On the issues of the genological structure of a letter: A research reconnaissance

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of a literary letter; it aims to define its genological structure, and to determine its genre classification. This stems from the author’s assumption that it is one of the most varied and fuzzy genres, especially in the light of its history and present state. The single term “letter” encompasses such diverse entities that it is difficult to define the limits of this genological form. Therefore, the deliberations presented in the paper reveal a fundamental question about the relationship between the typological shape of a text, its classification and formation stemming from its genre. Although the issue of genres of speech or language varieties has been discussed at length in literature and led to the emergence of numerous methodological points of view, the author believes that it is worth to look at this matter in the context of attempts at unambiguous determination of the name of the genre.