8/8/2019 Definition of Literature

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A. Definition of LiteratureLiterature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking,

"literature" is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific

works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination,

including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction.

Literature (from Latin littera; letter), is the art of written works. Literally translated, the

word literature means "acquaintance with letters" (as in the "arts and letters"). The two most

basic written literary categories include fiction and nonfiction.

literature, a body of written works related by subject-

matter (e.g. the literature of computing), by

language or place of origin (e.g. Russian literature), or by prevailing cultural standards of merit. In this

last sense, literature is taken to include oral, dramatic, and broadcast compositions that may not have

been published in written form but which have been (or deserve to be) preserved. Since the 19th century,

the broader sense of literature as a totality of written or printed works has given way to more exclusive

definitions based on criteria of imaginative, creative, or artistic value, usually related to a work's absence

of factual or practical reference (see autotelic).