What Is A Short Story?
There are many ways in which people convey experiences and knowledge. But perhaps no one can be compared to the striking style of a short story. This way of writing is not really easy to categorize, due to its particular characteristics.
Even so, one may find some definitions that try to define what a short story is. World-famous American writer Edgar Allan Poe once said: “A short story should be enough to read in one sitting.” For the Science Fiction and Fantasy writes of America, a short story is “a prose fiction up to 7,499 words.” Others say that a story of this kind is usually no more than 15,000 words. Looking it up on Cambridge Advanced Dictionary (Second Edition), it says: short story noun: “an invented story which is no more than about 10 000 words in length.” Since the above explanations do not convey the self-same information, the important question still remains: what is, in fact, a short story?
Despite of the attempts to find the formula for writing short stories, there is no one pre-defined way to do it. Nevertheless, the majority of these stories share certain features.
Most of the time a short story is briefer than a novel. It goes straight to the point, starting as close as possible to whatever happens that changes the status quo, that is, it goes directly to the point where things change. The number of characters is also important. It is restricted for the purpose of not having a work of art longer than a short story actually is. The focus is, in many cases, on the life of a single character or maybe a couple of characters.
Some of the most prestigious writers of modern literature produced short stories as well: Henry James, D. H. Lawrence, O. Henry, Machado de Assis, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway are names worth mentioning.
It is noticeable how people worry about definitions elaborated to set limits on length, form and style contained in short stories. Although, the writer’s inspiration and the reader’s approval are what really matter – these are points of the utmost importance.
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4 comentários:
Dear Cristiano,
As a big fan or, better saying, addicted to reading, I really enjoyed your text.
I coudn't agree more with the conclusion.
Isolda
Cristiano, só para alimentar a discussão: Apesar do seu ensaio ser curto por conta das exigências da aula, você nele apenas apontou as características "numéricas" do conto (quantidade de palavras, personagens, plots, etc.). Mas não apontou características "internas" do gênero. A questão sobre os contos nção seria menos um problema de "dimensões" do textos e mais de "essência"??? Ou melhor, O que define conto como "pequeno" nas suas dimensões porque são fatores como "Exactitude, Lightness and Quickness", do que define apenas dizer que o conto é "pequeno"???? É apenas uma pequena provocação e alguns pontos que gostaria de discutir contigo. Um abraço unebiano
Profª Isolda, muito obrigado pelo comentário. O conto é um dos estilos literários que mais me atrai, por isso eu publiquei esse texto.
Vidal, concordo com suas afirmações, mas na verdade eu também fiz algumas considerações que vão além do tamanho dos contos. Veja o parágrafo número três.
Abraço.
Li o seu terceiro páragrafo!!! Ainda não me convici. Talvez seja melhor expor em um post em separado... hehehehe
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