An exploration of literary and non-literary texts - Alina Buzarna-Tihenea (Galbeaza)

Alina Buzarna-Tihenea (Galbeaza) brings to the table a multifaceted approach on literary and non-literary texts, born from her experience as an associate professor teaching English for specific purposes and researching various topics from the areas of translation studies, ESP, specialized terminology, sociology, British and American literature and cultural studies, in conjunction with her experience as a translator. Her roles as educator, researcher and translator with practical outlook and outreach have helped her form a unique perspective on literary and non-literary texts, which is versatile, multidisciplinary and pragmatic.
The author experiments with text typology. The content is both technical in nature and romanticized in form. The chapters are uniquely worded to give the impression of a work of fiction, while treating the subject of literary and non-literary texts with technicality and precision. The chapters propose thorough syntheses of typologies, similarities and differences of literary and non-literary texts, which are often presented in tabular form. Nevertheless, the book flows like a story, so the reader never loses interest, while there is the possibility to skip to a section of more interest based on the well-structured and logical organization of ideas.
The first chapter focuses on the classification of literary texts, while the second chapter probes deeper into the subcategory of narrative fiction. Following the same pattern, the third chapter makes a characterization of non-literary texts, while the fourth chapter highlights informational and informative texts as types of non-literary texts. The study comes together in the fifth chapter, which is an applied analysis and comparison of several literary and non-literary text samples on the topic of vampires.
The author’s endeavors culminated in showing how sometimes the boundaries between literary and non-literary texts and between the different types of such texts may become blurred. Her case study shows, for instance, that a literary text may be adapted to resemble an interview, with various adaptations in terms of lexical density, tone, and use of pronouns. At the same time, non-literary texts such as a newspaper article or a blog article may resemble literary texts in tone and focus. Therefore, the final chapter brings literary and non-literary texts together as exponents or reflections of the world.
This study may very well be the most thorough roadmap to literary and non-literary texts to date and may stir the interest of teachers, researchers, students and literature enthusiasts alike.
 

Lavinia Istratie-Macarov