Literature is the
art of
written works. Literally translated,
the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from
Latin littera letter), and therefore the academic study
of literature is known as
Letters (as in the
phrase "
Arts and Letters"). In Western
culture the most basic written literary types include
fiction and
nonfiction.
Definitions
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. 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
2100 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 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 of
the
written or
spoken form of the words, independent
of their meaning. Meter depends on
syllables and on
rhythms of
speech; rhyme and
alliteration depend
on the sounds of 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 poetry can go either way. Perhaps
the most
paradigmatic style of English
poetry, blank verse, as exemplified in works by
Shakespeare and
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
Michel de Montaigne 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 (
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 about
50 words or less.
- Flash fiction is generally defined
as a piece of prose under a thousand words.
- A short story is prose of between
1000 and 20,000 words (but typically more than 5000 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 the
One Thousand and One
Nights,
Giovanni
Bocaccio's
Decameron and
Chaucer's
The Canterbury Tales, have
comparable forms and would classify as novels if written today.
Other works written in classical
Asian and
Arabic literature resemble even more
strongly the novel as we now think of it—for example, works such as
the Japanese
Tale of
Genji by
Lady Murasaki,
the Arabic
Hayy ibn
Yaqdhan by
Ibn Tufail, the
Arabic
Theologus
Autodidactus by
Ibn al-Nafis,
and the Chinese
Romance of the Three
Kingdoms by
Luo
Guanzhong.
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.
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 are never seen by
the player of a game and only by the developers and/or publishers
to help them understand, visualize and maintain consistency while
collaborating in creating a game, the audience for these pieces is
usually very small. Still, many game scripts contain immersive
stories and detailed worlds making them a hidden literary
genre.
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 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
- Thoughts, Proverbs
- Fiction
- Adventure novel
- Children's literature
- Comic novel
- Crime 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
- 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 can 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. 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).
See also
- Lists
- Related topics
- Associations devoted to the study of language and
literature
Notes
- 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.
- University of London Press v. University Tutorial
Press [1916]
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