First of all, the short story is a genre in itself, indeed it can be defined as a brief fictional prose narrative that can be read in one sitting, thus shorter than a novel. Its impact on the readers is then great as people who cannot read novels may enjoy reading short stories and it may also be inspiring.
As a whole, short stories and novels often share features such as exposition, complication, crisis, climax, and resolution of the crisis; short stories usually deal with few characters. The short story introduces one aspect of the life of a character, an event, a self-contained incident or a simple act, what’s more the characters share their thoughts, feelings, motives or emotions with the readers and it arouses strong feelings in them.
The form of the short story encourages a concise narrative and then no complex plot is developed. The setting is simple and made clear through significant details. The character is disclosed in action but their description is rather subjective in order to guide the reader. The narrative often focuses on a series of linked elements so as to arouse the readers’ interest and imagination and to surprise them.
The origins of the short story dates back to the ancient oral transmission of legends, fairy tales and folk tales from one generation to another throughout the world. Then it may be considered as one of the oldest types of literature. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were the first written stories in the 14th century following the oral story-telling tradition. The genre finally developed in the early 19th century and some authors even chose this specific form in which they excelled and helped spread the genre.
Among the factors that contributed to the development and the publication of the genre were the evolution of printing technologies and the periodical editions. Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1765) is seen as the first fiction with a marked effect on the short story genre as it was a gothic story, yet Rudyard Kipling also had a pioneering role in its development in the early 20th century.
A feature : une caractéristique
An event : un événement
A motive : une motivation
To arouse : susciter
A plot : une intrigue
The setting : le cadre
Disclosed : dévoilé, révéler
A fairy tale : un conte de fées
To spread : propager, étendre
