Literary and non-literary texts

What do you use the language for? This is a relatively easy question to answer, as most of us use language, in our case the Portuguese language, to establish communication between one or more interlocutors or readers. You must have also noticed that, according to the context in which we are inserted, the language can undergo variations, thus showing that every speech must adapt to factors extralinguistic.

There are different types of text, texts that present different languages, each one meeting the specific demands of the communicational context. Today we will talk about literary texts and non-literary texts, elements that present differences significant and that, for this reason, should not be neglected, especially when the subject is the modality written. Understanding text types is essential to understanding how we can use them in order to make our communication clearer, as well as to take advantage of the variety of texts we have at our disposal. dispose. Let's go? Happy reading and happy studying!

Differences between literary and non-literary texts

Literary text:

Literary language has several points in common with non-literary language. However, there are some elements that allow us to differentiate between literary and non-literary texts. Are they:

• Complexity;
• Multisignification;
• Connotation;
• Freedom in creation;
• Variability.

Thanks to these elements, literary language ceases to be a merely linguistic object and becomes an aesthetic object as well. Differently from the discourse we adopt on a daily basis, at work, at school and with our friends, the texts literary texts are subject to multiple interpretations, which will depend on our experiences and our repertoire cultural. There is no obligation with transparency or informativeness, whoever chooses the literary text is free to subvert the grammar, the semantic value of words and assign them a metaphorical and symbolic. It can be found in prose, fictional narratives, chronicles, short stories, novels, novels and also in verse, in the case of poems. Here is an example of a literary text:

Portuguese class

The language
on the tip of the tongue,
so easy to talk
and to understand.
The language
on the starry surface of letters,
do you know what she means?
Professor Carlos Góis, he is the one who knows,
and it goes on deforesting
the amazons of my ignorance.
Grammar figures, skipping,
trample me, stun me, kidnap me.
I already forgot the language in which I ate,
when I asked to go outside,
in which he took and kicked,
the tongue, short broken tongue
dating the cousin.
Portuguese are two; the other, mystery.

Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Non-literary text:

Contrary to what happens with literary texts, in which there is a concern with the linguistic object and also with style, texts Non-literary texts have well-defined characteristics so that they can fulfill their main mission, which is, in most cases, that of inform. When we think of information, some elements must be listed, such as objectivity, transparency and commitment to a non-literary language, thus avoiding possible mistakes in the interpretation of a text. In non-literary text, the main concern is the object. The news, journalistic articles, didactic texts, entries in dictionaries and encyclopedias, advertisements, scientific texts, cooking recipes and manuals are examples of non-verbal language. literary. To better illustrate the differences between literary and non-literary language, read texts 1 and 2:

(Text 1) Neglecting garbage is dirt

Every day, two hours before the city hall truck arrives, the management of one of the branches of the McDonald's deposits dozens of plastic bags filled with cardboard, styrofoam, sandwiches. This ends up providing a regrettable feast of beggars. Dozens of them go there to turn over the material and end up leaving the remains scattered on the boardwalk. (See São Paulo, 23-29/12/92).

(Text 2) The animal

I saw an animal yesterday
In the filth of the courtyard
Gathering food among the debris.
When I found something,
Did not examine or smell:
He swallowed voraciously.
The animal was not a dog,
It wasn't a cat
He wasn't a mouse.
The animal, my God, was a man.

(Manuel Flag. In Seleta in prose and verse. Rio de Janeiro: J. Olympio/MEC, 1971, p.145)

Did you notice that both text 1 and text 2 have a similar theme? Both deal with the same subject: people who rummage through garbage in search of food. Despite the thematic similarity, the texts are significantly different with regard to the type of language adopted. In text 1, the referential function of language predominates, since the main objective of the news, published in a magazine widely circulated, is to inform the reader about the inconvenience caused by beggars when they leave rubbish scattered around floor.

In the second text, a beautiful poem by Manuel Bandeira, the poetic function of language predominates, since that the author used literary language resources to produce in the reader the effect wanted. The poem portrays the degrading condition that a man can reach when he reaches the apex of misery. It is possible to perceive the poet's indignation at this fact, which for him is absurd, since a man should never resemble an animal. The main difference between the texts is in the way the theme was addressed: while the journalist was concerned with the garbage scattered on the floor, inconvenience provoked by the beggars, the poet was concerned with the beggar and his humiliating condition, thus demonstrating the social commitment of the genre that is often seen as alienated.

Luana Alves
Graduated in Letters