Literary genres are historically evolving and developing literary works that are united by common formal and substantial forms.
The term genre (from the French. Genre - genus, species) in the literature can be applied to literary groups formed on various grounds. Most often used in relation to the works united in content (comedy, tragedy, drama). There is a classification of literary genres by form: ode, novel, play, novel, story, etc. And by birth: epic (fable, story, myth, etc.), lyrical (ode, elegy, etc.), lyric-epic (ballad and poem), dramatic (comedy, tragedy, drama). They can be divided into separate categories - genres of folklore (fairy tale, song, epic) or small genres of folklore (riddle, proverb, ditty). The genres of Old Russian literature include: life (a description of the life of secular and clergy), teaching, walking (a description of travel, most often to holy places), a military novel, a word (a prose work of an instructive nature) and a chronicle.
Genre is a rather broad concept in artistic creation. Aristotle, in his treatise Poetics, laid the foundation for the theoretical separation of works, but so far there is no generally accepted interpretation of concepts such as gender, type and genre. So, based on the etymological meaning of the word, it is possible to replace childbirth with genres, and species with forms. It is difficult enough to identify a single principle for dividing the genera of poetry and prose into types and genres, especially considering the fact that literary genres are constantly “changing and changing” over time. However, it is possible to single out the most frequently used variant, where the genus is understood as the image method (dramatic, lyrical or epic); under the guise - this or that form of dramatic, lyrical and epic work; under the genre - a variety of certain types of literary works (historical novel, satirical poem).
