Thinking of Literature as art, it is easier to understand the linguistic resources used for the construction of a different language, completely different from the language used in our day to morning. Wouldn't it be strange if all the time — in our everyday relationships — we communicated through metaphors and so on. speech figures? We would certainly not be understood, even because, for each situation, we usually use a type of discourse, adapting it to the communicational context in which we are inserted. Well then, Literature constitutes a special type of communication, in which what we call literary language.
Literary language has unique differences, even though it has a close relationship with common speech. Among the peculiar features of literary discourse, we can highlight:
→Complexity: One of the main characteristics of literary discourse is its complexity. This happens because the literary language is not committed to the meanings that are commonly attributed to words, thus extrapolating its
semantic level. For this reason, the literary text is not only a linguistic object, but also an aesthetic one.→ Multimeaning: Literature presents a language that differs from the language used in everyday life. Unlike the discourse we adopt in our daily lives, in which the objective use of speech prevails, literary discourse can present multiple readings and interpretations.
→ Connotation: Literary language is connotative, that is, a word, when used in the connotative sense, allows for different meanings and multiple interpretations. THE connotation it allows ideas and associations to go beyond the original meaning of the word, thus assuming a figurative and symbolic meaning.
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→ Freedom in creation: The artist, when creating a literary text, can invent new ways of expressing himself, breaking away from the conventional standards of the language, as well as the normative grammar that governs it.
→ Variability: Like language, Literature also follows cultural changes, which can be noticed not only in individual discourse, but also in cultural discourse.
Literary language can be found in poems, whose speech is permeated by elements that give greater expressiveness and beauty to the text.
Literary language can be found in prose, fictional narratives, chronicles, short stories, novels, novels and also in verse, in the case of poems. Literary texts have no commitment to transparency and, for this reason, often demand from us a greater aesthetic sense and greater ability to analyze and interpret this type of speech. Literature is at the service of art and makes literary creation a linguistic and aesthetic object, to which we can attribute new meanings built from our singularities and perspectives. The literary text resonates with us as it reveals deep emotions, and its understanding will depend on our experiences and our cultural repertoire.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PEREZ, Luana Castro Alves. "Literary language"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/literatura/linguagem-literaria.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
