Literature, most generically, is any body of written works.

More restrictively, literature

refers to writing considered to be an art form or any single writing deemed to have
artistic or intellectual value, often due to deploying language in ways that differ from
ordinary usage.

Its Latin root literatura/litteratura (derived itself from littera: letter or handwriting) was
used to refer to all written accounts. The concept has changed meaning over time to
include texts that are spoken or sung (oral literature), and non-written verbal art forms.
Developments in print technology have allowed an ever-growing distribution and
proliferation of written works, culminating in electronic literature.

The Nature of Literature. Literature can be defined as an expression of human feelings,

thoughts, and ideas whose medium is language, oral and written. Literature is not only
about human ideas, thoughts, and feelings but also about experiences of the authors.
Literature can be medium for human to communicate what they feel, think, experience
to the readers.

There are many ways to define the term ‘literature’ based on different point of views
such as literature is art, literature is language, literature is aesthetic, literature is fictional,
literature is expressive, and literature is affective. Based on thus definitions, literature
contains universal ideas, human imagination, and human interest that written in any
writings and use language as medium to express human’s ideas and feelings.

The four main literary genres are poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama, with each
varying in style, structure, subject matter, and the use of figurative language.

Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often
employs rhyme and meter (a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of
syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form sounds, images, and
ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly.

Fiction, literature created from the imagination, not presented as fact, though it may be
based on a true story or situation. Types of literature in the fiction genre include the
novel, short story, and novella. The word is from the Latin fictiō, “the act of making,
fashioning, or molding.”

Literary nonfiction is a type of prose that employs the literary techniques usually
associated with fiction or poetry to report on persons, places, and events in the real
world without altering facts.

Drama is a mode of fictional representation through dialogue and performance. It is

one of the literary genres, which is an imitation of some action. Drama is also a type of
a play written for theater, television, radio, and film.