FORMS OF EXPRESSION AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS - LITERATURE - 2024

The forms of expression are the manifestations of communication mediated mainly by text or language. Throughout its history, humans have used various forms of expression to communicate thoughts and emotions.

These types of expression include music, art, gestures and, of course, verbal language, whether written or spoken. Therefore, the human being can not only express himself in a linguistic way, but with music, art, movies…

The concept of forms of written expression is related to the notion of modes of discourse. Each of these discursive forms - narration, description, exposition, and argumentation - has a distinctive communicative purpose.

Another related concept is that of gender. This is defined as a type of text or speech that users recognize as such by its characteristics of style or form (journalistic genre, literary genre, among others).

In this way, modes of discourse and genres are combined in a wide range of options -called forms of verbal expression- to carry out the communicative function of texts.

There are various criteria to classify the different forms of textual expression: according to the medium, according to the degree of elaboration of the message, according to the degree of participation of the interlocutors and according to their function.

According to the medium

Spoken and written language are two of the most important forms of human expression. Through these knowledge, thoughts, culture, feelings and others are exchanged. They are different modalities, but not dissociated.

In theory, oral forms are more colloquial and written forms are more formal. However, nowadays the new forms of communication (for example, social networks) have been erasing these differences.

Forms of written expression

Written language demands greater reflexivity and rigor. Their forms of expression are also varied, but they require a good command of vocabulary, grammatical property and spelling correction.

In this way, this form is more normative and elaborate, and not all speakers of the language use it, since it is an artificial code that must be learned.

From the written medium, the forms of textual expression include innumerable areas: literary (poems, novels), journalistic (chronicles, news), academic (thesis, reports), labor (memoranda, manuals), etc.

Within the written expression are the discursive modes. They are about the different ways in which you can create a text to communicate. A classification of discursive modes can be:

• Description: the language illustrates (objects, people, situations).
• Narration: used to tell an event.
• Exhibition: present a topic objectively.
• Argumentation: defend a position.

Forms of oral expression

All users of a language, regardless of their sociocultural condition, use the oral modality, that is, speech (unless they have a physical disability). It is characterized by being generally spontaneous and instantaneous.

Furthermore, it is acquired naturally (as a mother tongue) or learned (as a second language), and is accompanied by paralinguistic elements such as gestures, intonation, movements, among others.

Thus, the forms of textual expression by oral means are as numerous as the fields of human action: everyday (conversations), religious (sermons), political (rallies), academic (conferences) and so on.

According to the degree of elaboration of the message

According to the degree of elaboration, the forms of textual expression can be classified as spontaneous and prepared.

Spontaneous forms of expression

Spontaneous forms of expression are characterized by the lack of a script or previous preparation, generally presenting themselves in oral language. Themes and structures come naturally.

Some of these forms include everyday conversations, impromptu speeches, informal social media chats, unprepared debates and discussions, and others.

Prepared forms of expression

The forms of expression prepared involve the elaboration of a previous scheme where ideas, arguments and conclusions are organized. The topics, the interlocutors and the purpose are agreed in advance.

In addition, more attention is paid to the type of structure and vocabulary to use. Due to this particularity, it is more associated with the written medium.

However, they are not manifested exclusively through writing. For example, debates, gatherings, colloquia and interviews -although oral- require a lot of preparation and elaboration.

According to the degree of participation of the interlocutors

If the degree of participation of the interlocutors is taken into account, then we speak of monologue and dialogical genres.

Monologue genres

In monologal forms of expression, there is no interaction and only one person or entity participates. These can be manifested both in orality (soliloquy, master class) and in writing (testament, decree).

Dialogical genres

In dialogical genres, more than one person participates and there must be at least a minimum of interaction. The most representative examples of this type of genre are the conversation and the interview.

However, the fact that there are several people involved does not imply that they must share the same physical space. A telephone conversation or an exchange of letters (by letter) are examples of this.

According to its function

Communication has three basic functions or purposes. These determine the forms of textual expression used by the actors of a communicative interaction.

Representative function

The representative function, also called informative or referential, is essentially the transmission of information. It affirms or denies propositions, as in science or the statement of fact.

In itself, it is used to describe the world or the reason for the events (for example, whether or not a state of affairs has occurred or what could have caused it).

Generally, the authors associate this function with two specific modes of discourse: narration (accounts of events) and description (presentation of the characteristics of a person, thing or situation).

As for the narratives, these can be fictitious (fairy tales, novels) or non-fictitious (newspaper report, biography), and it is very usual that they are combined with descriptions.

Reflective function

The reflective function is associated with exposition and argumentation. This allows to inform feelings or attitudes of the writer (or the speaker), the subject or evoke feelings in the reader (or the listener).

In addition to literary texts (poems, stories, plays), many forms of textual expression exhibit this function, such as personal letters, harangues, among others.

References

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2. Smith, CS (2003). Modes of Discourse: The Local Structure of Texts. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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