Literature is a body of written or oral works related by subject-matter, by language or place of origin, or by dominant cultural standards. ^[1] Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter). Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. A letter is an element in an Alphabetic system of writing such as the Greek alphabet and its descendants In Western culture the most basic written literary types include poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction. For the Wikipedia guideline regarding editing articles see WikipediaManual of Style. Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes. Non-fiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as Fact.

Contents 1 Definitions 2 History 3 Forms of literature 3.1 Poetry 3.2 Prose 3.2.1 Essays 3.2.2 Fiction 3.2.3 Other prose literature 3.3 Drama 3.4 Oral literature 3.5 Other narrative forms 4 Genres of literature 5 Literary techniques 6 Literary criticism 7 Legal status 7.1 UK 8 See also 8.1 Lists 8.2 Related topics 9 Notes 10 External links

Definitions

Literature
Major forms
Epic · Romance · Novel Tragedy · Comedy · Drama · Satire
Media
Performance · Book
Techniques
Prose · Poetry
History and lists
Basic topics · Literary terms History · Modern history Books · Writers Literary awards · Poetry awards
Discussion
Criticism · Theory · Magazines

The word "literature" has different meanings depending on who is using it and in what context. An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation As a Literary genre of High culture, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic Prose and verse Narrative A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and Drama is the specific mode of Fiction represented in Performance. Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human A performance, in Performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people (the performer or performers behave in a particular way for another group of people A Book is a set or collection of written printed illustrated or blank sheets made of Paper, Parchment, or other material usually fastened together For the Wikipedia guideline regarding editing articles see WikipediaManual of Style. The following is a list of literary terms; that is those words used in discussion classification criticism and analysis of Literature. The history of literature is the historical development of Writings in Prose or Poetry which attempt to provide Entertainment, enlightenment The History of literature in the Modern period in Europe begins with the Age of Enlightenment and the conclusion of the Baroque period in the 18th century This is a list of lists of Books in Wikipedia General lists List of anonymously published works List of books The following are lists of Writers: By name A &ndash B &ndash Y &ndash Z By type of writing This is a list of literary awards from around the world Worldwide in scope Nobel Prize in Literature Neustadt International Prize This is a list of awards that are or have been given out to writers of Poetry, either for a specific poem collection of poems or body of work Literary criticism is the study discussion evaluation and interpretation of Literature. Literary theory in a strict sense is the systematic study of the nature of Literature and of the methods for analyzing literature A literary magazine is a Periodical devoted to Literature in a broad sense It could be applied broadly to mean any symbolic record, encompassing everything from images and sculptures to letters. In a more narrow sense the term could mean only text composed of letters, or other examples of symbolic written language (Egyptian hieroglyphs, for example). Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek An even more narrow interpretation is that text have a physical form, such as on paper or some other portable form, to the exclusion of inscriptions or digital media. Epigraphy (ἐπιγραφολογία from Greek ἐπιγραφή — "inscription" is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs engraved Digital media (as opposed to analog media) usually refers to Electronic media that work on digital Codes. The Muslim scholar and philosopher Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (702-765 AD) defined Literature as follows: "Literature is the garment which one puts on what he says or writes so that it may appear more attractive. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Jaʿfar al-Sadiq (702-765 in accurate transliteration Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq Arabic: جعفر الصادق in full Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Husayn "^[2] Panghilito Luigi added that literature is a slice of life that has been given direction and meaning, an artistic interpretation of the world according to the percipient's point of views. Frequently, the texts that make up literature crossed over these boundaries. Russian Formalist Roman Jakobson defines literature as "organized violence committed on ordinary speech", highlighting literature's deviation from the day-to-day and conversational structure of words. Illustrated stories, hypertexts, cave paintings and inscribed monuments have all at one time or another pushed the boundaries of "literature. Drawing is a Visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium Cave paintings are Paintings on Cave walls and ceilings and the term is used especially for those dating to Prehistoric times A monument is a structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of past "

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. Literary fiction is a term that has come into common usage since around 1970 principally to distinguish serious fiction (that is work with claims to Literary merit Literary merit is a quality of written work generally applied to the genre of Literary fiction. For example, almost all literate people perceive the works of Charles Dickens as "literature," whereas some critics look down on the works of Jeffrey Archer as unworthy of inclusion under the general heading of "English literature. Jeffrey Howard Archer Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940 is an English Author and former Politician. The term English literature refers to Literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by Writers not necessarily from " 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. Grammar is the field of Linguistics that covers the Rules governing the use of any given natural language. In Linguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek grc συν- syn-, "together" and grc τάξις táxis, "arrangement" is the Verisimilitude in its literary context is defined as the fact or quality of being verisimilar the appearance of being true or real likeness or resemblance of the truth reality or a fact’s Mythos (Aristotle In literature the plot comprises all the events in a story particularly rendered towards the achievement of some particular Artistic or Emotional UserScottandrewhutchins: http//enwikipediaorg/w/indexphp?title=Characterization&diff=next&oldid=157919139 --> Characterization is a process of conveying Genre fiction (for example: romance, crime, or science fiction) may also become excluded from consideration as "literature. Genre fiction is a term for fictional works ( Novels short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific Literary genre "

History

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. As a Literary genre of High culture, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic Prose and verse Narrative 17th century philosophy in the Western world is generally regarded as being the start of Modern philosophy, and a departure from the medieval approach A tract is a literary work, and in current usage usually Religious in nature 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. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Realism in the Visual arts and Literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in Everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation Naturalism is a movement in Theatre, film, and Literature that seeks to replicate a believable everyday reality, as opposed to such The 20th century brought demands for symbolism or psychological insight in the delineation and development of character. "Symbolic" redirects here For other uses see Symbolism (disambiguation and Symbolic (disambiguation. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and

Forms of literature

Poetry

A poem is defined as a composition written in verse (although verse has been equally used for epic and dramatic fiction). Composition can refer to Composition (logical fallacy, a fallacy of ambiguation in which one assumes that a whole has a property solely because its various parts In Poetry, the meter or metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. 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. Vagina Imagery is used in literature to refer to descriptive language that evokes sensory experience Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer" is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects In Poetry, the meter or metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. This article is about the poetic technique For the form of ice see Rime ice. 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 attached to the written or spoken form of the words, rather than to their meaning. Speech refers to the processes associated with the production and perception of Sounds used in Spoken language. Metre depends on syllables and on rhythms of speech; rhyme and alliteration depend on words that have similar pronunciation. A syllable ( Greek:) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds Rhythm (from Greek ῥυθμός - rhythmos, "any measured flow or movement symmetry" is the variation of the length and accentuation of Alliteration is the repetition of the first Consonant sound in a phrase Some recent poets, such as E. E. Cummings, made extensive use of words' visual form. Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14 1894 &ndash September 3 1962 popularly known as E In Psychology, visual perception is the ability to interpret information from Visible light reaching the Eyes The resulting Perception is also

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. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literary fiction. The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age. It represents a period of time in which Imperialism, or the desire to conquer grew to prominence Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. Indian epic poetry is the Epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent. The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki 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. A mnemonic device (nəˈmɒnɪk is a Memory aid Commonly met mnemonics are often verbal something such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember Genealogy (from Greek: el γενεά el-Latn genea, "descent" and el λόγος el-Latn logos, "knowledge" is the study of

Some poetry uses specific forms: the haiku, the limerick, or the sonnet, for example. is a form of Japanese poetry. Previously called A limerick is a five-line Poem with a strict form originally popularized in English by Edward Lear. The sonnet is one of the poetic forms that can be found in Lyric poetry from Europe. 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. Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. A limerick has five lines, with a rhyme scheme of AABBA, and line lengths of 3,3,2,2,3 stressed syllables. A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming Lines in a Poem or Song. 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 can go either way (although modern non-rhyming poetry often, perhaps unfairly, has a more "serious" aura). Free verse is a term describing various styles of Poetry that are written without using strict meter or Rhyme, but that still are recognizable as poetry Perhaps the most paradigmatic style of English poetry, blank verse, as exemplified in works by Shakespeare and by Milton, consists of unrhymed iambic pentameters. The word paradigm ( Greek:παράδειγμα (paradigmacomposite from para- and the verb δείχνυμι "to show" as a whole -roughly- meaning "example" William Shakespeare ( baptised John Milton ( 9 December, 1608 – 8 November, 1674) was an English Poet, Prose Polemicist and Iambic pentameter is a type of meter that is used in Poetry and Drama. 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. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Musical theatre is a form of Theatre combining Music, Songs spoken Dialogue and Dance.

In recent years, digital poetry has arisen that takes advantage of the artistic, publishing, and synthetic qualities of digital media. Digital poetry is a form of Electronic literature with a wide range of approaches to Poetry that all have in common prominent and crucial use of Computers

Prose

Prose consists of writing that does not adhere to any particular formal structures (other than simple grammar); "non-poetic" writing, perhaps. For the Wikipedia guideline regarding editing articles see WikipediaManual of Style. Grammar is the field of Linguistics that covers the Rules governing the use of any given natural language. 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. This article refers to a poetic form For the competitive speech event see Prose & Poetry.

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. An essay is usually a short piece of writing It is often written from an author's personal point of view. Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban KC QC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626 was an English Philosopher, Statesman, and author Charles Lamb is the name of Charles Lamb (writer (1775-1834 a British essayist Charles Lamb (politician (1891-1965 a Canadian

'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. Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (French miʃɛl ekɛm də mɔ̃tɛɲ ( February 28 1533 &ndash September 13 1592) was one of the most influential writers

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. for other uses see Memoir (disambiguation As a literary Genre, a memoir (from the French: mémoire An epistle (pronounced) ( Greek επιστολη epistolē "letter" is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of persons usually a letter A letter is a Written Message from one person to another Letters especially a regular exchange between two persons (sometimes called Pen pals

Fiction

Narrative fiction (narrative prose) generally favours prose for the writing of novels, short stories, graphic novels, and the like. Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story 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 exactly 50 words
• A Flash fiction is generally defined as a piece of prose under a thousand words. Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Flash fiction is Fiction characterized by its extreme brevity
• A short story comprises prose writing of between 1000 and 20,000 words (but typically more than 500 words), which may or may not have a narrative arc. The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such
• A story containing between 20,000 and 50,000 words falls into the novella category. A novella is a written, Fictional Prose Narrative longer than a Novelette but shorter than a Novel.
• A work of fiction containing more than 50,000 words falls squarely into the realm of the novel. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story

A novel consists simply of a long story written in prose, yet the form developed comparatively recently. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Icelandic prose sagas dating from about the 11th century bridge the gap between traditional national verse epics and the modern psychological novel. Icelandic literature refers to literature written in Iceland or by Icelandic people The sagas (from Icelandic saga, plural sögur) are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history about early Viking voyages An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation A psychological novel, also called psychological realism, is a work of Prose Fiction which places more than the usual amount of emphasis on interior 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. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( in modern Spanish; September 29, 1547 &ndash April 22, 1616) was a Spanish Novelist es '''''Don Quixote''''' (, see spelling and pronunciation below fully titled es '''''El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha''''' ("The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Earlier collections of tales, such as Boccaccio's Decameron and Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, have comparable forms and would classify as novels if written today. The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such The Decameron (subtitle Prencipe Galeotto) is a collection of 100 Novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 25 October 1400? was an English author poet Philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and Diplomat. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in Prose, the rest in verse) Earlier works written in Asia resemble even more strongly the novel as we now think of it — for example, works such as the Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Japanese Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Romance of the Three Kingdoms ( written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese Historical novel based upon events in For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century around the peak of the Heian Period Murasaki Shikibu ( 紫[[wikt 式|式]] 部; c 973&ndashc 1014 or 1025 or Lady Murasaki as she is sometimes known in English was a Japanese Compare to 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. Mythos (Aristotle In literature the plot comprises all the events in a story particularly rendered towards the achievement of some particular Artistic or Emotional This freedom also allows an author to experiment with many different literary and presentation styles — including poetry— in the scope of a single novel.

See Ian Watt's The Rise of the Novel. Ian Watt ( March 9, 1917 &ndash December 13, 1999) was a literary critic literary historian and professor of English at Stanford University [This definition needs expansion]

Other prose literature

Philosophy, history, journalism, and legal and scientific writings traditionally ranked as literature. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating formally employed by publications and broadcasters for the benefit of a particular Community of people 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. Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes. Non-fiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as Fact.

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. For a broader class of publications which include scientific journals see Academic journal. 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. Euclid ( Greek:.) fl 300 BC also known as Euclid of Alexandria, is often referred to as the Father of Geometry Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (ˈnjuːtən 4 January 1643 31 March 1727) Biography Early years See also Isaac Newton's early life and achievements Outside of "history of science" programmes students rarely read such works. Science is a body of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the natural world, produced by a global community of researchers 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. Academic publishing describes the subfield of Publishing which distributes academic Research and Scholarship. Major philosophers through history—Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Descartes, Nietzsche—have become as canonical as any writers. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15 1844 August 25 1900 ( was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist 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. Simon Blackburn (born 1944 is a British academic Philosopher known for his efforts to popularise Philosophy. Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and

A great deal of historical writing can still rank as literature, particularly the genre known as creative nonfiction. Creative nonfiction (also known as literary or narrative nonfiction is a genre of Writing which uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives So can a great deal of journalism, such as literary journalism. Docufiction (often understood as Docudrama) is a Neologism which refers to a cinematographic work in a Genre mixing Fiction and 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. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek Procopius of Caesarea ( Προκόπιος ο Καισαρεύς, c

Law offers a less clear case. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Some writings of Plato and Aristotle, or even the early parts of the Bible, might count as legal literature. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin The law tables of Hammurabi of Babylon might count. Hammurabi ( Akkadian from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer" from ˤAmmu, "paternal kinsman" and Rāpi Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq 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. Roman law is the legal system of Ancient Rome. As used in the West the term commonly refers to legal developments prior to the Roman/Byzantine state's adopting The Corpus Juris Civilis ("Body of Civil Law" is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in Jurisprudence, issued from 529 Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ( Greek: Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ιουστινιανός; known in English as Justinian I or The founding documents of many countries, including the United States Constitution, can count as literature; however legal writing now rarely exhibits literary merit. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States.

Game Design Scripts - In essence never seen by the player of a game and only by the developers and/or publishers, the audience for these pieces is usually very small. Game design is the process of designing the content and rules of a Game. Still, many game scripts contain immersive stories and detailed worlds making them hidden literary gems.

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. A play, or stageplay, is a form of Literature written by a Playwright, almost always consisting of Dialogue between Fictional characters Drama is the specific mode of Fiction represented in Performance. It generally comprises chiefly dialogue between characters, and usually aims at dramatic / theatrical performance (see theatre) rather than at reading. A dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog) is a reciprocal Conversation between two or more entities. A performance, in Performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people (the performer or performers behave in a particular way for another group of people Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, opera developed as a combination of poetry, drama, and music. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. 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. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the

Greek drama exemplifies the earliest form of drama of which we have substantial knowledge. The theatre of ancient Greece, or ancient Greek drama, is a theatrical Culture that flourished in ancient Greece between c 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. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos A festival is an event usually and ordinarily staged by a local community which centers on some unique aspect of that community History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" Tragedies generally presented very serious themes. A theme, from Old French tesme, is a broad idea in a story or literary work or a message or lesson conveyed by a written text With the advent of newer technologies, scripts written for non-stage media have been added to this form. War of the Worlds (radio) 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. Oral literature corresponds in the sphere of the spoken (oral word to Literature as literature operates in the domain of the written word An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation Drama is the specific mode of Fiction represented in Performance. History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological A ballad is a Poem usually set to Music; thus it often is a story told in a Song. A legend ( Latin, legenda, "things to be read" is a Narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to See also Mathematics of humor A joke is a short story or ironic depiction of a situation communicated with the intent of being humorous. History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological 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. Folkloristics is the formal academic study of Folklore. What actually constitutes folklore is disputed even within the discipline but generally folklore focuses on the Cultural studies is an academic discipline which combines Political economy, Communication, Sociology, Social theory, Literary theory Ethnopoetics is a poetic movement and subfield in Linguistics, and Anthropology. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge"

Other narrative forms

• Electronic literature is a literary genre consisting of works which originate in digital environments. Electronic literature is a Literary genre consisting of works of Literature that originate within digital environments
• Films, videos and broadcast soap operas have carved out a niche which often parallels the functionality of prose fiction. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio.
• Graphic novels and comic books present stories told in a combination of sequential artwork, dialogue and text. A A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative

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. A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction

Literary techniques

Main article: Literary technique

A literary technique or literary device may be used by works of literature in order to produce a specific effect on the reader. A literary technique or literary device is an identifiable Rule of thumb, convention or Structure that is employed in Literature Literary technique is distinguished from literary genre as military tactics are from military strategy. A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Military tactics ( Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating Military strategy is a National defence policy implemented by Military organisations to pursue desired strategic goals Derived from the Greek Thus, though David Copperfield employs satire at certain moments, it belongs to the genre of comic novel, not that of satire. David Copperfield or The Personal History Adventures Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (which he never meant to publish By contrast, Bleak House employs satire so consistently as to belong to the genre of satirical novel. Bleak House is the ninth Novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853 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. Pamela or Virtue Rewarded is an epistolary Novel by Samuel Richardson, first published in 1740. Samuel Richardson (19 August 1689 &ndash 4 July 1761 was an 18th-century English Writer and printer. An epistolary novel German Briefroman ---> is a Novel written as a series of documents

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. Literary criticism is the study discussion evaluation and interpretation of Literature. The history of literature is the historical development of Writings in Prose or Poetry which attempt to provide Entertainment, enlightenment Literary theory in a strict sense is the systematic study of the nature of Literature and of the methods for analyzing literature 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. ^[3] 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). ^[4]

See also

Lists

• List of basic literature topics
• List of authors
• List of books
• List of literary awards
• List of literary terms
• List of prizes, medals, and awards for literary prizes. The following are lists of Writers: By name A &ndash B &ndash Y &ndash Z By type of writing This is a list of lists of Books in Wikipedia General lists List of anonymously published works List of books This is a list of literary awards from around the world Worldwide in scope Nobel Prize in Literature Neustadt International Prize The following is a list of literary terms; that is those words used in discussion classification criticism and analysis of Literature. A list of famous Prizes Medals and Awards including cups trophies, Bowls Badges State decorations etc
• List of women writers
• List of writers

Related topics

• Asemic Writing
• Children's literature
• Cultural movement for literary movements. A Eleanor Hallowell Abbott Louise Abeita Abiola Abrams Kathy Acker The following are lists of Writers: By name A &ndash B &ndash Y &ndash Z By type of writing Asemic writing is a wordless open Semantic form of Writing. The word asemic means "having no specific semantic content" Children's literature is an age category of literature written for published for or marketed to Children roughly through age 12 A cultural movement is a change in the way a number of different disciplines approach their work
• English studies
• Ergodic literature
• Hinman Collator
• History of literature (antiquity — 1800)
• History of modern literature (1800 —)
• Literature basic topics
• Literary criticism
• Literature cycle
• Literary magazine
• Modern Language Association
• Orature
• Postcolonial literature
• Rabbinic literature
• Scientific literature
• Vernacular literature
• World literature

Notes

External links

• Writiki.com - Collaborative literature
• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Classicism in Literature
• The Universal Library, by Carnegie Mellon University
• Project Gutenberg Online Library
• Lectio Divina or Divine Literature An essentially eclectic excerpts' resource for religious literature. Carnegie Mellon University (also known as CMU) is a private Research University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United
• The importance of the history of Literature
  • Abacci - Project Gutenberg texts matched with Amazon reviews
  • The Online Books Page A search engine for online ebooks.
• Internet Book List - Similar to IMDb but for books.
• The Art of Literature: Essay from Encyclopædia Britannica by Kenneth Rexroth. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc Kenneth Rexroth ( December 22[[ 905]] &ndash June 6[[ 982]] was an American Poet, Translator and critical Essayist He was among the
• Most Honored Literature, books sorted by awards.
• A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism, and Philology (José Ángel García Landa, University of Zaragoza, Spain)
  • Univers Litteraire
• The Johns Hopkins Guide to literary Theory and Criticism
• American literary realism: definitions, links, bibliographies
• The history of ideas in literature and the arts in aesthetic theory and literary criticism. In The Dictionary of the History of Ideas.

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