Genres in Serbian Periodicals
Vesna Matović
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Publisher:Beograd: Institut za književnost i umetnost; Novi Sad: Matica srpska; Cataloguing data:УДК 050.488(497.11)(082) |
Summary:
The papers featured in this collection deal with the status of genres (literary, artistic-documentary, newspaper ones) in periodicals, and with a question that constitutes a matter of principle – are periodicals a mere framework wherein there exist developed, finished genres, which are further distributed and transferred, or does the periodical context play a part in the selection of genres, their duration, transformations, disappearance and the creation of new ones?
The research covered numerous genres: newspaper ones (feuilleton, reportage, report), humorous-satirical ones (causerie, humorous story, satirical poem, story, fable, parable), caricature as a “double genre form”, literary, theatrical, fine arts and music criticism, and some other minor genres important for periodicals, such as the editorial, readers’ letters, notes, obituaries, or dialogic genres such as manifesto, polemic and pamphlet, most closely connected with literary periodicals. Attention is drawn to the importance of the periodical context in the case of independent “pure” genres, such as the novel, short story, poem, fable, or to changes and mutations of sorts, sustained by some of the classical genres such as the biography or portraits of significant figures from the past, when they find themselves in the periodical surroundings.
Against the broad and heterogeneous background of literary periodicals, one can perceive more clearly not only the complex ideational and spiritual trends, poetic shifts, cuts and breaks with the existing or literary conventions of previous epochs, but can also gain a more dynamic insight into the genre repertoire of a particular epoch. Studying genre forms in periodicals is also important to literary historians because in that case, to a greater degree than when they appear outside the periodical context, one can perceive their connections with external factors and gain a fuller insight into their internal changes.
Keywords:
literary history, periodicals, genre, feuilleton, reportage, report, causerie, humorous story, satirical poem, short story, fable, parable, caricature, the editorial, readers’ letters, note, obituary, manifesto, polemic, pamphlet
