzy.
In: LOBATO, M. Black girl.
In addition to this perspective, there is also in this element the idea of narrative duration. Following the previous example, the plot of “Negrinha” takes place for just over a month:
That December vacation, luminous blast of dark sky inside her painful hell, had poisoned her.
She had played in the sun in the garden. She played... She had cherished, for days on end, the beautiful blond doll, so good, so quiet, saying Mommy, closing her eyes to sleep. She had lived realizing dreams of the imagination. She had blossomed with her soul.
She died on the broken mat, abandoned by everyone, like a cat without a master. Never, however, has anyone died with greater beauty. Delirium surrounded her with dolls, all blond, with blue eyes. And of angels... And dolls and angels whirled around him in a farndola of heaven. She felt gripped by those little crockery hands—embraced, twirled.
In: LOBATO, M. nigga.
Space
The space of a short story is, in general terms, the scenery in which the charactersperform and suffer the actions that make up the plot. Remember the scenario of “O amor” from the work Family relationships, by Lispector: “The kitchen was finally spacious, the stove was out of order. The heat was strong in the apartment that they were slowly paying for”.
Plot
It is defined as the sequence of the actions that makes up the story. It's the plot that brings movement for the narrative genre.
Conflict
Can be defined as the problem situation experienced by the characters in a narrative. In the case of the short story, as it is a short genre, the conflict is usually single.
Read too: narrative chronicle
Types
Because diversity of ways in which a tale can be constructed, it is common to find subdivisions of this type of text. In this sense, see two subcategories of the genre below.
fantastic tale
It can be defined as one in which the plot presents inexplicable situations, according to the laws that govern reality. In this type of narrative, the event supernatural is always present. For example, in the short story “O pirotécnico Zacarias”, by Murilo Rubião, the narrator is run over and dies. Then he hears those who killed him discuss the fate of his body and then protests:
But that would be one of the few outcomes that didn't interest me. Being thrown into a hole, among rocks and grass, was an unbearable idea for me. And yet: my body could, when rolling down the bank, be hidden among vegetation, earth and boulders. If that happened, I would never be discovered in his makeshift grave and my name wouldn't make the headlines.
No, they couldn't rob me even if it was a small obituary in the main morning in town. I needed to act quickly and decisively:
- Hold on! I want to be heard too.
In: RUBION, M. Complete work.
It is known that it is impossible for someone to die and then protest about anything. Therefore, it is possible to consider this narrative as a fantastic tale. To learn more about, read: fantastic tale.
Fairy tale
Fairy tales, old acquaintances from childhood, are genres medieval which are still very successful. By definition, this type of narrative has folk characters, such as: fairies, gnomes, personified animals, etc. In addition, it is common for this type of story to have a moral background of course and so it is right didactic character. To learn more about, read: Fairy Tale Story.
By M. Fernando Marinho