What is Literature

What  Is Literature…?

What is Literature?

A Definition Based on Prototypes

Jim Meyer

Most definitions of literature have been criterial definitions, definitions based on a list of

criteria which all literary works must meet. However, more current theories of meaning

take the view that definitions are based on prototypes: there is broad agreement about

good examples that meet all of the prototypical characteristics, and other examples are

related to the prototypes by family resemblance. For literary works, prototypical

characteristics include careful use of language, being written in a literary genre (poetry,

prose fiction, or drama), being read aesthetically, and containing many weak

implicatures.

Definition of Literature…

Ø The collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also, the whole body of literary productions or writings upon a given subject, or in reference to a particular science or branch of knowledge, or of a given country or period; as, the literature of Biblical criticism; the literature of chemistry.

Ø Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
C. S. Lewis

Ø Literature 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. 

Why We study Literature…?

v Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. But, literature is more important than just a historical or cultural artifact. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. We learn about books and literature; we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of poems, stories, and plays; and we may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.

v Literature is a reflection of how different people think on a variety of subjects. It covers a broad arena of thought, from political to philosophical, and provides a unique look into the human mind. Anything that gives you an advantage when interacting with others is worthy of your time.

v We should teach literature because it can show young minds that the world is wider than their own world, it is different to their own world but that at times it can also be just like their own world.