The meaning of the word literature

Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry.^[1] In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed.^[2] Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment, and can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role.

Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such as biography, diaries, memoir, letters, and essays. Within its broad definition, literature includes non-fictional books, articles or other printed information on a particular subject.^[3][4]

Etymologically, the term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura «learning, a writing, grammar,» originally «writing formed with letters,» from litera/littera «letter».^[5] In spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or sung texts.^[6][7] Literature is often referred to synecdochically as «writing,» and poetically as «the craft of writing» or simply «the craft.» Syd Field described his discipline, screenwriting, as «a craft that occasionally rises to the level of art.»^[8]

Developments in print technology have allowed an ever-growing distribution and proliferation of written works, which now includes electronic literature.

Definitions[edit]

Definitions of literature have varied over time.^[9] In Western Europe, prior to the 18th century, literature denoted all books and writing. Literature can be seen as returning to older, more inclusive notions, so that cultural studies, for instance, include, in addition to canonical works, popular and minority genres. The word is also used in reference to non-written works: to «oral literature» and «the literature of preliterate culture».

A value judgment definition of literature considers it as consisting solely of high quality writing that forms part of the belles-lettres («fine writing») tradition.^[10] An example of this is in the (1910–11) Encyclopædia Britannica that classified literature as «the best expression of the best thought reduced to writing».^[11]

History[edit]

Oral literature[edit]

The use of the term «literature» here is a little problematic because of its origins in the Latin littera, “letter,” essentially writing. Alternatives such as «oral forms» and «oral genres» have been suggested but the word literature is widely used.^[12]

Australian Aboriginal culture has thrived on oral traditions and oral histories passed down through tens of thousands of years.
In a study published in February 2020, new evidence showed that both Budj Bim and Tower Hill volcanoes erupted between 34,000 and 40,000 years ago.^[13] Significantly, this is a «minimum age constraint for human presence in Victoria», and also could be interpreted as evidence for the oral histories of the Gunditjmara people, an Aboriginal Australian people of south-western Victoria, which tell of volcanic eruptions being some of the oldest oral traditions in existence.^[14] An axe found underneath volcanic ash in 1947 had already proven that humans inhabited the region before the eruption of Tower Hill.^[13]

Oral literature is an ancient human tradition found in «all corners of the world».^[15] Modern archaeology has been unveiling evidence of the human efforts to preserve and transmit arts and knowledge that depended completely or partially on an oral tradition, across various cultures:

The Judeo-Christian Bible reveals its oral traditional roots; medieval European manuscripts are penned by performing scribes; geometric vases from archaic Greece mirror Homer’s oral style. (…) Indeed, if these final decades of the millennium have taught us anything, it must be that oral tradition never was the other we accused it of being; it never was the primitive, preliminary technology of communication we thought it to be. Rather, if the whole truth is told, oral tradition stands out as the single most dominant communicative technology of our species as both a historical fact and, in many areas still, a contemporary reality.^[15]

The earliest poetry is believed to have been recited or sung, employed as a way of remembering history, genealogy, and law.^[16]

In Asia, the transmission of folklore, mythologies as well as scriptures in ancient India, in different Indian religions, was by oral tradition, preserved with precision with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques.^[17]

The early Buddhist texts are also generally believed to be of oral tradition, with the first by comparing inconsistencies in the transmitted versions of literature from various oral societies such as the Greek, Serbia and other cultures, then noting that the Vedic literature is too consistent and vast to have been composed and transmitted orally across generations, without being written down.^[18] According to Goody, the Vedic texts likely involved both a written and oral tradition, calling it a «parallel products of a literate society».^[19]

All ancient Greek literature was to some degree oral in nature, and the earliest literature was completely so.^[20] Homer’s epic poetry, states Michael Gagarin, was largely composed, performed and transmitted orally.^[21] As folklores and legends were performed in front of distant audiences, the singers would substitute the names in the stories with local characters or rulers to give the stories a local flavor and thus connect with the audience, but making the historicity embedded in the oral tradition as unreliable.^[22] The lack of surviving texts about the Greek and Roman religious traditions have led scholars to presume that these were ritualistic and transmitted as oral traditions, but some scholars disagree that the complex rituals in the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations were an exclusive product of an oral tradition.^[23]

Writing systems are not known to have existed among Native North Americans before contact with Europeans. Oral storytelling traditions flourished in a context without the use of writing to record and preserve history, scientific knowledge, and social practices.^[24] While some stories were told for amusement and leisure, most functioned as practical lessons from tribal experience applied to immediate moral, social, psychological, and environmental issues.^[25] Stories fuse fictional, supernatural, or otherwise exaggerated characters and circumstances with real emotions and morals as a means of teaching. Plots often reflect real life situations and may be aimed at particular people known by the story’s audience. In this way, social pressure could be exerted without directly causing embarrassment or social exclusion.^[26] For example, rather than yelling, Inuit parents might deter their children from wandering too close to the water’s edge by telling a story about a sea monster with a pouch for children within its reach.^[27]

See also African literature#Oral literature

Oratory[edit]

Oratory or the art of public speaking «was for long considered a literary art».^[3] From Ancient Greece to the late 19th century, rhetoric played a central role in Western education in training orators, lawyers, counselors, historians, statesmen, and poets.^{[28][note 1]}

Writing[edit]

Around the 4th millennium BC, the complexity of trade and administration in Mesopotamia outgrew human memory, and writing became a more dependable method of recording and presenting transactions in a permanent form.^[30] Though in both ancient Egypt and Mesoamerica, writing may have already emerged because of the need to record historical and environmental events. Subsequent innovations included more uniform, predictable, legal systems, sacred texts, and the origins of modern practices of scientific inquiry and knowledge-consolidation, all largely reliant on portable and easily reproducible forms of writing.  

Early written literature[edit]

Ancient Egyptian literature,^[31] along with Sumerian literature, are considered the world’s oldest literatures.^[32] The primary genres of the literature of ancient Egypt—didactic texts, hymns and prayers, and tales—were written almost entirely in verse;^[33] By the Old Kingdom (26th century BC to 22nd century BC), literary works included funerary texts, epistles and letters, hymns and poems, and commemorative autobiographical texts recounting the careers of prominent administrative officials. It was not until the early Middle Kingdom (21st century BC to 17th century BC) that a narrative Egyptian literature was created.^[34]

Many works of early periods, even in narrative form, had a covert moral or didactic purpose, such as the Sanskrit Panchatantra.200 BC – 300 AD, based on older oral tradition.^[35][36] Drama and satire also developed as urban culture provided a larger public audience, and later readership, for literary production. Lyric poetry (as opposed to epic poetry) was often the speciality of courts and aristocratic circles, particularly in East Asia where songs were collected by the Chinese aristocracy as poems, the most notable being the Shijing or Book of Songs (1046–c.600 BC).^[37][38][39]

In ancient China, early literature was primarily focused on philosophy, historiography, military science, agriculture, and poetry. China, the origin of modern paper making and woodblock printing, produced the world’s first print cultures.^[40] Much of Chinese literature originates with the Hundred Schools of Thought period that occurred during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (769‒269 BC).^[41] The most important of these include the Classics of Confucianism, of Daoism, of Mohism, of Legalism, as well as works of military science (e.g. Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, c.5th century BC)) and Chinese history (e.g. Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian, c.94 BC). Ancient Chinese literature had a heavy emphasis on historiography, with often very detailed court records. An exemplary piece of narrative history of ancient China was the Zuo Zhuan, which was compiled no later than 389 BC, and attributed to the blind 5th-century BC historian Zuo Qiuming.^[42]

In ancient India, literature originated from stories that were originally orally transmitted. Early genres included drama, fables, sutras and epic poetry. Sanskrit literature begins with the Vedas, dating back to 1500–1000 BC, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India.^[43][44] The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts. The Samhitas (vedic collections) date to roughly 1500–1000 BC, and the «circum-Vedic» texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000‒500 BC, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid-2nd to mid 1st millennium BC, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age.^[45] The period between approximately the 6th to 1st centuries BC saw the composition and redaction of the two most influential Indian epics, the Mahabharata^[46][47] and the Ramayana,^[48] with subsequent redaction progressing down to the 4th century AD. Other major literary works are Ramcharitmanas^[49] & Krishnacharitmanas.

The earliest known Greek writings are Mycenaean (c.1600–1100 BC), written in the Linear B syllabary on clay tablets. These documents contain prosaic records largely concerned with trade (lists, inventories, receipts, etc.); no real literature has been discovered.^[50][51] Michael Ventris and John Chadwick, the original decipherers of Linear B, state that literature almost certainly existed in Mycenaean Greece,^[51] but it was either not written down or, if it was, it was on parchment or wooden tablets, which did not survive the destruction of the Mycenaean palaces in the twelfth century BC.^[51]
Homer’s epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are central works of ancient Greek literature. It is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC.^[52] Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.^[53][54][55] Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally.^[56] From antiquity until the present day, the influence of Homeric epic on Western civilization has been great, inspiring many of its most famous works of literature, music, art and film.^[57] The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education; to Plato, Homer was simply the one who «has taught Greece» – ten Hellada pepaideuken.^[58][59] Hesiod’s Works and Days (c.700 BC) and Theogony are some of the earliest, and most influential, of ancient Greek literature. Classical Greek genres included philosophy, poetry, historiography, comedies and dramas. Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) and Aristotle (384–322 BC) authored philosophical texts that are the foundation of Western philosophy, Sappho (c. 630 – c. 570 BC) and Pindar were influential lyric poets, and Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC) and Thucydides were early Greek historians. Although drama was popular in ancient Greece, of the hundreds of tragedies written and performed during the classical age, only a limited number of plays by three authors still exist: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The plays of Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BC) provide the only real examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy, the earliest form of Greek Comedy, and are in fact used to define the genre.^[60]

The Hebrew religious text, the Torah, is widely seen as a product of the Persian period (539–333 BC, probably 450–350 BC).^[61] This consensus echoes a traditional Jewish view which gives Ezra, the leader of the Jewish community on its return from Babylon, a pivotal role in its promulgation.^[62] This represents a major source of Christianity’s Bible, which has had a major influence on Western literature.^[63]

The beginning of Roman literature dates to 240 BC, when a Roman audience saw a Latin version of a Greek play.^[64] Literature in Latin would flourish for the next six centuries, and includes essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings.

The Qur’an (610 AD to 632 AD),^[65] the main holy book of Islam, had a significant influence on the Arab language, and marked the beginning of Islamic literature. Muslims believe it was transcribed in the Arabic dialect of the Quraysh, the tribe of Muhammad.^[26][66] As Islam spread, the Quran had the effect of unifying and standardizing Arabic.^[26]

Theological works in Latin were the dominant form of literature in Europe typically found in libraries during the Middle Ages. Western Vernacular literature includes the Poetic Edda and the sagas, or heroic epics, of Iceland, the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf, and the German Song of Hildebrandt. A later form of medieval fiction was the romance, an adventurous and sometimes magical narrative with strong popular appeal.^[67]

Controversial, religious, political and instructional literature proliferated during the European Renaissance as a result of the Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press^[68] around 1440, while the Medieval romance developed into the novel,^[69]

Publishing[edit]

Publishing became possible with the invention of writing but became more practical with the invention of printing. Prior to printing, distributed works were copied manually, by scribes.

The Chinese inventor Bi Sheng made movable type of earthenware c. 1045. Then c.1450, Johannes Gutenberg independently invented movable type in Europe. This invention gradually made books less expensive to produce and more widely available.

Early printed books, single sheets, and images created before 1501 in Europe are known as incunables or incunabula. «A man born in 1453, the year of the fall of Constantinople, could look back from his fiftieth year on a lifetime in which about eight million books had been printed, more perhaps than all the scribes of Europe had produced since Constantine founded his city in A.D. 330.»^[70]

Eventually, printing enabled other forms of publishing besides books. The history of modern newspaper publishing started in Germany in 1609, with publishing of magazines following in 1663.

University discipline[edit]

In England[edit]

In England in the late 1820s, growing political and social awareness, «particularly among the utilitarians and Benthamites, promoted the possibility of including courses in English literary study in the newly formed London University». This further developed into the idea of the study of literature being «the ideal carrier for the propagation of the humanist cultural myth of a well educated, culturally harmonious nation».^[71]

America[edit]

Women and literature[edit]

The widespread education of women was not common until the nineteenth century, and because of this literature until recently was mostly male dominated.^[72]

There were few English-language women poets whose names are remembered until the twentieth century. In the nineteenth century some names that stand out are Emily Brontë, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Emily Dickinson (see American poetry). But while generally women are absent from the European cannon of Romantic literature, there is one notable exception, the French novelist and memoirist Amantine Dupin (1804 – 1876) best known by her pen name George Sand.^[74][75] One of the more popular writers in Europe in her lifetime,^[76] being more renowned than both Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac in England in the 1830s and 1840s,^[77] Sand is recognised as one of the most notable writers of the European Romantic era. Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) is the first major English woman novelist, while Aphra Behn is an early female dramatist.

Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded between 1901 and 2020 to 117 individuals: 101 men and 16 women. Selma Lagerlöf (1858 – 1940) was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was awarded in 1909. Additionally, she was the first woman to be granted a membership in The Swedish Academy in 1914.^[78]

Feminist scholars have since the twentieth century sought expand the literary canon to include more women writers.

Children’s literature[edit]

A separate genre of children’s literature only began to emerge in the eighteenth century, with the development of the concept of childhood.^{[80]: x–xi} The earliest of these books were educational books, books on conduct, and simple ABCs—often decorated with animals, plants, and anthropomorphic letters.^[81]

Aesthetics[edit]

Literary theory[edit]

A fundamental question of literary theory is «what is literature?» – although many contemporary theorists and literary scholars believe either that «literature» cannot be defined or that it can refer to any use of language.^[82]

Literary fiction[edit]

Literary fiction is a term used to describe fiction that explores any facet of the human condition, and may involve social commentary. It is often regarded as having more artistic merit than genre fiction, especially the most commercially oriented types, but this has been contested in recent years, with the serious study of genre fiction within universities.^[83]

The following, by the award-winning British author William Boyd on the short story, might be applied to all prose fiction:

[short stories] seem to answer something very deep in our nature as if, for the duration of its telling, something special has been created, some essence of our experience extrapolated, some temporary sense has been made of our common, turbulent journey towards the grave and oblivion.^[84]

The very best in literature is annually recognized by the Nobel Prize in Literature, which is awarded to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, produced «in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction» (original Swedish: den som inom litteraturen har producerat det mest framstående verket i en idealisk riktning).^[85][86]

The value of imaginative literature[edit]

Some researchers suggest that literary fiction can play a role in an individual’s psychological development.^[87] Psychologists have also been using literature as a therapeutic tool.^[88][89] Psychologist Hogan argues for the value of the time and emotion that a person devotes to understanding a character’s situation in literature;^[90] that it can unite a large community by provoking universal emotions, as well as allowing readers access to different cultures, and new emotional experiences.^[91] One study, for example, suggested that the presence of familiar cultural values in literary texts played an important impact on the performance of minority students.^[92]

Psychologist Maslow’s ideas help literary critics understand how characters in literature reflect their personal culture and the history.^[93] The theory suggests that literature helps an individual’s struggle for self-fulfillment.^[94][95]

The influence of religious texts[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2020)

Religion has had a major influence on literature, through works like the Vedas, the Torah, the Bible,^[96]
and the Qur’an.^[97][98][99]

The King James Version of the Bible has been called «the most influential version of the most influential book in the world, in what is now its most influential language», «the most important book in English religion and culture», and «the most celebrated book in the English-speaking world»^{[citation needed]} — principally because of its literary style and widespread distribution. Prominent atheist figures such as the late Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins have praised the King James Version as being «a giant step in the maturing of English literature» and «a great work of literature», respectively, with Dawkins then adding, «A native speaker of English who has never read a word of the King James Bible is verging on the barbarian».^[100][101]

Societies in which preaching has great importance, and those in which religious structures and authorities have a near-monopoly of reading and writing and/or a censorship role, may impart a religious gloss to much of the literature those societies produce or retain — as for example in the European Middle Ages. The traditions of close study of religious texts has furthered the development of techniques and theories in literary studies.

Types[edit]

Poetry[edit]

Poetry has traditionally been distinguished from prose by its greater use of the aesthetic qualities of language, including musical devices such as assonance, alliteration, rhyme, and rhythm, and by being set in lines and verses rather than paragraphs, and more recently its use of other typographical elements.^{[102][103][104]} This distinction is complicated by various hybrid forms such as sound poetry, concrete poetry and prose poem,^[105] and more generally by the fact that prose possesses rhythm.^[106] Abram Lipsky refers to it as an «open secret» that «prose is not distinguished from poetry by lack of rhythm».^[107]

Prior to the 19th century, poetry was commonly understood to be something set in metrical lines: «any kind of subject consisting of Rhythm or Verses».^[102] Possibly as a result of Aristotle’s influence (his Poetics), «poetry» before the 19th century was usually less a technical designation for verse than a normative category of fictive or rhetorical art.^{[clarification needed][108]} As a form it may pre-date literacy, with the earliest works being composed within and sustained by an oral tradition;^[109][110] hence it constitutes the earliest example of literature.

Prose[edit]

As noted above, prose generally makes far less use of the aesthetic qualities of language than poetry.^{[103][104][111]} However, developments in modern literature, including free verse and prose poetry have tended to blur the differences, and American poet T.S. Eliot suggested that while: «the distinction between verse and prose is clear, the distinction between poetry and prose is obscure».^[112] There are verse novels, a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Eugene Onegin (1831) by Alexander Pushkin is the most famous example.^[113]

On the historical development of prose, Richard Graff notes that «[In the case of ancient Greece] recent scholarship has emphasized the fact that formal prose was a comparatively late development, an «invention» properly associated with the classical period».^[114]

Latin was a major influence on the development of prose in many European countries. Especially important was the great Roman orator Cicero.^[115] It was the lingua franca among literate Europeans until quite recent times, and the great works of Descartes (1596 – 1650), Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626), and Baruch Spinoza (1632 – 1677) were published in Latin. Among the last important books written primarily in Latin prose were the works of Swedenborg (d. 1772), Linnaeus (d. 1778), Euler (d. 1783), Gauss (d. 1855), and Isaac Newton (d. 1727).

Novel[edit]

A novel is a long fictional prose narrative. In English, the term emerged from the Romance languages in the late 15th century, with the meaning of «news»; it came to indicate something new, without a distinction between fact or fiction.^[116] The romance is a closely related long prose narrative. Walter Scott defined it as «a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvelous and uncommon incidents», whereas in the novel «the events are accommodated to the ordinary train of human events and the modern state of society».^[117] Other European languages do not distinguish between romance and novel: «a novel is le roman, der Roman, il romanzo«,^[118] indicates the proximity of the forms.^[119]

Although there are many historical prototypes, so-called «novels before the novel»,^[120] the modern novel form emerges late in cultural history—roughly during the eighteenth century.^[121] Initially subject to much criticism, the novel has acquired a dominant position amongst literary forms, both popularly and critically.^{[119][122][123]}

Novella[edit]

The publisher Melville House classifies the novella as «too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story».^[124] Publishers and literary award societies typically consider a novella to be between 17,000 and 40,000 words.^[125]

Short story[edit]

A dilemma in defining the «short story» as a literary form is how to, or whether one should, distinguish it from any short narrative and its contested origin,^[126] that include the Bible, and Edgar Allan Poe.^[127]

Graphic novel[edit]

Graphic novels and comic books present stories told in a combination of artwork, dialogue, and text.

Electronic literature[edit]

Electronic literature is a literary genre consisting of works created exclusively on and for digital devices.

Nonfiction[edit]

Common literary examples of nonfiction include, the essay; travel literature and nature writing; biography, autobiography and memoir; journalism; letters; journals; history, philosophy, economics; scientific, and technical writings.^[4][128]

Nonfiction can fall within the broad category of literature as «any collection of written work», but some works fall within the narrower definition «by virtue of the excellence of their writing, their originality and their general aesthetic and artistic merits».^[129]

Drama[edit]

Drama is literature intended for performance.^[130] The form is combined with music and dance in opera and musical theatre (see libretto). A play is a written dramatic work by a playwright that is intended for performance in a theatre; it comprises chiefly dialogue between characters. A closet drama, by contrast, is written to be read rather than to be performed; the meaning of which can be realized fully on the page.^[131] Nearly all drama took verse form until comparatively recently.

The earliest form of which there exists substantial knowledge is Greek drama. This developed as a performance associated with religious and civic festivals, typically enacting or developing upon well-known historical, or mythological themes,

In the twentieth century scripts written for non-stage media have been added to this form, including radio, television and film.

Law[edit]

Law and literature[edit]

The law and literature movement focuses on the interdisciplinary connection between law and literature.

Copyright[edit]

Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time.^{[132][133][134][135][136]} The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.^{[137][138][139]}

United Kingdom[edit]

Literary works have been protected by copyright law from unauthorized reproduction since at least 1710.^[140] Literary works are defined by copyright law to mean «any work, other than a dramatic or musical work, which is written, spoken or sung, and accordingly includes (a) a table or compilation (other than a database), (b) a computer program, (c) preparatory design material for a computer program, and (d) a database.»^[141]

Literary works are all works of literature; that is all works expressed in print or writing (other than dramatic or musical works).^[142]

United States[edit]

The copyright law of the United States has a long and complicated history, dating back to colonial times. It was established as federal law with the Copyright Act of 1790. This act was updated many times, including a major revision in 1976.

European Union[edit]

The copyright law of the European Union is the copyright law applicable within the European Union. Copyright law is largely harmonized in the Union, although country to country differences exist. The body of law was implemented in the EU through a number of directives, which the member states need to enact into their national law. The main copyright directives are the Copyright Term Directive, the Information Society Directive and the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. Copyright in the Union is furthermore dependent on international conventions to which the European Union is a member (such as the TRIPS Agreement and conventions to which all Member States are parties (such as the Berne Convention)).

Copyright in communist countries[edit]

Copyright in Japan[edit]

Japan was a party to the original Berne convention in 1899, so its copyright law is in sync with most international regulations. The convention protected copyrighted works for 50 years after the author’s death (or 50 years after publication for unknown authors and corporations). However, in 2004 Japan extended the copyright term to 70 years for cinematographic works. At the end of 2018, as a result of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, the 70 year term was applied to all works.^[143] This new term is not applied retroactively; works that had entered the public domain between 1999 and 2018 by expiration would remain in the public domain.

Censorship[edit]

Censorship of literature is employed by states, religious organizations, educational institutions, etc., to control what can be portrayed, spoken, performed, or written.^[144] Generally such bodies attempt to ban works for political reasons, or because they deal with other controversial matters such as race, or sex.^[145]

A notorious example of censorship is James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, which has been described by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov as a «divine work of art» and the greatest masterpiece of 20th century prose.^[146] It was banned in the United States from 1921 until 1933 on the grounds of obscenity. Nowadays it is a central literary text in English literature courses, throughout the world.^[147]

Awards[edit]

There are numerous awards recognizing achievement and contribution in literature. Given the diversity of the field, awards are typically limited in scope, usually on: form, genre, language, nationality and output (e.g. for first-time writers or debut novels).^[148]

The Nobel Prize in Literature was one of the six Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895,^[149] and is awarded to an author on the basis of their body of work, rather than to, or for, a particular work itself.^{[note 2]} Other literary prizes for which all nationalities are eligible include: the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Man Booker International Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Hugo Award, Guardian First Book Award and the Franz Kafka Prize.

See also[edit]

• Outline of literature
• Index of literature articles

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

• Project Gutenberg Online Library
• Internet Book List similar to IMDb but for books (archived 7 February 2007)
• Digital eBook Collection – Internet Archive

WHAT IS LITERATURE?

Literature doesn’t have a particular definition. The word literature is derived from the adjective “LITERATURE”, which means the ability to be able to read and write. It can also be defined as everything that is in print that gives instruction, information, and education to people in a broad sense.

The meaning of literature.

There is no particular definition of literature but literature simply mean the representation of life or literature is the mirror of life.

What are the two Major Types of Literature?

Literature is classified into two, below are types of literature;

1. English literature: this is a type of literature from people who speak English as their native or their mother language. for example, literature directly from US can be classified as English literature, because it is from the origin.
2. Literature in English: this can simply be explained as literature translated to English by people whose mother’s language isn’t English. for instance, literature from a country speaking a language other than English can be categorized as literature in English.

What is the Function of Literature?

1. Literature educates
2. Literature serves as a means of propagation of history
3. Literature entertain
4. Literature contributes to the use of language.
5. Literature teaches morality.
6. Literature stands as means of information.

What is the figure of speech in literature?

Below are the types of concepts used in literary appreciation.
1. Metaphor:
2. Simile:
3. Irony:
4. Litotes:
5. Allegory:
6. Alliteration:
7. Pun:
8. Apostrophe:
9. Oxymoron:
10. Onomatopoeia:
11. Personification:
12. Synecdoche:
13. Repetition:
14. Rhetorical question:
15. Sarcasm:
16. Diction:
17. Hyperbole:
18. Paradox:
19. Personification:
20. Synecdoche:

what are the genres of Literature?

We have three genres of literature, each of these genres has certain features that make it different from others. Below are three genres of literature;

1. Prose.
2. Poetry.
3. Drama.

1. prose: the word prose is derived from the Latin word “prorsus” which means “straight on” or “continuous”. It is also a piece of writing that goes straight forward and continues to the very end.  The word prose is recognized by its use of a greater amount of words and sentences structures. The prose is made up of fictive and non-fictive work.
2. poetry: this can be defined as the deployment of certain devices such as a figure of speech, feeling, rhyme and rhythm, stanzaic division, metre, subject matter in a body of words in order to express an idea.
3. Drama: drama create or recreate human experience through acting. Drama is the representation of human action. Drama takes place anywhere such as, built stage, motor-park, and village square. The basic elements of drama are Plot, Character, Action, Scene, Setting, and Dialogue. The characters in a play are referred to as dramatists.

Types of Drama 

Tragedy: Plays written that is based on an issue of religion, social or personal problem. In the tragedy genre, many events are crafted in a manner that is apparent to the characters. The most important thing is that it’s not a narrative because it focuses on the actions. In tragedies the protagonist has the burden of a fatal flaw. often, the protagonist displays arrogance or pride, and the story leads to an inevitable fall.

Comedy: Comedy demonstrates the concept of rebirth. Consequently, this kind of drama typically begins and end with laughter and joy. The characters in this show are portrayed in humorous and absurd ways.

Melodrama: Melodrama is a form of drama where external forces cause the issue and, sometimes, the main character is the victim in the circumstances. The good and the flawed characters are presented distinctly.

Tragicomedy: This kind of drama depicts the real life or scenario in a real manner. In this type of drama, the characters and plot aren’t judgmental and the ending is unpredictable. It is an amalgamation of comedy and tragedy.

Monologue: this is when a character makes a speech that is long to a mute audience on stage.

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Literature: A Depiction of Society

It might sound strange that what is literature’s relation with a society could be. However, literature is an integral part of any society and has a profound effect on ways and thinking of people of that society. Actually, society is the only subject matter of literature. It literally shapes a society and its beliefs. Students, who study literature, grow up to be the future of a country. Hence, it has an impact on a society and it moulds it.

According to different definitions of literature by authors, it literally does the depiction of society; therefore, we call it ‘mirror of society’. Writers use it effectively to point out the ill aspects of society that improve them. They also use it to highlight the positive aspects of a society to promote more goodwill in society.

The essays in literature often call out on the problems in a country and suggest solutions for it. Producers make films and write novels, and short stories to touch subjects like morals, mental illnesses, patriotism, etc. Through such writings, they relate all matters to society. Other genre can also present the picture of society. We should keep in mind that the picture illustrated by literature is not always true. Writers can present it to change the society in their own ways.

The Effects of Literature on a Society:

 The effects of literature on a society can be both positive and negative. Because of this, the famous philosophers Aristotle and Plato have different opinions about its effect on society.

Plato was the one who started the idea of written dialogue. He was a moralist, and he did not approve of poetry because he deemed it immoral. He considered poetry as based on false ideas whereas the basis of philosophy came from reality and truth. Plato claims that, “poetry inspires undesirable emotions in society. According to him, poetry should be censored from adults and children for fear of lasting detrimental consequences” (Leitch & McGowan). He further explains it by saying, “Children have no ability to know what emotions should be tempered and which should be expressed as certain expressed emotions can have lasting consequences later in life”. He says, “Strong emotions of every kind must be avoided, in fear of them spiraling out of control and creating irreparable damage” (Leitch & McGowan). However, he did not agree with the type of poetry and wanted that to be changed. (read Plato’s attack on poetry)

Now Aristotle considers literature of all kinds to be an important part of children’s upbringing. Aristotle claims that, “poetry takes us closer to reality. He also mentioned in his writings that it teaches, warns, and shows us the consequences of bad deeds”. He was of the view that it is not necessary that poetry will arouse negative feelings. (Read Aristotle’s defense of poetry)

Therefore, the relation of literature with society is of utter importance. It might have a few negative impacts, through guided studying which we can avoid. Overall, it is the best way of passing information to the next generation and integral to learning.

Literature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means «acquaintance with letters» (from Latin «littera» letter). In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and non-fiction.

Definitions

The word «literature» has different meanings depending on who is using it. It could be applied broadly to mean any symbolic record, encompassing everything from images and sculptures to letters. In a more narrow sense the term could mean only text composed of letters, or other examples of symbolic written language (Egyptian hieroglyphs, for example). An even more narrow interpretation is that text have a physical form, such as on paper or some other portable form, to the exclusion of inscriptions or digital media. The Muslim scholar and philosopher Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (702-765 AD) defined Literature as follows: «Literature is the garment which one puts on what he says or writes so that it may appear more attractive.»The Great Muslim Scientist and Philosopher Imam Jafar Ibn Mohammad As-Sadiq(a.s),Imam Hussain Publication, First Edition, ISBN 964-7371 12-8] added that literature is a slice of life that has been given direction and meaning, an artistic interpretation of the world according to the percipient’s point of views. Frequently, the texts that make up literature crossed over these boundaries. Russian Formalist Roman Jakobson defines literature as «organized violence committed on ordinary speech», highlighting literature’s deviation from the day-to-day and conversational structure of words. Illustrated stories, hypertexts, cave paintings and inscribed monuments have all at one time or another pushed the boundaries of «literature.»

People may perceive a difference between «literature» and some popular forms of written work. The terms «literary fiction» and «literary merit» often serve to distinguish between individual works. For example, almost all literate people perceive the works of Charles Dickens as «literature,» whereas some criticsFact|date=February 2007 look down on the works of Jeffrey Archer as unworthy of inclusion under the general heading of «English literature.» Critics may exclude works from the classification «literature,» for example, on the grounds of a poor standard of grammar and syntax, of an unbelievable or disjointed story-line, or of inconsistent or unconvincing characters. Genre fiction (for example: romance, crime, or science fiction) may also become excluded from consideration as «literature.»

History

One of the earliest known literary works is the Sumerian «Epic of Gilgamesh», an epic poem dated around 2700 B.C., which deals with themes of heroism, friendship, loss, and the quest for eternal life. Different historical periods have emphasized various characteristics of literature. Early works often had an overt or covert religious or didactic purpose. Moralizing or prescriptive literature stems from such sources. The exotic nature of romance flourished from the Middle Ages onwards, whereas the Age of Reason manufactured nationalistic epics and philosophical tracts. Romanticism emphasized the popular folk literature and emotive involvement, but gave way in the 19th-century West to a phase of realism and naturalism, investigations into what is real. The 20th century brought demands for symbolism or psychological insight in the delineation and development of character.

Poetry

A poem is defined as a composition written in verse (although verse has been equally used for epic and dramatic fiction). Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise word choice, and metaphor; they may take the form of measures consisting of patterns of stresses (metric feet) or of patterns of different-length syllables (as in classical prosody); and they may or may not utilize rhyme. One cannot readily characterize poetry precisely. Typically though, poetry as a form of literature makes some significant use of the «formal» properties of the words it uses — the properties attached to the written or spoken form of the words, rather than to their meaning. Metre depends on syllables and on rhythms of speech; rhyme and alliteration depend on words

Poetry perhaps pre-dates other forms of literature: early known examples include the Sumerian «Epic of Gilgamesh» (dated from around 2700 B.C.), parts of the Bible, the surviving works of Homer (the «Iliad» and the «Odyssey»), and the Indian epics «Ramayana» and «Mahabharata». In cultures based primarily on oral traditions the formal characteristics of poetry often have a mnemonic function, and important texts: legal, genealogical or moral, for example, may appear first in verse form.

Some poetry uses specific forms: the haiku, the limerick, or the sonnet, for example. A traditional haiku written in Japanese must have something to do with nature, contain seventeen onji (syllables), distributed over three lines in groups of five, seven, and five, and should also have a kigo, a specific word indicating a season. A limerick has five lines, with a rhyme scheme of AABBA, and line lengths of 3,3,2,2,3 stressed syllables. It traditionally has a less reverent attitude towards nature. Poetry not adhering to a formal poetic structure is called «free verse»

Language and tradition dictate some poetic norms: Persian poetry always rhymes, Greek poetry rarely rhymes, Italian or French poetry often does, English and German can go either way (although modern non-rhyming poetry often, perhaps unfairly, has a more «serious» aura). Perhaps the most paradigmatic style of English poetry, blank verse, as exemplified in works by Shakespeare and by Milton, consists of unrhymed iambic pentameters. Some languages prefer longer lines; some shorter ones. Some of these conventions result from the ease of fitting a specific language’s vocabulary and grammar into certain structures, rather than into others; for example, some languages contain more rhyming words than others, or typically have longer words. Other structural conventions come about as the result of historical accidents, where many speakers of a language associate good poetry with a verse form preferred by a particular skilled or popular poet.

Works for theatre (see below) traditionally took verse form. This has now become rare outside opera and musicals, although many would argue that the language of drama remains intrinsically poetic.

In recent years, digital poetry has arisen that takes advantage of the artistic, publishing, and synthetic qualities of digital media.

Prose

Prose consists of writing that does not adhere to any particular formal structures (other than simple grammar); «non-poetic» writing, perhaps. The term sometimes appears pejoratively, but prosaic writing simply says something without necessarily trying to say it in a beautiful way, or using beautiful words. Prose writing can of course take beautiful form; but less by virtue of the formal features of words (rhymes, alliteration, metre) but rather by style, placement, or inclusion of graphics. But one need not mark the distinction precisely, and perhaps cannot do so. One area of overlap is «prose poetry», which attempts to convey using only prose, the aesthetic richness typical of poetry.

Essays

An essay consists of a discussion of a topic from an author’s personal point of view, exemplified by works by Francis Bacon or by Charles Lamb.

‘Essay’ in English derives from the French ‘essai’, meaning ‘attempt’. Thus one can find open-ended, provocative and/or inconclusive essays. The term «essays» first applied to the self-reflective musings of Michel de Montaigne, and even today he has a reputation as the father of this literary form.

Genres related to the essay may include:
* the memoir, telling the story of an author’s life from the author’s personal point of view
* the epistle: usually a formal, didactic, or elegant letter.

Fiction

Narrative fiction ( [http://moodle.ed.uiuc.edu/wiked/index.php/Narrative_prose narrative prose] ) generally favours prose for the writing of novels, short stories, graphic novels, and the like. Singular examples of these exist throughout history, but they did not develop into systematic and discrete literary forms until relatively recent centuries. Length often serves to categorize works of prose fiction. Although limits remain somewhat arbitrary, modern publishing conventions dictate the following:
* A Mini Saga is a short story of «exactly» 50 words
* A Flash fiction is generally defined as a piece of prose under a thousand words.
* A short story comprises prose writing of between 1000 and 20,000 words (but typically more than 500 words), which may or may not have a narrative arc.
* A story containing between 20,000 and 50,000 words falls into the novella category.
* A work of fiction containing more than 50,000 words falls squarely into the realm of the novel.

A novel consists simply of a long story written in prose, yet the form developed comparatively recently. Icelandic prose sagas dating from about the 11th century bridge the gap between traditional national verse epics and the modern psychological novel. In mainland Europe, the Spaniard Cervantes wrote perhaps the first influential novel: «Don Quixote», the first part of which was published in 1605 and the second in 1615. Earlier collections of tales, such as Boccaccio’s «Decameron» and Chaucer’s «The Canterbury Tales», have comparable forms and would classify as novels if written today. Earlier works written in Asia resemble even more strongly the novel as we now think of it — for example, works such as the Chinese «Romance of the Three Kingdoms» and the Japanese «Tale of Genji» by Lady Murasaki. Compare to The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.

Early novels in Europe did not, at the time, count as significant literature, perhaps because «mere» prose writing seemed easy and unimportant. It has become clear, however, that prose writing can provide aesthetic pleasure without adhering to poetic forms. Additionally, the freedom authors gain in not having to concern themselves with verse structure translates often into a more complex plot or into one richer in precise detail than one typically finds even in narrative poetry. This freedom also allows an author to experiment with many different literary and presentation styles — including poetry— in the scope of a single novel.

See Ian Watt’s «The Rise of the Novel». [This definition needs expansion]

Other prose literature

Philosophy, history, journalism, and legal and scientific writings traditionally ranked as literature. They offer some of the oldest prose writings in existence; novels and prose stories earned the names «fiction» to distinguish them from factual writing or nonfiction, which writers historically have crafted in prose.

The «literary» nature of science writing has become less pronounced over the last two centuries, as advances and specialization have made new scientific research inaccessible to most audiences; science now appears mostly in journals. Scientific works of Euclid, Aristotle, Copernicus, and Newton still possess great value; but since the science in them has largely become outdated, they no longer serve for scientific instruction, yet they remain too technical to sit well in most programmes of literary study. Outside of «history of science» programmes students rarely read such works. Many books «popularizing» science might still deserve the title «literature»; history will tell.

Philosophy, too, has become an increasingly academic discipline. More of its practitioners lament this situation than occurs with the sciences; nonetheless most new philosophical work appears in academic journals. Major philosophers through history—Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Descartes, Nietzsche—have become as canonical as any writers. Some recent philosophy works are argued to merit the title «literature», such as some of the works by Simon Blackburn; but much of it does not, and some areas, such as logic, have become extremely technical to a degree similar to that of mathematics.

A great deal of historical writing can still rank as literature, particularly the genre known as creative nonfiction. So can a great deal of journalism, such as literary journalism. However these areas have become extremely large, and often have a primarily utilitarian purpose: to record data or convey immediate information. As a result the writing in these fields often lacks a literary quality, although it often and in its better moments has that quality. Major «literary» historians include Herodotus, Thucydides and Procopius, all of whom count as canonical literary figures.

Law offers a less clear case. Some writings of Plato and Aristotle, or even the early parts of the Bible, might count as legal literature. The law tables of Hammurabi of Babylon might count. Roman civil law as codified in the Corpus Juris Civilis during the reign of Justinian I of the Byzantine Empire has a reputation as significant literature. The founding documents of many countries, including the United States Constitution, can count as literature; however legal writing now rarely exhibits literary merit.

Game Design Scripts — In essence never seen by the player of a game and only by the developers and/or publishers, the audience for these pieces is usually very small. Still, many game scripts contain immersive stories and detailed worlds making them hidden literary gems. Most of these fields, then, through specialization or proliferation, no longer generally constitute «literature» in the sense under discussion. They may sometimes count as «literary literature»; more often they produce what one might call «technical literature» or «professional literature».

Drama

A play or drama offers another classical literary form that has continued to evolve over the years. It generally comprises chiefly dialogue between characters, and usually aims at dramatic / theatrical performance (see theatre) rather than at reading. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, opera developed as a combination of poetry, drama, and music. Nearly all drama took verse form until comparatively recently. Shakespeare could be considered drama. Romeo and Juliet, for example, is a classic romantic drama generally accepted as literature.

Greek drama exemplifies the earliest form of drama of which we have substantial knowledge. Tragedy, as a dramatic genre, developed as a performance associated with religious and civic festivals, typically enacting or developing upon well-known historical or mythological themes. Tragedies generally presented very serious themes. With the advent of newer technologies, scripts written for non-stage media have been added to this form. War of the Worlds (radio) in 1938 saw the advent of literature written for radio broadcast, and many works of Drama have been adapted for film or television. Conversely, television, film, and radio literature have been adapted to printed or electronic media.

Oral literature

The term oral literature refers not to written, but to oral traditions, which includes different types of epic, poetry and drama, folktales, ballads, legends, jokes, and other genres of folklore. It exists in every society, whether literate or not. It is generally studied by folklorists, or by scholars committed to cultural studies and ethnopoetics, including linguists, anthropologists, and even sociologists.

Other narrative forms

* Electronic literature is a literary genre consisting of works which originate in digital environments.
* Films, videos and broadcast soap operas have carved out a niche which often parallels the functionality of prose fiction.
* Graphic novels and comic books present stories told in a combination of sequential artwork, dialogue and text.

Genres of literature

A literary genre refers to the traditional divisions of literature of various kinds according to a particular criterion of writing. See the list of literary genres.

List of literary genres

* Autobiography, Memoir, Spiritual autobiography
* Biography
* Diaries and Journals
* Electronic literature
* Erotic literature
* Slave narrative
* Fiction
** Adventure novel
** Children’s literature
** Comic novel
** Crime fiction
*** Detective fiction
** Fable, Fairy tale, Folklore
** Fantasy (for more details see Fantasy subgenres; fantasy literature)
** Gothic fiction (initially synonymous with horror)
** Historical fiction
** Horror
** Medical novel
** Mystery fiction
** Philosophical novel
** Political fiction
** Romance novel
*** Historical romance
** Saga, Family Saga
** Satire
** Science fiction (for more details see Science fiction genre)
** Thriller
*** Conspiracy fiction
*** Legal thriller
*** Psychological thriller
*** Spy fiction/Political thriller
** Tragedy

Literary techniques

A literary technique or literary device may be used by works of literature in order to produce a specific effect on the reader. Literary technique is distinguished from literary genre as military tactics are from military strategy. Thus, though «David Copperfield» employs satire at certain moments, it belongs to the genre of comic novel, not that of satire. By contrast, «Bleak House» employs satire so consistently as to belong to the genre of satirical novel. In this way, use of a technique can lead to the development of a new genre, as was the case with one of the first modern novels, «Pamela» by Samuel Richardson, which by using the epistolary technique strengthened the tradition of the epistolary novel, a genre which had been practiced for some time already but without the same acclaim.

Literary criticism

«Also see:Literary criticism, Literary history, Literary theory»

Literary criticism implies a critique and evaluation of a piece of literature and in some cases is used to improve a work in progress or classical piece.There are many types of literary criticism and each can be used to critique a piece in a different way or critique a different aspect of a piece.

Legal status

UK

Literary works have been protected by copyright law from unauthorised reproduction since at least 1710. [The Statute of Anne 1710 and the Literary Copyright Act 1842 used the term «book». However, since 1911 the statutes have referred to literary works.] Literary works are defined by copyright law to mean «any work, other than a dramatic or musical work, which is written, spoken or sung, and accordingly includes (a) a table or compilation (other than a database), (b) a computer program, (c) preparatory design material for a computer program, and (d) a database.»

It should be noted that literary works are not limited to works of literature, but include all works expressed in print or writing (other than dramatic or musical works). [«University of London Press v. University Tutorial Press» [1916] ]

ee also

Lists

* List of basic literature topics
* List of authors
* List of books
* List of literary awards
* List of literary terms
* List of prizes, medals, and awards for literary prizes.
* List of women writers
* List of writers

Related topics

* Asemic Writing
* Children’s literature
* Cultural movement for literary movements.
* English studies
* Ergodic literature
* Hinman Collator
* History of literature (antiquity — 1800)
* History of modern literature (1800 —)
* Literature basic topics
* Literary criticism
* Literature cycle
* Literary magazine
* Modern Language Association
* Orature
* Postcolonial literature
* Rabbinic literature
* Scientific literature
* Vernacular literature
* World literature

Notes

External links

* [http://www.writiki.com Writiki.com] — Collaborative literature
* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-55 «Dictionary of the History of Ideas»:] Classicism in Literature
* [http://www.ulib.org/ The Universal Library] , by Carnegie Mellon University
* [http://gutenberg.net Project Gutenberg Online Library]
* [http://www.dailylight.wordpress.com Lectio Divina or Divine Literature] An essentially eclectic excerpts’ resource for religious literature.
* [http://www.iguides.org/articles/articles/85/1/The-importance-of-the-history-of-Literature/Page1.html The importance of the history of Literature]
** [http://www.abacci.com/books/default.asp Abacci] — Project Gutenberg texts matched with Amazon reviews
** [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu The Online Books Page] A search engine for online ebooks.
* [http://www.iblist.com Internet Book List] — Similar to IMDb but for books.
* [http://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/essays/literature.htm The Art of Literature:] Essay from Encyclopædia Britannica by Kenneth Rexroth.
* [http://www.awardannals.com Most Honored Literature] , books sorted by awards.
* [http://www.unizar.es/departamentos/filologia_inglesa/garciala/bibliography.html A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism, and Philology] (José Ángel García Landa, University of Zaragoza, Spain)
** [http://litterature.canalblog.com/ Univers Litteraire]
* [http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/hopkins_guide_to_literary_theory/g-index.html The Johns Hopkins Guide to literary Theory and Criticism]
* [http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm American literary realism: definitions, links, bibliographies]
* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/DicHist/analytic/anaIII.html The history of ideas in literature and the arts in aesthetic theory and literary criticism. In «The Dictionary of the History of Ideas».]