Is chronicle a literary or journalistic genre?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

"Chronicle" is a term used in several senses. They designate a certain kind of historical writings, a literary genre, and, finally, they refer to special sections of newspapers, magazines or other media.

The word closest in meaning to the one named is “chronicle”, which largely explains the peculiarities of the style and language of all works that can be classified as chronological.

What the news stories are about

The chronicle in newspapers, magazines or on television is often the most sought-after genre, as it allows the reader (or viewer, if we are talking about television news) to keep abreast of what is happening in the world or in a particular region.

Information chronicle is a list of events covering various areas of human life: politics, science, art, etc. Readers can be given a chronicle of theatrical life, fashion or sports, and the main purpose of such publications is to inform about specific events occurring in a designated time period (during the day, week,month, etc.).

It should be noted that, due to the peculiarities of this genre of journalism, there is practically no creativity in this type of publication. And this is understandable, since fiction in the chronicles is simply impossible, because the material for them is supplied by real events. This, of course, affects both the style and the language in which these notes are written - most often they turn out to be stereotyped, not allowing for possible interpretations and compressed to one to four sentences.

Features of Newspaper Chronicle

Chronicle is the most popular genre for newspaper notes; in its form, collections of short articles, TV or radio news, and announcements are written. Statements are often introduced into the headlines of newspaper materials, which turn even the very page of an informational publication into a kind of loose chronicle, fixing current events.

The peculiarity of the notes related to the chronicle is that they convey to the reader only the fact itself, without giving him an assessment and without inviting him to think. The main thing for such information is to inform what, where and when it happened, is happening or will happen in a short period of time.

Gossip column

Recently, gossip has become very popular in the media. This is a special genre of journalism concerning the life of movie stars, famous film, theater or stage artists, as well as people whose names for the average person are associated with social life.

Earlier in Russia, England orIn France, only those belonging to high society received such an honor, but now, when the division of society into classes is not so pronounced, any popular person (sometimes even becoming so in the most outrageous way) can be the hero of a gossip column. Similar sections in magazines, and sometimes special editions devoted only to the named topic, describe high society receptions, dinners and events from the personal life of show business stars or celebrities.

Gossip column is a publication, the feature of which is the focus on sensationalism and expressive presentation, which must necessarily attract the attention of the widest sections of the public. Unfortunately, the information provided in the gossip column, due to its constant desire to impress, amaze and surprise, quite often turns out to be inaccurate, and sometimes simply made up.

What is a historical chronicle

Historical chronicles are a type of writing that recounts events in the order in which they happened.

This genre was very popular in medieval literature and covered, as a rule, the period from the most distant times, dating back to the emergence of the world, to the contemporary days of the author. The story usually concerned not the history of any one people, but the development of the entire universe. Since the authors of such works were monks, ecclesiastical tendencies were always found in the presentation.

Some plots from these chronicles laterbecame the basis for literary works. A vivid example of this is the dramatic chronicles of William Shakespeare, where the great author, practically without deviating from the basis of his source, developed the images of the characters and arranged the events artistically.

Chronicle is also a literary genre

Since then, the chronicle has become not only a historical interpretation of events, but also an independent literary genre, for example, Prosper Merimee's Chronicle of the Times of Charles IX.

By the way, writers often make the main character of such a work the image of a chronicler - an impartial observer who records what he saw and experienced (F. M. Dostoevsky often resorted to this technique). And M. E. S altykov-Shchedrin liked to parody the named genre (for example, in the "History of a City").

In the 20th century, the chronicle is a genre in which documentary works are written, as well as extended cycle novels (for example, “The Life of Klim Samgin” by Maxim Gorky).