Introduction to Literature

What is Literature?Literature is not things but a way to comprehend things (Norman Holland)

Some written works called literature and some are not. How? Stopford Brooke declares “Writing is not literature unless it gives to the reader a pleasure which arises not only from the things said, but from the way in which they are said.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Languages defines literature as “imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value.”

Literature awakens us to the richness and complexity of language. The study of literature enhances our command of language and our sensitivity to its effects and meaning in every form or medium.

CANON: a select list of the most highly and widely esteemed works.

What makes the literary way of reading diferent from pragmatic reading is that is does not focus “on what will remain … after reading—the information to be acquired, the logical solution to a problem, the actions to be carried out,” but rather on “what happens during … reading.”

The difference between pragmatic and literary reading resembles the difference between a journey that is only about reaching a destination and one that is just as much about fully experiencing the ride.

Literature engages our emotions, our imagination, and all of our senses, as well as our intellects.

There are two ways to categorize literary works:

1)On the basis of contextual factors, especially historical and cultural context—that is, when, by whom, and where it was produced (as in nineteenth century or Victorian literature, American literature, or African American literature)

2) On the basis of formal textual features. In this type we focus on the key term “genre.”

Whet is genre?

GENRE: as the Oxford English Dictionary defines “a particular style or category of works of art; esp. a type of literary work characterized by a particular form, style, or purpose.”

Largest categories of genre are: fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction prose.

Subgenre applies to smaller divisions within a genre

Kind applies to divisions within a subgenre

Subgenre of fiction include: the novel, the novella, and the short story.

Subgenre of nonfiction include: biography, autobiography