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literatureWord下载.docx

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Introduction

abodyofwrittenworks.Thenamehastraditionallybeenappliedtothoseimaginativeworksofpoetryandprosedistinguishedbytheintentionsoftheirauthorsandtheperceivedaestheticexcellenceoftheirexecution.Literaturemaybeclassifiedaccordingtoavarietyofsystems,includinglanguage,nationalorigin,historicalperiod,genre,andsubjectmatter.

Forhistoricaltreatmentofvariousliteratureswithingeographicalregions,seesucharticlesasAfricanliterature;

Africantheatre;

Oceanicliterature;

Westernliterature;

CentralAsianarts;

SouthAsianarts;

andSoutheastAsianarts.Someliteraturesaretreatedseparatelybylanguage,bynation,orbyspecialsubject（e.g.,Arabicliterature,Celticliterature,Latinliterature,Frenchliterature,Japaneseliterature,andbiblicalliterature）.

Definitionsofthewordliteraturetendtobecircular.The11theditionofMerriam-Webster'

sCollegiateDictionaryconsidersliteraturetobe“writingshavingexcellenceofformorexpressionandexpressingideasofpermanentoruniversalinterest.”The19th-centurycriticWalterPaterreferredto“thematterofimaginativeorartisticliterature”asa“transcript,notofmerefact,butoffactinitsinfinitelyvariedforms.”Butsuchdefinitionsassumethatthereaderalreadyknowswhatliteratureis.Andindeeditscentralmeaning,atleast,isclearenough.DerivingfromtheLatinlittera,“aletterofthealphabet,”literatureisfirstandforemosthumankind'

sentirebodyofwriting;

afterthatitisthebodyofwritingbelongingtoagivenlanguageorpeople;

thenitisindividualpiecesofwriting.

Butalreadyitisnecessarytoqualifythesestatements.Tousethewordwritingwhendescribingliteratureisitselfmisleading,foronemayspeakof“oralliterature”or“theliteratureofpreliteratepeoples.”Theartofliteratureisnotreducibletothewordsonthepage;

theyaretheresolelybecauseofthecraftofwriting.Asanart,literaturemightbedescribedastheorganizationofwordstogivepleasure.Yetthroughwordsliteratureelevatesandtransformsexperiencebeyond“mere”pleasure.Literaturealsofunctionsmorebroadlyinsocietyasameansofbothcriticizingandaffirmingculturalvalues.

Ed.

Thescopeofliterature

Literatureisaformofhumanexpression.Butnoteverythingexpressedinwords—evenwhenorganizedandwrittendown—iscountedasliterature.Thosewritingsthatareprimarilyinformative—technical,scholarly,journalistic—wouldbeexcludedfromtherankofliteraturebymost,thoughnotall,critics.Certainformsofwriting,however,areuniversallyregardedasbelongingtoliteratureasanart.Individualattemptswithintheseformsaresaidtosucceediftheypossesssomethingcalledartisticmeritandtofailiftheydonot.Thenatureofartisticmeritislesseasytodefinethantorecognize.Thewriterneednotevenpursueittoattainit.Onthecontrary,ascientificexpositionmightbeofgreatliteraryvalueandapedestrianpoemofnoneatall.

Thepurest（or,atleast,themostintense）literaryformisthelyricpoem,andafteritcomeselegiac,epic,dramatic,narrative,andexpositoryverse.Mosttheoriesofliterarycriticismbasethemselvesonananalysisofpoetry,becausetheaestheticproblemsofliteraturearetherepresentedintheirsimplestandpurestform.Poetrythatfailsasliteratureisnotcalledpoetryatallbutverse.Manynovels—certainlyalltheworld'

sgreatnovels—areliterature,buttherearethousandsthatarenotsoconsidered.Mostgreatdramasareconsideredliterature（althoughtheChinese,possessorsofoneoftheworld'

sgreatestdramatictraditions,considertheirplays,withfewexceptions,topossessnoliterarymeritwhatsoever）.

TheGreeksthoughtofhistoryasoneofthesevenarts,inspiredbyagoddess,themuseClio.Alloftheworld'

sclassicsurveysofhistorycanstandasnobleexamplesoftheartofliterature,butmosthistoricalworksandstudiestodayarenotwrittenprimarilywithliteraryexcellenceinmind,thoughtheymaypossessit,asitwere,byaccident.

Theessaywasoncewrittendeliberatelyasapieceofliterature:

itssubjectmatterwasofcomparativelyminorimportance.Todaymostessaysarewrittenasexpository,informativejournalism,althoughtherearestillessayistsinthegreattraditionwhothinkofthemselvesasartists.Now,asinthepast,someofthegreatestessayistsarecriticsofliterature,drama,andthearts.

Somepersonaldocuments（autobiographies,diaries,memoirs,andletters）rankamongtheworld'

sgreatestliterature.Someexamplesof