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The current meaning generally attached
to the term literature--a body
of writing by a people or by peoples using the same language--is a relatively
modern one. The term itself, derived from the Latin word littera
("letter of the alphabet"; litterae,
"letters"), is ancient enough; but in ancient times literature
tended to be considered separately in terms of kinds of writing, or genres as
they came to be called in the 18th century when the term literature took on its
modern meaning. Thus Aristotle's Poetics, though
it is concerned with and gives examples from Greek epic and dithyrambic poetry
and comedy, has as its central concern tragedy.
The sections that make up this article
are arranged roughly in a chronological order according to the mediums of verse
and prose with attention, again mainly chronological, to various genres. No such
classification is totally satisfactory. Furthermore, although the derivation of
the word literature implies writing, there is much oral literature, a general
treatment of which may be found in the article FOLK
ARTS: Folk literature .
There is a further complication:
literature as a whole and in its parts means various things to various writers,
critics, and historians. At one extreme, it may be held that anything written is
literature. Though this position is seldom held, that at the other
extreme--literature is only the Iliad, the
Odyssey, and Hamlet--is slightly more popularly held. Between these extremes,
attitudes vary widely. For some critics, a hierarchy exists: tragedy is superior
to comedy; the short story is inferior to the novel. For other critics,
qualitative criteria apply: poetry is verse that succeeds; the limerick and
nonsense verse are failed poetry. Critics also differ on the purpose or ends of
literature. Many ancient critics--and some modern ones--hold that the true ends
of literature are to instruct and delight. Others--a majority of the modern
ones, probably--hold that pleasure is the sole end. All of these divergences and
other similar ones appear in the treatments that follow.
For historical treatment of various
literatures, see the article LITERATURE,
THE HISTORY OF WESTERN and the articles AFRICAN
ARTS: Literature and theatre , AMERICAN
PEOPLES, ARTS OF NATIVE: Literature ,
CENTRAL ASIAN ARTS: Literature
, ISLAMIC ARTS: Islamic
literatures , OCEANIC
ARTS: Literature , SOUTH
ASIAN ARTS: Literature ,
and SOUTHEAST ASIAN ARTS: Literature
. Some literatures are treated separately by language, by nation, or by
special subject (e.g., CELTIC
LITERATURE, LATIN LITERATURE, FRENCH LITERATURE, JAPANESE LITERATURE, BIBLICAL
LITERATURE).
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