Literature

Literature is literally "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 Text s, which in Western culture are mainly Prose , both Fiction and Non-fiction , Drama and Poetry . In much, if not all of the world, texts can be Oral as well, and include such Genre s as Epic , Legend , Myth , Ballad , other forms of oral poetry, and the Folktale .

INTRODUCTION

Nation s can have literatures, as can Corporation s, Philosophical Schools or Historical Periods . 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 Nationalistic 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 Roman Literature ) can involve severe difficulties. To some people, the term "literature" can apply broadly to any symbolic record which can include images and Sculpture s, 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 ( Hieroglyph s, 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 Inscription s 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 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".

Frequently, the texts that make up literature crossed over these boundaries. Illustrated stories, Hypertext s, Cave Painting s and inscribed Monument s 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 flourished from the Middle Ages onwards, whereas the Age Of Reason manufactured nationalistic epics and philosophical Tract s. 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 Psychological insight in the delineation and development of character.

TERMINOLOGY

The word "literature" as a common noun can refer to any form of writing, such as essays; "Literature" as a proper noun refers to a whole body of literary work, often relating to a specific culture.

"Literature", with emphasis on the 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"). Consequently, a novel by Danielle Steele will be included in "literature" but not in "Literature", since most people would not deem the books to be sufficiently intellectual or meaningful.

What is intellectual or meaningful, though, is subjective and often controversial. Many would argue about what marks a work as "Literature", such as whether or not Neil Gaiman's ''The Sandman'', Peter Straub's ''lost boy lost girl'', or Ronald Damien Malfi's ''The Fall of Never'' are considered Literature.

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 ( Metric Feet ) 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 Written or Spoken form of the words, rather than to their meaning. Metre depends on Syllable s and on Rhythm s 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 form.

Poetry perhaps pre-dates other forms of literature: early known examples include the or moral, for example, may appear first in verse form.

Much poetry uses specific forms: the Haiku , the Limerick , 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 Paradigmatic style of English poetry, blank verse, as exemplified in works by Shakespeare and by Milton , consists of unrhymed Iambic Pentameter s. 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.

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.

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Literature