WHAT IS LITERATURE?

           Generally speaking, literature (which comes from the Latin littera which means
“letters”) refers to artistic compositions that are designed to tell stories, dramatize
events, express emotions, and analyze and advocate ideas. Works which were written
before the invention of the printing press were obviously spoken or sung and kept only
as long as the people learned and practiced them. While many of these oral literatures
are lost, many of them have also been recovered and preserved as printed texts. There
is still an oral tradition of literature, with many poems designed to be read aloud in their
entirety, and with all the plays intended to be performed and spoken by live actors.
Today, however, writing and printing give life to most literature. As a result, reading and
appreciating literary texts are often a highly private, personal, silent experience.

THE GENRES OF LITERATURE

Literature may be classified into five categories or genres: (1) prose fiction, (2) poetry,
(3) drama, (4) nonfiction prose, and (5) creative nonfiction.

While all are art forms, each with its structure and style requirements, the first three are
usually classed as imaginative literature. The genres of imaginative literature have a lot
in common, but they also have distinctive features.

Prose fiction includes novels, short stories, myths, parables, romances, and epics.
Fiction originally meant anything made up, crafted, or shaped, but as we understand the
word today, it means a prose narrative based on the author's imagination.

Although fiction, like all imaginative literature, may introduce true historical details, it is
not real history, for its purpose is primarily to interest, divert, stimulate and instruct. The
essence of fiction is narration, the telling or recounting of a sequence of events or
actions. Works of fiction typically focus on one or more characters as they undergo
change as they interact or deal with other characters.

Poetry is more economical than prose fiction in the use of words, and it relies heavily on
imagery, figurative language, and sound. 

Drama is a literary work which is designed to be performed by actors on stage. Like

Imaginative literature differs from nonfiction prose, the fourth genre, which refers to any
kind of prose writing that is based on facts and deals with real people, things, events,
and places. The text must conform to what is true and cannot be manipulated by the
writer’s imagination. Major goals of nonfiction prose are truth in reporting and logic in
reasoning.

The distinction between fiction and non-fiction has become blurred in recent years.
Fictionists frequently base their stories on real-life scenarios and imagined characters,
and historians often inserted fictional conversations to convey historical figures'
thoughts or views. This genre of writing is called creative non-fiction. It is a form of
writing that incorporates literary styles and techniques to construct factual stories.

THE LANGUAGE OF LITERATURE

As to language, literature can be divided into three forms: prose, verse, and poetic
prose.

Prose is the most typical form of language. It is a type of language that uses ordinary
linguistic structure and natural speech flow rather than metrical structure. Novels, short
stories, essays, fable, folk tale, legend, myth, narrative, saga, and science fiction are
examples of prose fiction.

On the other hand, a verse is a type of language in which language is used for its
artistic and suggestive qualities in addition to its apparent meaning. Examples of verse
include poems and songs.

Finally, poetic prose is a type of language that uses prose and verse at the same time.
When a literary piece is written with special attention to its beauty and special attention
to its meaning, then the language used is called "poetic prose."

 THE STANDARDS OF LITERATURE

Like all other art forms, literature has certain criteria by which all texts can be measured
for evaluation.  In A Study of Literary Types and Forms, Garcia, Rosales, and Barranco
(1993) distinguish the following attributes of great literature, namely:
1. Artistry. This is a quality which appeals to our sense of beauty.
2. Intellectual Value. A literary work stimulates thought. It enriches our mental life by
making us realize fundamental truths about ourselves, about other human beings, and
about the world around.
3. Suggestiveness. This is the quality associated with the emotional power of literature.
Great literature moves us deeply and stirs our feeling and imagination, giving and
evoking visions above and beyond the plain of ordinary life and experience.
4. Spiritual Value. Literature elevates the spirit by bringing out moral values which
makes us a better person. The capacity to inspire is part of the spiritual value of
literature.
5. Permanence. A great work of literature endures. It can be read again and again as
each reading gives fresh delight and new insights and opens new worlds of meaning
and experience. Its appeal is lasting.
6. Universality. Great literature is timeless and timely. It is forever relevant and appeals
to one and all, anytime, anywhere because it deals with elemental feelings, fundamental
truths, and universal conditions.
7. Style. This is the peculiar way in which a writer sees life, forms his ideas and
expresses them. Great literary works are marked as much by their memorable
substance as well as by their distinctive style. Style should suit content. (Garcia,
Rosales, and Barranco, 1993)
To these seven qualities of great literature, we should add an eight aspect equally
essential to literature, i.e.:
8. Form. It is the design of the work as a whole, the configuration of all its parts. The
“form” answers the question “how”: how well the work is made, how well the work is
written or how well the work is done. In a literary work, nothing is by accident. Even the
smallest detail is an artistic decision made by the author. Every element in a literary
work ought to contribute to the effectiveness, meaning, and beauty of the whole.

DEFINING FICTION

  Fiction is a term used to describe creative prose work. It is an imagined story, usually
written down, that the author tells in ordinary, natural language. It chiefly uses an array
of narrative techniques and has a wide range in terms of length. It deals, in part or
whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, invented and imaginary
– that is, made up by the author. Examples of prose fiction works include novels,
novellas, short stories, fables, fairy tales, legends, myths, etc. but it now also
encompasses films, comic books, and video games.

TYPES OF FICTION

Literary and commercial fiction are the two main types of fiction.  Commercial fiction
attracts a bigger audience, while literary fiction appears to attract a smaller, more
imaginative audience.

Another way of categorizing prose fiction is to look at genre or style. Here are some
examples of prose fiction by type:
1. Novel
A novel is a "fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying
characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes."
(Novel – dictionary.com, 2020)
2. Novella
A novella is a written fictitious prose story, less than a novel, yet longer and more
complicated than a short story. Examples of novella include John Steinbeck's "Of Mice
and Men", George Orwell's "Animal Farm", Ayn Rand's "Anthem", Joseph Conrad's
"Heart of Darkness", Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis", Saul Bellow's "Seize the Day",
Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice", Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Chronicle of a Death
Foretold", Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Notes from Underground", Truman Capote’s
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, and Herman Melville's "Billy Budd: A Sailor".
3. Short Story
A short story is "a piece of fiction dealing with a single incident – material or spiritual –
that can be read at a sitting. It is original; it must sparkle, excite, or impress; it must
have unity of effect or impression, and it must move in an even line from its exposition
up to its close." (Poe, 1846)
A short story can be a fable or a parable, real or fantasy, a true presentation or a
parody, sentimental or sarcastic, serious in intent, or a light-hearted diversion.  It can be
any of these, but to be memorable, it must catch the eternal in casual, invest a moment
with the immensity of time.