INTRODUCTION TO

LITERATURE
Literature is defined as:
• ‘Written works, e.g. fiction, poetry, drama, and
criticism that are recognized as having important
or permanent artistic value are referred to as
literature.’ Or ‘The body of written works of a
culture, language, people, or period of time is
called literature.
Literature
• Literature perhaps started with man discovering his ability to
create. When this happened, he realized that he could not only
express his emotions in writing but in the process convey
messages of importance to society carefully hidden in beautiful
words. He decided that he could play with words to entertain
people who would read them. In the olden days, distance was
of course a problem and so maintaining a history of world
literature was impossible. The flip side is that we have a wide
range of literature to read from. People in different parts of the
world, using different languages and writing in different periods
of time tackled literature differently. This has left us with books
and creations that enrich our society, our heritage as a race
and us. Even the most voracious reader can never hope to
read all the books out there.
Literature
• Literature and writing, though obviously connected, are
not synonymous. Every piece of writing is not literature.
The definition of literature is mainly personal and scholars
have a disagreement regarding when written record-
keeping became more like "literature". Another important
fact to consider is that the historical development of
literature was not even-paced across the globe. The main
hurdle in creating a uniform world history of literature is
the disappearance of many texts over the millennia, either
intentionally, by accident, or by the total vanishing of the
originating culture. The earliest forms of English literature,
like the earliest forms of other national literatures, have
perished.
Literature
• Literature includes both written and spoken material. On a
broader level, ‘Literature’ includes anything from creative
writing to more technical or scientific works, but most
commonly the term refers to works of the creative
imagination, i.e. poetry, drama, prose and novel.
• Literature is almost similar to art, what is true in painting is
true in literature. ‘A novel is not an imitation or an exact
copy of life as we live it; it is rather a selection of
characters and events drawn from reading, observation,
and experience, and woven into an entirely new story.
Literature
• Ezra Pound says, "Great literature is simply language
charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree."
• The above statement from Pound tells us that great
literature leaves us with some meaning. Meaning to what?
To life. Thus literature gives answers to our questions
about life. It tells us that in the journey of life, only we are
not the fighters. There are millions out there striving like
us to carry on with the flow of life; feeling different shades
of life; enjoying life in its fullest and suffering the deepest
of miseries. Literature helps us identify with others in the
globe, strengthens and unites us with the rest of mankind.
Reading Literature books gives us maturity and may solve
the unsolved mysteries of life.
Literature
• Literature helps us create an interest in life as we see it. It
helps us experience life in all its colors and vastness. In
our journey of exploring different literary texts, we meet
different interesting characters that teach us many things;
alleviate our sorrows; elevate our spirit at different levels.
Humanity in all its shades is encompassed in literature:
sorrows, happiness, wars, birth, death etc. Literature
enriches personal experiences and adds wisdom to even
ordinary events. Literary texts can even revolutionize our
life by helping us grow through our literary journey and
enabling us to see everyday events in a new light.
Literature
• Literature portrays a culture more elaborately than
historical or cultural artifacts do because it deals directly
with language and people. The author’s message is
interpreted differently by different people. The decoding of
the text varies according to use of different literary
theories using a mythological, sociological, psychological,
historical, or any other approach. Whatever critical
standard we use for critical analysis of the literary texts,
an artistic quality to the works always remains. Literature
is never confined to a single culture or country. It speaks
to us regardless of our race, culture or country.
Literature
• Literature has two major aspects, one is of simple
enjoyment and aesthetic appeal to the senses, and other
is of analysis and exact description of the prevailing
condition of society in general and man in particular. So,
studying literature with these two aspects provides us an
opportunity to experience entirely new worlds. Like when
a song appeals to the ear or a noble book to the heart, we
discover a new world for the moment, at least, a
completely new world which is very different from our own
world and it seems that we are in a place of dreams and
magic.
Literature
• Every time we read literature, we gain something from it
that we did not have before. Even reading the same text
at different stages in our life offers us meanings we
missed the first time. Literature is a true and beautiful
expression of life; it is the written record of a person’s
thoughts, emotions, feelings and experiences which
would never fade.
•
• Some of the major genres of English Literature are as
under:
• 1. Poetry 2. Drama 3. Novel 4. Prose
Why do we study Literature?
• Literature always reflects human ideas, beliefs, and societies.
• Literature helps us to discover ordinary human ways of
understanding life.
• While reading literature, we explore significant differences and
this allows us to even experience perspectives of those
separated from us by time and social barriers.
• Getting to know the human psyche would help us discover
pride in our own culture, gain respect for others, and be
humble.
Why do we study Literature?
• We find different human responses and reactions in poems, essays,
diaries, narratives, and in the characters of narratives. Exposure to such
varied responses helps us gain a greater knowledge of the human
psyche and at the same time, we are familiarized with a greater
knowledge of ourselves and our own responses because we surely
compare our lives to those in literature.
• We learn about the good and evil forces; experience the injustices
prevalent in this world and it cultivates a sense of wisdom in us. Good
literature assists us in becoming a better person.
• Literature provides us with a worldview of things and gives us a mature
perspective of things.
• Literature serves as an entertainment .It also introduces us to the literary
figures, movements and multi-dimensional characters.