"Within the tremendous domain of human expression, writing stands as the immortal embroidered artwork weaving together the significant stories of our shared presence, lighting up the differing features of the human involvement with the sensitive aestheticness of words."
Throughout the history of mankind, people endeavored to manifest their ideas, ideations, thoughts, views and visions through what is known as Literature since it appealed to their inner concerns and deep mindfulness.
Definition of Literature:
The question about whether something is part of literature is everlasting controversial that critics differ in matters of opinions as to what literature is. We will review different views on the term and various standpoints through different definitions. Definitions of Literature vary but all scholars and researchers agree that it is factually “art”
Defining literature involves careful consideration of details, such as the distinction between uppercase “literature” and lowercase “literature.” The capitalized form, Literature, is distinguished from the more general meaning of "literature", which includes any text written in fields as diverse as business, international relations,and medicine. Capitalized literature represents a more specific genre, serving as a derivative subset of minor literature or as a specific subset within the field of written texts.
To understand what qualifies a text to be part of Literature, it is necessary to consider the Latin origin of the term “literature,” which designates “the use of letters” or “ writing". As the term evolved in Romance languages such as French, it acquired an additional meaning: "knowledge gained through reading or studying books". Thus, literature is not simply a written work but a collection of works worthy of study. The question then arises: What books or texts are considered worthy of exploration/study in the field of Literature?
Responding to the former question requires taking the idea of « canonicity » into consideration and that would, in return, lead to the second defintion in the scope.
Canonicity in simple words stands for a ‘sanctioned’ set of related works. Considering this, we could consider a work of Literature ‘canonical’ when it is decided to be a great work of everlasting value in matters of art and culture. It is up to universities, schools, scientific committees, academic institutions etc, to decide upon this merit.
This definition is yet again does not stand because if applied on some literary works, we, might have a problematic because there are works that were shunned as works with no value but proved to be of great merit later on.
This takes us to the idea that “ if it is loved, it is Literature” which is not to be considered as a rule to deem a certain work Literary.
Some critics say that what makes a work Literary is the qualities within the Text itself. Dereck Attridge claims in the respect that there are qualities that would make a Text Literary:
1. Inventiveness.
2. Singularity.
3. Otherness.
4. No rerstriction (Content)
A Literary writ is any work that has a momentous effect on the basis of “Construction” and “Style” rather than what is called “Substance”
Many critics and scholars consider a work Literary if it has the sense of « Irony » within. Irony must not be mistaken for Mockery; Reading for “irony” is reading with much attention to the complexity of the text (exploring different views and meanings within the same text).
There is one effect of Literary texts that should be taken for granted: “Defamiliarization” meaning that these texts show the world differently than how the reader perceived it before.
Here we have a different definition as to what counts as Literature depending on the understanding of many scholars. What counts as a Literary work depends on the existence of “three interrelated factors”:
1. The world (What we learn about the text and the author from external sources)
2. The text (the way the text is presented to the reader)
3. The reader (As Critics, how receptive we are to the text under study).
Each of the previous definitions lack an idea when the angle of reception changes which would take us straight to the definition granted by the English Dictionary which should be embraced for a definition of Literature :
“Written Material such as essays, novels, poetry... etc; especially imagination-based works characterized by style and expression and containing general and enduring interest”
Importance of Literature:
1. Significant to share thoughts, express ideas, ideations, stories and experiences (fictional, non-fictional)
2. It stimulates the mind’s imagination ( like giving a group of students a set of words to see what they could think of. The results are not similar)
3. The reader ascends to become the critic
Types of Literature:
When talking about the form:
Prose and Poetry
Prose is a written or spoken form naturally without a metrical structure ( Novel, Drama, Short Stories...etc)
Poetry Spoken or written form that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language (Phoneaesthetics, sound symbolism... etc in addition to or in place of the Prosaic ostensible meaning ( Ode, Elegy, Epic, Ballad, Sonnet, Haiku, Limerick...etc)
When talking about the content:
Fiction and Non-fiction
“Fiction is imaginative and creative storytelling that transports readers into invented worlds, exploring the depth of human emotions, experiences and abilities.”
” Literary nonfiction includes factual and informative writing that explores and elucidates real-world events, ideas, and experiences with the goal of presenting accurate information, been thoroughly researched”
When talking about the way (method):
Oral and Written
The former is the Literature displayed and presented through words and ‘speaking’ whereas the latter is passed down through transcriptions and writen words.
It is important to note that for most critics, there have been a huge amount of stories that were considered the cornerstone of ‘English Literature’.