What is English Literature?

 

What is Literature?

The word literature is taken from the Latin language “Litera” which means “Writing”. Sometimes it describes as written material. Literature is a vital record of what they have experienced of it, what they have thought and felt about those aspects of it which have the most immediate and enduring interest for all of us. It is this fundamentally an expression of life through the medium of language. It is a vital component of books, and of those books only, which in the first place by reason of their subject matter and their mood of treating it, are of general human interest.  Literature refers to the creative imagination including poetry, drama, and non-fiction. Literature is the power to change the society. A perfect definition of literature is “Mirror of life of any nation in the shape of the book”. Literature is the main body of written work. Literature is the autobiography of humans’ experience. Literature is full of human interest evaluated with the color of imagination and thoughts; literature gives us aesthetic pleasure. Literature reflected all the likes and dislikes with the imagination of arts. Literature keeps the color through that reactors come out of his own words. Literature is generally defined as writing in an artistic. Literature is the study of written work. Literature gives a better understanding of all around the world. In simple words, literature is all about human interest. Literature is called the body of written works. The meanings of literature are two in terms of number.

1.        General writing or any information.

2.        Literature as a Subject.

In English literature, we just learn literature as a subject. English literature is not only a particular literature of any country, but it is the literature of the world. Literature sees everything in a different perspective for example; science sees the heart as a blood-pumping organ which is divided into 4 sections. But a literature person i mean a poet sees it is not a pumping organ his perspective is totally different.

English literature is divided into poetry and prose so poetry is divided into two parts one is subjective poetry and the other one objective poetry and so the prose is divided into three parts number one fiction number two non-fiction number three is criticism, fiction is divided into drama and novel and novel is divided into short stories and novella. So the non-fiction is divided into essays, travelogues, biographies, auto biopics, and letters.

 

Some definitions of English literature.

•          “Literature is the art of written work in the form of poetry, prose, fiction; non-fiction literature may be divided by language and periods or era.”

•          “Literature is the knowledge of the experience of human life written in the form of prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction which can full fill anyone’s life with knowledge and joy and happiness.”

•          “Literature is the composition of those golden words which may brighten our life as gold if we adopt them.”

Definition By Famous Poets/dramatist/novelist

Oscar Wilde

•          “Literature is news that stays news.”

Goethe

•          Literature must voice the past, reflect the present and mold the future

S.T Coleridge

•          The old order changeth, yielding place to new,

•          And God fulfills himself in many ways,

•          Least one good custom should corrupt The World

Ezra Pound

•          “Art is the step taken by nature towards eternity.”

Function of Literature

1.        To entertain the people and amuse the reader.

2.        To give aesthetic pleasure.

3.        To instruct the good and prevent the bad.

      Impulses behind literature

1.        To know yourself: we have to know that the good deeds are inside me or what are the bad deeds are inside me. We can say it to discover yourself is called to know yourself.

2.        Your desire of having experience: Everyone gets the experience from doing a thing. If a person gets the pain in life he gets a lot of experience in life or a person who gets fail in life he gets a lot of experience from it. A famous philosopher was going to die people ask them just tell us what you know about the life he said ‘I know that I don’t know’.

 

3.        Our desire to be a man of the world: We can say it to become famous is called our desire to be a man of the world. To open our eyes to make a realization about the felling pains for the world of lies.

4.        Desire to spread love: This Impulse of literature define your love for all humans and the sympathy for all. We want to care for all humans. The literature says that forgive every person easily like that you think that your ALLAH forgives you. Because humans are only born to spread the love.

These are also impulses in/for literature

a)     Desire of self-expression: Best example of that is poetry.

b)    Interest in lives of others peoples: It perfect example is that; Drama, Novel, Short stories.

c)     Interest in reality and imagination.

d)    Form of love.