Prose and Drama

Drama as a Genre of Literature

What is Literature?

Literature springs from our inborn love of telling a story, of arranging words in pleasing patterns, of expressing in words some special aspect of our human experience. It is usually set down in printed characters for us to read, though some forms of it are performed on certain social occasions. There are a number of different branches such as drama, poetry, the novel, the short story; all these are works of the imagination arising from man’s capacity for invention. The primary aim of literature is to give pleasure, to entertain those who voluntarily attend to it. There are, of course, many different ways of giving pleasure or entertainment, ranging from the most philosophical and profound. It is important to note that the writer of literature is not tied to fact in quite the same way as the historian, the economist or the scientist, whose studies are absolutely based on what has actually happened, or on what actually does happen, in the world of reality.

Why is Literature Important?

We soon discover, however that the literature which entertains us best does not keep us for long in the other-world of fantasy or unreality. The greatest pleasure and satisfaction to be found in literature occurs where (as it so often does) it brings us back to the realities of human situations, problems, feelings and relationships. The writers of literature, being less tied to fact than the historian or the scientist, have more scope to comment on the facts, to arrange them in unusual ways to speculate not only on what is, but on what ought to be, or what might be. Writers are sometimes, therefore people with visionary or prophetic insights into human life.

Literature is an imaginative art which expresses thoughts and feelings of the artist on events around him. In most cases, it deals with life experiences. The author/artist uses words in a powerful, effective and captivating manner to paint his picture of human experience. Literature is a form of recreation. The three genres of literature are fiction, drama and poetry. You have seen that drama is a genre of literature. A person who writes a novel is called a novelist, the person who writes a play is a playwright while the poet writes poetry. All of us who read literature will find our knowledge of human affairs broadened and deepened, whether in the individual, the social, the racial or the international sphere; we shall understand the possibilities of human life, both for good and evil; we shall understand how we came to live at a particular time and place, with all its pleasures and vexations and problems; and we shall perhaps be able to make right rather than wrong choices. Literature can be in written or oral form. It could also be presented in form of performance.

What is drama?

Drama is an imitation of life. Drama is different from other forms of literature because of its unique characteristics. It is read, but basically, it is composed to be performed, so the ultimate aimof dramatic composition is for it to be presented on stage before an audience. This implies that it a medium of communication. It has a message to communicate to the audience. It uses actors to convey this message. This brings us to the issue of mimesis or imitation. We say that drama is mimetic which means that it imitates life. You may have heard people say that drama mirrors life. Yes, it is the only branch of literature which tries to imitate life and presents it realistically to the people. It is this mimetic impulse of drama that makes it appeal to people.

Drama is different from other genres of literature. It has unique characteristics that have come about in response to its peculiar nature. Really, it is difficult to separate drama from performance because during the stage performance of a play, drama brings life experiences realistically to the audience. It is the most concrete of all genres of literature. When you are reading a novel, you read a story as told by the novelist. The poem’s message in most cases is not direct because it is presented in a compact form or in a condensed language. The playwright does not tell the story instead you get the story as the characters interact and live out their experiences on stage. In drama, the characters/actors talk to themselves and react to issues according to the impulse of the moment. Drama is therefore presented in dialogue.

The term drama is used at the following three (3) different levels:

1. Performance

2. Composition

3. Branch of Literature.

            (1) Performance

Drama is used for plays that are acted on stage or screen. These plays are different from musical performances because they must tell stories which are acted out by actors and actresses.

            (2) Composition

Drama is used to describe a dramatic composition which employs language and pantomime to present a story or series of events intended to be performed.

            (3) Branch of Literature

Drama is a term used for that branch of literature that covers dramatic composition. You know already that drama is a literary art. The basic difference between drama and other forms of literature (prose and poetry) is that drama is presented in dialogue from the beginning to the end. Any information by the playwright is given in stage- direction. We have dialogue in prose and poetry but they are interjected in the course of the story.

CONCLUSION

Drama is an imitation of an action. It is a branch of literature which is both literary art and representational art. As a literary art, it deals with fiction or an imaginary story that is presented through characters and dialogue. However, it is a special kind of fiction because it is designed to be acted out rather than narrated. When we read a novel or a short story, we understand and appreciate the story, through the narrator or author but in drama the characters live out the story for us. The playwright does not comment or explain anything. So, drama gives us a direct presentation of life experiences. That is why we say that it is a representational art. Drama, therefore, uses language in the form of gesture…..or dialogue to present or to re-present an action. Characters are used to present the story. These characters are called actors.