Short Story /മലയാളം ചെറുകഥാസാഹിത്യം/വേങ്ങയിൽകുഞ്ഞിരാമൻ
നായനാർ
A short
story is a brief work of literature,
usually written in narrative prose. Emerging from earlier oral storytelling traditions in the 17th century, the
short story has grown to encompass a body of work so diverse as to defy easy
characterization. At its most prototypical the short story features a small
cast of named characters, and focuses on a self-contained incident with the
intent of evoking a "single effect" or mood. In doing so, short stories make use of
plot, resonance, and other dynamic components to a far greater degree than is
typical of an anecdote,
yet to a far lesser degree than a novel. While the short
story is largely distinct from the novel, authors of both generally draw from a
common pool of literary techniques.
Short stories have no set length. In terms of word count
there is no official demarcation between an anecdote,
a short story, and a novel. Rather, the form's parameters are given by the
rhetorical and practical context in which a given story is produced and
considered, so that what constitutes a short story may differ between genres,
countries, eras, and commentators. Like
the novel, the short story's predominant shape reflects the demands of the
available markets for publication, and the evolution of the form seems closely
tied to the evolution of the publishing industry and the submission guidelines
of its constituent houses.
The short story has been considered both an apprenticeship
form preceding more lengthy works, and a crafted form in its own right,
collected together in books of similar length, price, and distribution as
novels. Short story writers may define their works as part of the artistic and
personal expression of the form. They may also attempt to resist categorization
by genre and fixed form.
