Introduction to Literature

Course Code 102

What is Literature
• Literature, a body of written works. The name has traditionally been
applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished
by the intentions of their authors and the
perceived aesthetic excellence of their execution. Literature may be
classified according to a variety of systems, including language,
national origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter.
• Etymologically, the term derives from
Latin litaritura/litteratura “writing formed with letters,” although
some definitions include spoken or sung texts.
R A Scott James – The Making of Literature
• It is with literature as an art that I am concerned in this book, and at
the outset it should be clearly distinguished from the literature which
sets out to impart knowledge or produce moral conviction.
• Obvious as the difference may seem to us, it was not always obvious,
and the border-line is blurred even to-day.
• It is the distinction which may be made between two drawings of a
house, one being a " picture," the other an architect's plan.
• The first has an aesthetic character. The second is a piece of
information its purpose is didactic.
Knowledge and Power
• How to draw line in between?
• Thomas DeQuiency:
• Literature of knowledge: Didactic – to teach
• Literature of power: aesthetic – to move
• Thomas De Quincey, "The Literature of Knowledge and the Literature
of Power" (First Published in the North British Review, August, 1848,
as part of a critical essay on Alexander Pope)
Literature is the product of imagination, originality, style of expression,
thought emotions and feelings, idea etc….

Criticism of life
Some universal characteristics of Literature

• Timelessness,
• Eternity,
• universality,
• Permanence…
• Literature is a permanent expression in words of some thought or
feelings or idea about life and the world.
 R.J. Rees:
Literature may be good, bad or indifferent; but good literature will have
same, if not all, of the following qualities:
• Psychological truth or holding the mirror up to nature
• Originality
• Craftsmanship
• A consciousness of moral values
Defining literature
• Kafimbwa (2005) argues that the difficulty in defining literature lies in
the fact that literature exists in many forms. Therefore, scholars have
failed to come up with one definition that will embrace all the types
of literature in their varying forms and degrees.
 Literature: Creative Art
• In the attempt to define the term 'literature', one can distinguish between two
general directions: a broad and a narrow definition. The broad definition
incorporates everything that has been written down in some form or another,
i.e., all the written manifestations of a culture (hence, there are terms such as
'research literature', 'the literature on civil rights', etc.). Needless to say that
such a broad definition is problematic as it does not really facilitate
communication about the topic. Furthermore, this concept neglects the fact
that in many cultures in the past and for a number of indigenous peoples today,
literature has not been captured in written media but has been passed down in
a long oral tradition of storytelling, myths, ritual speeches, etc. Attempts to
come up with a narrow definition have, however, led to such a diversity of
approaches that one can hardly talk about 'the' narrow definition. Nevertheless,
it is possible to sift out some of the criteria scholars have applied in order to
demarcate 'literary texts' from 'non-literary texts'. These criteria include:
• Fictionality
• Specialized language
• Lack of pragmatic function
• Ambiguity
 Fictionality
• One characteristic feature of literary texts arguably is their fictionality.
People usually agree that literary texts, even if they attempt to represent
reality in some form or another, are ultimately products of a writer’s
imagination and that at least the characters and their conversations are
fictitious. Thus, some of the characters in Sir Walter Scott’s historical
novels for example, are pure inventions although they are situated in
authentic historical contexts, and they have fictitious conversations with
historical figures who actually existed. On the other hand, texts that are
normally read as non-fiction, like a reportage, often display features that
remind one of literature. Consider the following example:
Sesca Rompas climbed on to a plastic stool and peered through a dirty
window at her brother, Aldo Kansil, lying motionless in a bed below. He was
a pitiful sight: two drips attached, arms swathed in bandages, his face an
angry mosaic of burns.
• Taken out of its context, it is difficult to decide what type of text this is. If
one looks at the way this passage is written, one can easily imagine this to
be the beginning of a novel. First, it is a descriptive passage which introduces
a certain setting: The window is dirty and so high up that the woman needs
a plastic stool to be able to peep through it. The brother’s desolate state is
captured in epithets describing his motionless, afflicted body.
Secondly, characters are introduced and a mini plot is elaborated: A woman
called Sesca Rompas visits her brother, Aldo Kansil, who is in hospital. Just
like the beginnings of novels, this text passage is written in such a way as to
urge the reader to read on and to find out more, e.g., who are these people,
why is the brother in hospital, what happened? Moreover, the language
used is reminiscent of literary texts.
 Creative Art - Literature
• Numerous definitions of creativity are recorded in the literature. Creativity
is often defined by use of synonyms. These include productive thinking,
divergent thinking, originality, imagination, and lateral thinking. Because
there is no generally accepted definition of creativity, it would be helpful to
look at some definitions to date. Creativity is defined as “the association of
thoughts, facts, ideas, etc. into a new and relevant configuration, one that
has meaning beyond the sum of its parts—that provides a synergistic
effect.”
• Creative people have the ability to simply live for what they enjoy. The act
of creativity involves a sense of adventure, a suspending disbelief to use
one’s imagination for the purpose of seeing solutions. Brainstorming
serves, as a method where ideas bubble over in every direction and no
longer is the thought process linear but endless in possibility.
• Literary art and creativity as artistic are in a direct relationship when it
comes to their roles in society as a means of expression. The notion
of literature and art is a modern invention born out of the human
necessity to find comfort in his or her surroundings. The means of
expression vary greatly but also act as a means of self-discovery for
those who experience creative flow. One does not have to be an artist
in the traditional sense of the word to experience this action but only
open to creativity as a valid behaviour.
 Purpose and Role of Literature
Today, there are too many people who believe that literature is simply not
important or underestimate its abilities to stand the test of time and give
us great knowledge. There is a stigma in society that implies one who is
more inclined toward science and math will somehow be more successful
in life, and that one who is more passionate toward literature and other
art forms will be destined to a life of low-paying jobs and unsatisfying
careers. Somewhere along the line, the world has come to think that
literature is insignificant. To me, however, literature serves as a gateway to
learning of the past and expanding my knowledge and understanding of
the world. Here are just a few reasons why literature is important.
• Expanding horizons
First and foremost, literature opens our eyes and makes us see more
than just what the front door shows. It helps us realize the wide world
outside, surrounding us. With this, we begin to learn, ask questions,
and build our intuitions and instincts. We expand our minds.

• Building critical thinking skills

Many of us learn what critical thinking is in our language arts classes.
When we read, we learn to look between the lines. We are taught to
find symbols, make connections, find themes, learn about characters.
Reading expands these skills, and we begin to look at a sentence with a
larger sense of detail and depth and realize the importance of hidden
meanings so that we may come to a conclusion.
• A leap into the past
History and literature are entwined with each other. History is not just
about power struggles, wars, names, and dates. It is about people who
are products of their time, with their own lives. Today the world is
nothing like it was in the 15th century; people have changed largely.
Without literature, we would not know about our past, our families,
the people who came before and walked on the same ground as us.

• Appreciation for other cultures and beliefs

Reading about history, anthropology, or religious studies provides a
method of learning about cultures and beliefs other than our own. It
allows you to understand and experience these other systems of living
and other worlds. We get a view of the inside looking out, a personal
view and insight into the minds and reasoning of someone else. We can
learn, understand, and appreciate it.
• Better writing skills
When you open a book, when your eyes read the words and you take in its
contents, do you ask yourself: How did this person imagine and write this?
Well, many of those authors, poets, or playwrights used literature to expand
their writing.

• Addressing humanity
All literature, whether it be poems, essays, novels, or short stories, helps us
address human nature and conditions which affect all people. These may be the
need for growth, doubts and fears of success and failure, the need for friends
and family, the goodness of compassion and empathy, trust, or the realization
of imperfection. We learn that imperfection is not always bad and that normal
can be boring. We learn that life must be lived to the fullest. We need literature
in order to connect with our own humanity.

• Literature is important and necessary. It provides growth, strengthens our

minds and gives us the ability to think outside the box.
 Purpose of Literature
• Works of literature, at their best, provide a kind of blueprint of human society. From the
writings of ancient civilizations such as Egypt and China to Greek philosophy and poetry,
from the epics of Homer to the plays of William Shakespeare, from Jane
Austen and Charlotte Bronte to Maya Angelou, works of literature give insight and
context to all the world's societies. In this way, literature is more than just a historical or
cultural artifact; it can serve as an introduction to a new world of experience.
• literature has uses that go far beyond mere entertainment. At its best, it illuminates the
human condition by doing something that sounds quite impossible—it allows us to share
the thoughts and feelings of other people.
• Literature teaches us about life, it helps us understand our emotions and our values. It
lays bare the basis for human relationships, the complications, the barriers, the ties that
bind.
• Literature enriches us, deepening our understanding of others, of the world, of ourselves.
It also entertains us. Those aren’t its purposes. They are its value.
• It's purpose is to enlighten, to protest against something, to challenge, to educate,
inform, comfort, confront, express and even to heal in some cultures. It's purpose is to
praise, worship, denounce, enact, document history and preserve it too.
Kinds of Literature
• There are different kinds or forms of literature. We see them everyday
in the form of different reading materials. Here are some of the
different kinds of literature that are familiar to most people.
 Kinds of Literature
• Here are five main forms of Literature: Poetry, Prose, Drama, Non-
Fiction, and Media. In ancient Greece, literature was divided into two
main categories: tragedy and comedy. Nowadays the list of possible
types and genres of literature can seem endless. But it is still possible
to narrow down the vast amount of literature available into a few
basic groups.
• The five forms of literature students should be familiar with are
Poetry, Drama, Prose, Nonfiction, and Media:
 Poetry
• This is often considered the oldest form of literature. Before writing was invented, oral
stories were commonly put into some sort of poetic form to make them easier to remember
and recite. Poetry today is usually written down but is still sometimes performed.
• 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.
• Poetry was once written according to fairly strict rules of meter and rhyme, and each culture
had its own rules. For example, Anglo-Saxon poets had their own rhyme schemes and
meters, while Greek poets and Arabic poets had others. Although these classical forms are
still widely used today, modern poets frequently do away with rules altogether – their poems
generally do not rhyme, and do not fit any particular meter. These poems, however, still have
a rhythmic quality and seek to create beauty through their words.
• The opposite of poetry is “prose” – that is, normal text that runs without line breaks or
rhythm. This article, for example, is written in prose.
• What is Rhyme?
• Rhymes are words whose endings match, as in “fly” and “spy.” This is one of the most
common techniques in traditional poetry and music, and most people can easily identify
rhymes.
Types of Poetry

Ballad
Lyrical
Epic
Narrative etc
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
 Prose:
• Once you know what poetry is, it’s easy to define prose. Prose can be
defined as any kind of written text that isn’t poetry (which means drama,
discussed below, is technically a type of prose). The most typical varieties
of prose are novels and short stories, while other types include letters,
diaries, journals, and non-fiction (also discussed below). Prose is written
in complete sentences and organized in paragraphs. Instead of focusing
on sound, which is what poetry does, prose tends to focus on plot and
characters.
• Prose is the type of literature read most often in English classrooms. Any
novel or short story falls into this category, from Jane Eyre to Twilight and
from “A Sound of Thunder" to “The Crucible." Like poetry, prose is broken
down into a large number of other sub-genres. Some of these genres
revolve around the structure of the text, such as novellas, biographies,
and memoirs, and others are based on the subject matter, like romances,
fantasies, and mysteries.
How Do you Identify Prose in Writing?
• Distinguishing prose from poetry is usually just a matter of
recognizing the basic conventions of prose writing: paragraphs
and sentences that have proper grammar and mechanics. Poetry, on
the other hand, contains lines and stanzas. And while there may be a
cadence or rhythm to prose, it contains neither a regular meter nor a
deliberate rhyme scheme.
• Only one form of writing falls in a gray area, and that is the so-called
“prose poem.” As the name suggests, prose poems contain a formal
metrical structure but are written out like prose, in sentence and
paragraph form.
Example
• “Atticus said to Jem one day, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the
backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you
want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do
something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. “Your father’s right,”
she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us
to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs,
they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s
a sin to kill a mockingbird.” – Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
 Further examples
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
“He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where
every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one’s
waking life was spent watching one’s feet.”
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and
this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever
known.”
Thank you