LiteraTure

#REDIRECT Literature

Literature

Literature is literally "an acquaintance with letters" as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary (from the Latin ''littera'' meaning "an individual written character (letter)"). The term has generally come to identify a collection of texts. The word "literature" as a common noun can refer to any form of writing, such as essays or poetry; "Literature" as a proper noun refers to a whole body of literary work, world-wide or relating to a specific culture. There is often confusion regarding the actual definition of literature and Literature. The word "literature" can be both singular and plural, likewise with "Literature". This being said, "literatures" is also plural. However "Literature", with emphasis on uppercase L, is a subset of the more general "literature". "Literature" refers to written work of exceptional intellectual calibre, whereas "literature" can be anything written. Accordingly, "War and Peace" by Tolstoy is "Literature" (singular) as well as "literature" (singular), while Dicken's work is part of "Literature" (plural) as well as "literature" (plural). Consequently, a Harry Potter novel will be included in "literature" (singular) but not in "Literature" (singular) since most people would not deem the books as sufficiently intellectual or meaningful at an academic level. Likewise the Harry Potter collection by JK Rowling will be included in "literature" (plural) but not in "Literature" (plural). What is intellectual and meaningful is subjective and often controversial or dubious, but it does not interfere with the above definition. ==Introduction== Nations can have literatures, as can corporations, Philosophy or Periodization. Popular belief commonly holds that the literature of a nation, for example, comprises the collection of texts which make it a whole nation. The Hebrew Bible, Persian Shahnama, ''Thirukural'', ''Beowulf,'' the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' and the Constitution of the United States, all fall within this definition of a kind of literature. More generally, one can equate a literature with a collection of stories, poems and plays that revolve around a particular topic. In this case, the stories, poems and plays may or may not have nationalism implications. The Western canon forms one such literature. Classifying a specific item as part of a literature (whether as American literature, advertising literature, gay and lesbian literature or Latin literature) can involve severe difficulties. To some people, the term "literature" can apply broadly to any symbolic record which can include images and sculptures, as well as letters. To others, a literature must only include examples of text composed of letters, or other narrowly defined examples of symbolic written language (hieroglyphs, for example). Even more conservative interpreters of the concept would demand that the text have a physical form, usually on paper or some other portable form, to the exclusion of inscriptions or digital media. Furthermore, 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 many tend to 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 verisimilitude or disjointed plot, or of inconsistent or unconvincing characterization. Genre fiction (for example: romance, crime, or science fiction) may also become excluded from consideration as "literature". Frequently, the texts that make up literature crossed over these boundaries. Drawing stories, hypertexts, cave paintings and inscribed monuments have all at one time or another pushed the boundaries of "literature". Different historical periods have emphasised various characteristics of literature. Early works often had an overt or covert religious or didactic purpose. Moralising or prescriptive literature stems from such sources. The exotic nature of romance (genre) 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 so-called realism and naturalism, investigations into what is real. The 20th century brought demands for symbolism or psychology insight in the delineation and development of character. == Forms of literature == === Poetry === A poem is a composition usually written in verse. Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise words choice, and metaphor; they may take the form of measures consisting of patterns of stresses (meter (poetry)) or of patterns of different-length syllables (as in classical prosody); and they may or may not utilise rhyme. One cannot readily characterise 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 Writing or Speech form of the words, rather than to their meaning. Metre depends on syllables and on rhythms of speech; rhyme and alliteration depend on words that have similar pronunciation. Some recent poets, such as E. E. Cummings, made extensive use of words' Visual perception form. Poetry perhaps pre-dates other forms of literature: early known examples include the Sumeria ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' (dated from around 4th millennium BC), parts of the Bible, and the surviving works of Homer (the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey''). In cultures based primarily on oral traditions the formal characteristics of poetry often have a mnemonic function, and important texts: legal, genealogy or moral, for example, may appear first in verse form. Much poetry uses specific forms: the haiku, the limerick (poetry), or the sonnet, for example. A haiku must have seventeen syllables, distributed over three lines in groups of five, seven, and five, and should have an image of a season and something to do with nature. 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. Language and tradition dictate some poetic norms: 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 paradigm style of English poetry, blank verse, as exemplified in works by William Shakespeare and by John 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 musical theater, 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. === Drama === A play or drama offers another classical literary form that has continued to evolve over the years. It generally comprises chiefly dialogue between Fictional character, and usually aims at dramatic / theatrical performance (see theatre) rather than at reading. During the 18th century and 19th century, opera developed as a combination of poetry, drama, and music. Nearly all drama took verse form until comparatively recently. Greek theatre exemplifies the earliest form of drama of which we have substantial knowledge. Tragedy, as a dramatic genre, developed as a performance associated with religion and civic festivals, typically enacting or developing upon well-known history or mythology themes. Tragedies generally presented very serious theme (literary)s and treated important conflicts in human nature, but not necessarily "tragic" ones as currently understood — meaning sad and without a happy ending. Greek comedy, as a dramatic genre, developed later than tragedy; Greek festivals eventually came to include three tragedies counterbalanced by a comedy or satyr play. Modern theatre does not in general adhere to any of these restrictions of form or theme. "Plays" cover anything written for performance by actors (screenplays, for example); and even some things not intended for performance: many contemporary writers have taken advantage of the dialogue-centred character of plays as a way of presenting literary work intended simply for reading rather than performance. === 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. === Prose fiction === Prose consists of writing that does not adhere to any particular formal structures (other than simple grammar); "non-poetic writing," 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, meter). But one need not mark the distinction precisely, and perhaps cannot do so. Note the classifications: * "prose poetry", which attempts to convey the aesthetic richness typical of poetry using only prose * "free verse", or poetry not adhering to any of the strictures of one or another formal poetic style Narrative fiction [http://moodle.ed.uiuc.edu/wiked/index.php/Narrative_prose narrative prose] generally favours prose for the writing of novels, short stories, 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 short story comprises prose writing of less than 10,000 to 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 it developed comparatively recently. Icelandic literature prose Norse Saga dating from about the 11th century bridge the gap between traditional national verse epics and the modern psychological novel. In mainland Europe, the Spain Miguel de Cervantes wrote perhaps the first influential novel: ''Don Quixote'', published in 1600. Earlier collections of tales, such as Giovanni Boccaccio's ''The Decameron'' and Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbury Tales'', have comparable forms and would probably 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 China ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' and the Japan ''The Tale of Genji'' by Murasaki Shikibu. Compare too 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 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 scientific journal. Scientific works of Euclid, Aristotle, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Isaac 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 publishing. Major philosophers through history -- Plato, Aristotle, Augustine of Hippo, Ren� Descartes, Friedrich 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 as 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 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. 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". ==Somewhat related narrative forms== * Graphic novels and comic books present stories told in a combination of sequential artwork, dialogue and text. * Films, videos and broadcast soap operas have carved out a niche which often parallels the functionality of prose fiction. * Interactive fiction, a term for a prose-based genre of computer games, occupies a small literary niche. == Genres of literature == A literary genre refers to the traditional divisions of literature of various kinds according to a particular criteria of writing. These include: :Alternate history :Autobiography :Bildungsroman :Biography :Children's literature :Constrained writing :diary :Fiction ::Airport novels ::Bodice rippers ::Chick lit ::Crime fiction, Detective fiction ::Fable ::Fairy tale ::Family Saga ::Gothic Literature :::Southern Gothic ::Historical fiction ::Historiographical metafiction ::Hysterical realism ::Legal thriller ::Mystery fiction ::''Nouveau roman'' ::''Roman � clef'' ::Romance (genre) ::Romance novel ::Saga ::Satire ::Speculative fiction :::Fantasy :::Horror fiction :::Science fiction ::The Slave narrative ::Spy fiction ::Thriller fiction ::Western fiction :Oral Narrative (Oral History) :Poetry (see that article for an extensive list of sub-genres and types) ::Aubade ::Clerihew ::Epic ::Lied ::Lyric ::Ode ::Rhapsody ::Song ::Sonnet :Travel literature == Literary techniques == :Commonplace :Epistolary novel :First-person narrative :Omniscient narrator :Transcription :Translation :Vision / Prophecy :Story within a story :Flashback :Metafiction :Fictional guidebook :False document :Lipogram :Plagiarism :Quotation :Setting == Literary figures == :Authors :Critics :Dramatists :Essayists :Journalist :Novelists :Poets :Short story authors :Writers == Literature by country, language, or cultural group== {| | :African literature :Albanian literature :American literature : * see also Southern literature :Anglo-Norman literature :Anglo-Saxon literature :Anglo-Welsh literature :Arabic literature :Australian literature :Austrian literature :Azerbaijani literature :Babylonian literature and science :Bengali literature :Brazilian literature :Breton literature :British literature :Bulgarian literature :Canadian literature :Catalan literature :Celtic literature :Chinese literature :Croatian literature :Czech literature : * see also Bohemian literature :Danish literature :Dutch literature :English literature :Esperanto literature :Finnish literature :Francophone literature :French literature :Frisian literature :Galician literature :German literature :Greek literature :Hindi literature :Hungarian literature :Icelandic literature :Indian literature :Irish literature :Israeli literature | :Italian literature :Japanese literature :J�rriais literature :Kannada literature :Kashmiri literature :Korean literature :Latin literature :Latvian literature :Malayalam literature :Marathi literature :Mexican literature :Literature of Myanmar :New Zealand literature :Norwegian literature :Pakistani literature :Persian literature :Literature of the Philippines :Polish literature :Portuguese literature :Proven�al literature :Literature of Puerto Rico :Literature of Quebec :Romanian literature :Russian literature :Sanskrit literature :Scottish literature :Serbian literature :Siraiki Literature :Slovak literature :Slovene literature :South African literature :Southern literature :Spanish literature :Swedish literature :Tamil literature :Literature in Thailand :Turkish literature :Urdu literature :Waray literature :Welsh literature :Western literature : * see also Otto Maria Carpeaux :Yiddish literature |} ==Literary criticism== : Literary criticism : Literary theory ==Story elements== : Dramatic structure : Elements of plot : Figurative language : Inclusio : Setting tone ==Themes in literature== :Anti-hero (List of anti-heroes) :Adultery in literature :Chess in early literature :Family life in literature :Generation in literature :Heroines in literature :Norse mythological influences on later literature :Post-colonialism in literature :Robots in literature :School and university in literature :Smuggling in literature :Technology and culture in literature :Tourism in literature ==Other== :Scientific literature :Blindness literature :Literature cycle :Rabbinic literature :Vernacular literature :Postcolonial literature ==See also== * History of literature (Part One) * History of literature: Modern literature (Part Two) * List of books * List of authors * Cultural movement for literary movements. * List of prizes, medals, and awards for literary prizes. * Literary criticism * Literature basic topics * Orature * Ergodic literature ==External links== *Open Directory Project: **[http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/ Literature] **[http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/World_Literature/ World Literature] **[http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Electronic_Text_Archives/ Electronic Text Archives] **[http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Magazines_and_E-zines/ Magazines and E-zines] **[http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Online_Writing/ Online Writing] **[http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Writers_Resources/ Writers Resources] **[http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Digital/ Libraries, Digital] **[http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Technical_Services/Cataloguing/Metadata/ Cataloguing, Metadata] **[http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Education/Distance_Learning/ Distance Learning] *[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.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] - Similair to IMDB but for books. *[http://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/essays/literature.htm The Art of Literature:] Essay from Encyclop�dia Britannica by Kenneth Rexroth. *[http://book.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] (Jos� �ngel Garc�a Landa, University of Zaragoza, Spain) Literature als:Literatur bn:সাহিত্য bs:Književnost fa:ادبیات ga:Litr�ocht hi:साहित्य jv:Sastra la:Litterae li:Literatuur lv:Literatūra ml:സാഹിത്യം mt:Letteratura ne:साहित्य scn:Littiratura simple:Literature sw:Fasihi th:วรรณกรรม yi:יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער

Literature

ScienceFiction as a separate :Literary Art form? That doesn't sound right to me.... If it's good, it fits in literature, if not, it doesn't even fit in art... Also, Literature separated from TheNovel? I'm not sure who made that list knows what is he/she talking about...I don't correct it because i don't feel competent enough. Well, the list was obviously just thrown up there for you to edit! Here's a suggestion... *Literary styles: Novel, Poetry, Short Story, Dramatic Literature (see theatre) *Literary Genres: Buldingsroman, science fiction, biography, etc. *Literary figures: authors, poets, critics, dramatists, etc. (I would throw this in there myself, but I am not sure how to rename a page without losing its contents. Sorry-still learning.) ----- What's the difference between Literary Art and Literature? Seems the same to me....I think there is some serious renaming-refactoring to be done. ----- well, i made a stab at it. seemed a reasonable enough suggestion, so i took it. ------ how do folks feel about "{fill in your favorite Language name} literature" entries? --MichaelTinkler ----- We should have them. --KQ ----- What do people think about including public domain texts by the authors that we are creating entries for? It seems that Wikified texts might be of value as part of this project. It's clear we aren't quite producing an encyclopedia... something better. This is one of those things that might make it better. However, I don't know what all of the implications would be and I wonder what others think.---:Trimalchio ----- It seems inappropriate to mention individual authors and educational programs on the top "literature" page. Literature existed before IA and will continue to exist afterwards (btw, does anybody know if they actually eiminated the MFA there, or was that simply rumor?) -- perhaps a summary of the literature/fiction/pulp debate would be more appropriate, or simply a genre summary plus a brief history of the academic traditions that introduced the word... ----- I agree wholeheartedly with the last entry. It is entirely inappropriate. I am deleting it but it could be rewritten in the future and added to a new section 'literary movements' or 'literary history' as the 'cultural movement' section doesn't suffice. ---- is there a convention for individual novels? some are subpages of the author, some (eg those of Jane Austen) are top level pages. ---- I would be bold. Make the Novel title the top level name. If the name of a book is also the name of something else, then just append the article to the page, making for a split entry. Ultimately that will have to be sorted out, but better you get the page up then worry overlong on naming conventions. Just be clear about seperating articles. Mostly, novel titles are distinct and will only be shared by derivative works anyway (like :Cider House Rules would be both a novel AND a movie). In those cases, it makes sense to have the entries closely linked if not on the same page anyway. Avoid subpages. They can get too easily lost. -T ---- Where do books on history fit into the category of literature...I'd say it does...Gibbons/ Boorstein/ Zimms etc. :Biography IMO falls under literature also. Boswell on Johnson, definitely. User:Koyaanis Qatsi ---- The 3rd sentence of this definition is impenetrable to me: "It is commonly held that a literature of a nation, for example, is the collection of texts which make it a whole nation." If I understood its meaning, I would fix it, but I don't so I can't. Help! - Pheff :A nation is defined by its cultural output, in particular by its verbalized cultural output? (My gut reaction.) --User:KF 17:55, 9 Sep 2003 (EDT) ::Sounds credible (not to mention sensical!). Thanks. - Pheff ---- ''... (e.g. romance, crime, science fiction) is sometimes excluded from consideration as "literature".'' I think, here is some confusion. We should distinguish between "literature" as "written texts" and "Literature" as a special kind of written texts. I'm not fluent enough in English to describe it in the Wikipedia. But I think: "romance, crime, science fiction" are part of the literature in the sense of the definition. If not, there should be two definitions for literature. The second one: "Literature - is a special part of the literature, including only high level texts of a special kind." Best regards Bernd from Dresden ----- Newbie here so I want to talk out a huge change before I jump in and ruin something or make enemies: The "Literary Analysis" subsection doesn't strike me as quite useful - and I think my sense is confirmed by the number of dead links it contains. Literary analysis in general is a subset of literary criticism (so for instance Aristotle's relatively formal description of the structure of a tragic play belongs in the "classical" sub-section under literary criticism). In formal terms, literary analysis (like scansion of poetry, for instance) was popularized by New Criticism in the US, or the more sophisticated Structuralism internationally. In other words, powerful critical theories that propounded studying literature analytically (breaking it down into its component parts) rather than reading it contextually - i.e. socially, historically, culturally, psychologically, etc. - are responsible for cultivating the idea that "literary analysis" is a discourse that can - empirically and objectively - dissect a literary text: however, this is a debatable point, and as such belongs with the other debatable theories delineated in the "Literary Criticism" entry. (The ongoing strength of New Criticism may be noted less in American universities and more in American high schools: it often came as a surprise to my freshman students that they had been schooled in New Criticism for four years and yet never knew it by that name). So here's what I'd like to do: 1. Remove the "Literary Analysis" subsection. 2. Replace it with the Literary Criticism article 3. Piece the Literary Criticism article out into stand-alone pages listed under the new "Literary Criticism" subsection. 4. Bulk out the survey of literary criticism so that each school/theory/period can be a stand-alone article. -Lawshe 14 July 2004 ---- ==Explain this== :Popular belief commonly holds that the literature of a nation, for example, comprises the collection of texts which make it a whole nation. Can anyone care to explain to me what this silly sentence mean? User:Mandel 13:02, May 24, 2005 (UTC)

Literature

The word "literature" spelled with a lower-case "l" can refer to any form of writing, such as essays; while "Literature" spelled with an upper-case "L" may refer to a whole body of literary work, world-wide or relating to a specific culture. Culture Arts Documents Humanities and art fa:Category:ادبیات zh-min-nan:Category:Bûn-ha̍k

See other meanings of words starting from letter:

L