The article examines a genre of a short story and its genre modifications in literature with an anecdote, a legend and a fairy tale, an essay and a story. The genetics of the genre is described, the connection between the short story and the anecdote is determined, it is considered how a frivolous-erotic and anecdotal content of the early Italian Boccaccio short story defines compositional features of the genre. These are the brevity and the dynamics of the plot deployment, the lack of lyrical digressions, dialogues, descriptions, etc. The early short story is related to the comic in literature and it is close to a fable, an anecdote, a fabliau. The author traces the connection of the classical short story with such genres as a fairy tale, a legend. A romantic short story made a shift in the genre structure of the short story. It gains the element of fantastic story, magical bi-worldness, fatalism. The high noon of the new short story in the era of Romanticism is associated with the names of L. Tieck, E.T.A. Hoffmann, P. Mérimée, E. Poe, and in Russian literature with the early period of N. Gogol's works. The short story acquires the features of a hybrid genre that combines the features of a romantic fairy tale and a short story. In the post-romantic period, the structure of the short story is also changing, a little though, and in many respects retains its structural type (A. Tolstoy, I. Bunin). Further in the article the short story’s connection to such genres as an essay and a story is examined. Рассматривается жанр новеллы и ее жанровые модификации в литературе: связь с анекдотом, легендой и сказкой, очерком и рассказом. Описывается генетика жанра, определяется связь новеллы и анекдота, рассматривается, как фривольно-эротическое и анекдотическое содержание ранней итальянской новеллы Бокаччо определяет композиционные особенности жанра. Это лаконичность и динамика развертывания сюжета, отсутствие лирических отступлений, диалогов, описаний и др. Ранняя новелла связ
