TYPES OF DRAMATIC GENRE

Comedy. It is the Greek word and means “a merry spectacle”. This genre is called in the East as “mazhaka”. “Mazhaka” in Arabic is a funny word or act. That reflects the way life plays funny or comedy is comedy. The play that reflects the life event sin risible manner is called comedy or mazhaka. In comedy the laugh is not just a mean of entertainment. In comedy the laugh bears the socio-moral content, the author aims to eliminate lacks in society that he observed, by using artistic laugh.

There are various methods to create laugh in comedy. The first comedy in the history of Azerbaijani literature is M.F.Akhundzade’s Hekayeti-Molla Ibrahimkhalil alchemist. 

There are examples of musical comedy in literature. The comedy created based on combination of music and word is called comedy. U. Hajıbeyov’s  Arshin mal alan and If not, then it works are the great examples of musical comedies. 

Tragedy (fajia). In Arabic means a sad, a terrible event. The name of the genre is also used as a tragedy term. The word gradually distanced from its first meaning (the tragedy had a meaning of singing on goats) and became to know the type of the dramatic genre. If the risible events occupy the main place in the comedy but in tragedy sad, horrific events come on highlight. Play that results with the destruction of good, kind wishes is called a tragedy. The main hero of the tragedy struggles for the new ideas, the new life. In this struggle the main hero faces with sharp resistance. The big contradiction appears between the wishes of hero and his chances to realize this wish.

In spite of the difficulties faced by him, the hero of the tragedy does not change his view and in many cases dies for this purpose. In the tragedy the physical death of the hero means his moral victory. Though positive hero dies physically, but he wins the negative forces morally with his selfless, grace struggle. Work “Musibati-Fakhraddin” written in 1896 is the first example of the genre of tragedy in the history of Azerbaijani literature. After this work our writers like A. Hagverdiyev, N. Narimanov, H. Javid, J. Jabbarly had created new examples of the genre of tragedy.

As the tragedy is written in prose, it can be written in poetry. The first example of manzum (poetry) tragedy in the history of Azerbaijani literature is H. Javid\'s Mother work (1910). The next perfect examples of the genre of the tragedy are works of H. Javid \'s Sheikh Sanan (1914) and The Devil (1918).

 Drama. Though when we say drama, basically we mean all works written in dramatic a type, but the drama term, which is used separately means just name of one genre of dramatic type. Features related both to comedy and tragedy are reflected in drama. Drama occupies the middle position between tragedy and comedy. However, the drama genre differs from other two genres of dramatic type with specific features. Like in tragedy, the serious conflict and sharp clashes take place between the hero and environment. But, unlike the tragedy the in drama as a rule does not die during conflict and clashes, in addition to victory over evil forces morally, he survives physically, too. The comic scenes can also be used in drama. But it is impossible that the drama is completely set on ridiculous events.  The first example of the genre of drama in the history of our literature is a work of M.F.Akhundzade Hekayeti-khırs quldurbasan (1851).

Drama genre is also can be written in poetry. H. Javid \'s The Prophet, S. Vurgun Vagif” works are examples of manzum (poetry) drams.

Tragicomedy. As we know, the elements of comedy can be also used in genre of tragedy and drama. The image of buffoon in H. Javid’s Topal Timur and as well as in S. Vurgun’s Vagif\' is typical examples of the using of comic elements in tragedy and drama. But sometimes in play of tragic content the comicality and the tragic elements in comic plays are so stronger that those plays can be called not as “tragedy” or “drama” for its genres, but as tragicomedy.

In Azerbaijani literature the tragicomedy genre is connected mainly with the name of J. Mammedguluzade. Calling of J. Mammadguluzade’s works like The Dead, Mother book and Crazy gathering as tragicomedy is not accidental. The matter is that those works differ strongly from optimistic minded comedies in our literature (for example, M.F.Akhundzade’s Hekayeti - Molla Ibrahimkhalil alchemist, Hekayeti Monsieur Jordan and Dervish Mesteli shah, Haji Qara works) by expressing the tragic  content in the background of funny stories.  

The biggest representatives of Azerbaijani drama of the XX century were J. Mammadguluzade, H. Javid, J. Jabbarly, S. Vurgun, S. Rahman, M. Ibrahimov, M. Hussein, I. Efendiyev and B. Vahabzade.