Alphabetical List Literary forms (Gathering term; do not assign)

Literary forms (Gathering term; do not assign)

SN: Gathering term; do not use; index under a narrower term.

. HN: SN and added BT and Hierarchy of illustrated works added
. 1/08

. SN: Use for literary or visual representations of abstract
. ideas or principles through characters, figures, or events.

. Dance of death

. HN: 6/99 Term added.

. SN: Use for literary or visual representations of a dance or
. procession in which death as a skeleton leads its victim to
. the grave.

. Emblem books

. SN: Use for collections of emblems, i.e., mottoes or epigrams
. accompanied by a verse and sometimes a symbolic
. illustration, based upon a poetic conceit or moral
. statement, particularly popular in the 16th and 17th
. centuries.

. Erotica

. Essays

. Fiction

.. Big little books

.. HN: 1/98 Term added.

.. SN: Use for small, thick, heavily illustrated books, usually
.. containing texts abridged from popular fiction.

.. Biographical fiction

.. Comic histories

.. Fables

.. Fairy tales

.. Fantasy literature

... Imaginary conversations

... Imaginary voyages

... Science fiction

... Utopian literature

.. Feuilletons

.. SN: Use for serialized fiction in the form of novels or
.. periodical literature.

.. Folk tales

.. Historical fiction

.. Mystery and detective fiction

.. Myths and legends

.. Novellas

.. Novels

... Bildungsromans

... HN: Form of term changed from Bildungsromane; SN and UFs added,
... changes approved 20100115

... SN: Use for novels in which the theme is the development of a
... character from youth to adulthood.

... Dime novels

... Epistolary novels

... HN: Changed 1/91. Formerly, "Epistolary novels" may have been
... indexed as "Epistolary fiction.

... Gothic novels

... HN: Changed 1/91. Formerly, "Gothic novels" may have been
... indexed as "Gothic fiction.

... Penny dreadfuls

... Picture novels

... Plot-your-own stories

... SN: Use for novels which have the reader choose from a number
... of options to develop the story.

... Romans à clef

... Yellowbacks

.. Occult fiction

... Ghost stories

.. Oriental tales

.. Picaresque literature

.. CM: Change made to reconcile form with LCSH and GSAFD.

.. HN: 6/99 Changed form of term from "Picaresque fiction" to
.. "Picaresque literature." Formerly, "Picaresque literature"
.. may have been indexed as "Picaresque fiction.

.. SN: Use for episodic accounts of the adventures of an
.. engagingly roguish hero.

.. Robinsonades

.. SN: Use for imitations of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.

.. Sea stories

.. Short stories

.. Survivalist literature

.. War fiction

.. Western fiction

.. SN: Use for works of fiction treating themes of the American
.. West, usually set in the 19th century.

. Juvenile literature

. SN: Use for works written for children.

.. Bible stories

.. SN: Use for paraphrases in story form of Biblical texts.

.. Fairy tales

.. Nursery rhymes

... Accumulative rhymes

... SN: Use for nursery rhymes in which the phrases repeat and
... build up as the verse progresses.

.. Nursery stories

.. Thumb bibles

.. HN:

.. SN: Use for miniature volumes containing summaries or
.. abridgments of biblical texts in verse or prose; typically
.. illustrated and produced chiefly for use by children.

.. Toy books

.. HN: Term accepted term, 20100116; Candidate term, 20100115 and
.. 200907.

.. SN: Use for 19th-century illustrated children's books intended to entertain or amuse, rather than instruct.

. Narratives

. SN: Use for works containing an account of events, experiences,
. etc., whether true or fictitious.

.. Captivity narratives

.. Conversion narratives

.. Maritime journals

.. HN: 1/99 Term added.

.. SN: Use for personal narrative accounts of journeys over bodies
.. of water.

.. Miracle narratives

.. Overland journals

.. SN: Use for narrative accounts of journeys on overland routes,
.. especially to the American West.

.. Slave narratives

.. Survivors' narratives

.. HN: Changed 1/91. Formerly, "Survivors' narratives" may have
.. been indexed as "Survivors’ literature.

. Parables

. SN: Use for short, fictitious stories making comparisons from
. which moral or spiritual truths are drawn.

. Pataphysical literature

. CM: Apostrophe not included in term or cross-reference,
. according to ANSI/NISO z39.19-2005 6.7.2.3.

. HN: Approved 6/2007.

. SN: Use for works based on the principles or pataphysics
. (intricate and whimsical nonsense intended as a parody of
. science).

. Plays

.. Acting editions

.. SN: Use for plays with extensive printed production information.

.. Christmas pantomimes

.. SN: Use for the style of British theater, often performed at
.. Christmas, which dramatizes a fairy tale or nursery story
.. and features songs, dance, topical jokes, buffoonery, etc.,
.. with leading characters played by members of the opposite
.. sex.

.. Comedies

... Farces

... Harlequinades (Plays)

.. Film scripts

.. Folk plays

.. Heroic dramas

.. Masques

.. Morality plays

.. SN: Use for allegorical plays of the type which offer
.. discourses in praise of morality between actors
.. representing characters such as Charity, Faith, Death, etc.

.. Promptbooks

.. SN: Use for plays with manuscript production annotations.

.. Puppet plays

.. Radio plays

.. Religious plays

... Miracle plays

... SN: Use for medieval religious plays based on legends of saints
... or martyrs, or on miracles performed by saints or sacred
... objects.

... Mystery plays

... SN: Use for medieval religious plays based on scriptural
... incidents.

.... Passion plays

.... SN: Use for plays representing the Passion of Jesus Christ.

... Rappresentazioni

... SN: Use for religious dramas of popular origin which were most
... commonly performed in the churches and public squares of
... central Italian cities, most common in the 15th century.

.. Scenarios

.. SN: Use for plot outlines of dramatic works.

.. Television plays

.. Tragedies

.. Tragicomedies

.. HN: 6/99 Term added.

.. SN: Use for plays that combine the qualities of tragedy and
.. comedy, often those which employ a plot suitable for
.. tragedy but end happily.

. Poems

.. Alphabet rhymes

.. SN: Use for works consisting of short rhymes for teaching the
.. alphabet.

.. Begging poems

.. SN: Use for poems which directly or indirectly ask for
.. remuneration.

.. Broadside poems

... Calaveras

... HN: 1/98 Term added.

... SN: Use for satirical broadside poems, usually in the form of
... mock epitaphs, illustrated with skeleton caricatures and
... issued around the Day of the Dead.

.. Commendatory poems

.. HN: Proposed by Richard Noble; term approved 1/2006

.. SN: Use for poems, generally appearing in the preliminaries of
.. books, written in praise of the author and the work

.. Concrete poems

.. Dramatic monologues

.. SN: Use for poems in the form of monologues.

.. Eclogues

.. Epics

.. Epigrams

.. SN: Use for short satiric poems or any similar pointed sayings.

.. Fabliaux

.. Lyric poems

... Elegies

... Odes

.. Neo-Latin poems

.. HN: Approved 6/2008.

.. SN: Use for poems written in Latin since ca. 1300.

.. New Year addresses

.. SN: Use for verses in broadside or pamphlet form presented to
.. patrons by trades- and service-people such as watchmen,
.. lamplighters, bakers' boys, etc., around the start of the New Year, often to request a gratuity.

... Carriers' addresses

... SN: Use for verses in broadside or pamphlet form presented to
... patrons by newspaper carriers, around the start of the New
... Year, often to request a gratuity.

.. Nonsense verse

... Limericks

.. Nursery rhymes

... Accumulative rhymes

... SN: Use for nursery rhymes in which the phrases repeat and
... build up as the verse progresses.

.. Occasional poems

.. SN: Use for poems written on or intended for a special occasion.

.. Pastoral poems

.. Penny poems

.. Performance poems

.. SN: Use for poems featuring a strong performance element.

.. Poetical miscellanies

.. SN: Use for collections of contemporary poems by different
.. authors, usually dealing with various topics and primarily
.. published from the 16th through the 18th centuries.

.. Poetry of places

.. Prize poems

.. SN: Use for poems that have been awarded a prize.

. Romances

. SN: Use for medieval and Renaissance tales in prose or verse
. celebrating the adventures, in love and war, of some hero
. of chivalry. Do not use for modern romance novels.

.. Gesta

.. Pastoral romances

RBMS Controlled Vocabularies: Genre Terms

Alphabetical List | Hierarchical List