types of literature

genre noun [countable] a particular type of literature which has certain features which all examples of this type share. Non-fiction is a genre, as is crime fiction and science fiction:

• the triumph of the novel over all other literary genres in the nineteenth century

 

fiction noun [uncountable] books and stories about imaginary people and events:

• This small band of women writers dominated the romantic fiction market for a number of years.

 

non-fiction British English, nonfiction American English noun [uncountable] books about real facts or events, not imagined ones:

• His non-fiction work includes a study of Indian migration to the Caribbean.

 

poetry noun [uncountable] writing that expresses emotions, experiences, and ideas, especially in short lines using words that rhyme:

• He has published two collections of poetry.

 

drama noun [uncountable] plays that are written to be performed in the theatre, on radio, on television etc:

• She is one of the few women to have established herself as a writer in television drama.

 

biography noun [uncountable and countable] a biography is a book about someone's life, written by someone else. Biography is the genre of this sort of writing:

• She is the author of several books, including a biography of the artist Salvador Dali

biographical adjective:

• An artist's biographical details may shed light not only on his artistic activity, but also on the social context of his work.

biographer noun [countable]:

• He was a Marxist historian and biographer of Trotsky.

 

autobiography noun [uncountable and countable] an autobiography is a book that someone writes about his or her own life. Autobiography is the genre of this sort of writing:

• In her autobiography, Doris Lessing writes about her childhood in Zimbabwe.

autobiographical adjective:

• Sartre's autobiographical writings

 

allegory noun [uncountable and countable] a story, painting etc in which the events and characters represent particular ideas or teach a moral lesson:

• The story works as an allegory about repression and rebellion.

• a drama blending fairy tale and allegory

allegorical adjective:

• an allegorical painting

 

parable noun [countable] a short simple story that teaches a moral or religious lesson, especially one of the stories told by Jesus in the Bible:

• the parable of 'The Lost Sheep'