Genres & Forms
Novella
The povist (a mid-length tale, close to the novella) is an epic prose genre of medium length that occupies an intermediate place between the novel and the short story: one main plot line, a limited circle of characters, and a focus on a single stage of the hero's life. Unlike the novel, the povist does not claim a broad panorama of society but instead deeply reveals a single fate or event. In the Slavic literatures this genre has an ancient tradition (the medieval 'povisti', the Cossack chronicles). Classic Ukrainian examples are Ivan Nechui-Levytsky's Kaidash's Family, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Ivan Franko's Zakhar Berkut, Olha Kobylianska's Land, and Oleksandr Dovzhenko's The Enchanted Desna. In world literature, close to the genre are Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and Thomas Mann's Death in Venice.
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Compare “Novella” with another term
Meaning, origins and distinction — side by side.
Distinction
Both are epic prose genres, but of different scale and structure. The novel spans a broad panorama of life, many plot lines and characters, extended time and the developed evolution of character. The novella is a middle form with ONE governing plot line, a narrower cast, and a focus on a single decisive conflict or stage of the hero's life. The novel builds a world; the novella traces a fate.
