An Attempt at Defining Literature

--What is literature? In those mere three words a very difficult question is posed. What literature is can be different from person to person, group to group, and culture to culture. I will discuss some of these differences as well as my own belief of what literature is.
--My experience with literature has always been boring articles and novels that my teachers always made me read. Such “literature” has always been fifty plus year old short stories or old novels such as Great Expectations and Silas Marner. Based off this I can conclude that most of my past instructors believe literature to be novels or stories in general that have stood the test of time. I assume that “the test of time” means any novel that has been around for fifty years or more.
--Personally, I disagree with this. I believe that literature can be any written text that interests the reader and makes him or her want to read more. Based on this definition, the answer to what literature is will obviously vary from individual to individual. I do not believe that what literature is or is not should be decided by only certain people. It should be up to every person to decide what they believe to be literature. Many is the time that I have asked an instructor if the book I intended to read for their class was a good example of literature and they almost always responded that it was not. I am absolutely sure that their answers were always based on whether or not they thought the book was good literature. It would be nice to be able to choose a novel and not have someone else decide that it is or not literature based on what they believe.
--There are of course researched and more official definitions as to what literature is. Webster defines literature as “writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest” or “the body of written works produced in a particular language, country, or age.” (1) Examples of such are the works of Shakespeare and the works of Edgar Allen Poe. This basically means that any written work that has universal appeal, that is, any written text that the majority of the population enjoys, is considered literature. As well, any text written in another time period or in another country can also be considered literature. This general definition for the most part seems to be the generally accepted definition for literature. Most people seem to believe that any text at least fifty years old and falls into any of these categories is considered literature while any other text is considered pleasure reading.
--This broad definition is of course, subject to interpretation. What one person sees as excellent writing may also be seen by another person as terrible. As such, a person’s socialization often plays a part in their definition of literature. What a single person sees as literature may reveal information about that person’s beliefs, socialization, or attitudes. (2) This can mean that what we think is literature is actually the beliefs of another person or group. What one person believes to be literature will be passed on and taught to us through family, education, and standards for reading. “We don't get to decide what is literature because our parents, teachers, exams, etc. define that for us. We are trained to value the kind of writing that they value.” (2) Anybody who has not realized this is more than likely not going to have their own definition for literature because what they know of literature is what someone else taught them. Anyone who has realized this may therefore create their own idea of what literature is which most likely start the cycle all over again.
--Some also believe that literature can only be literature if it meets a certain list of criteria. If a written work meets whatever the given criteria is then it can be considered literature. A man known as Jim Meyers suggests that any literary work should be “written texts, marked by careful use of language, including features such as creative metaphors, well-turned phrases, elegant syntax, rhyme, alliteration, meter, in a literary genre, read aesthetically, intended by the author to be read aesthetically, and should contain many weak implicatures.” (3) He says that he believes English speakers will have the strongest confidence and belief in works that show all of the above qualities.
--Literature should be studied so that we can better understand language. It seems that literature is also a way to peer into language. By reading that which is considered good literature we have a way to look at our language and examine it and its different uses. Writing, specifically literature in this case, has always been a way to express one’s self through unspoken language. By studying this language, we may be able to find out more about ourselves and why we use language the way we do.
--Of course, the most obvious way for us to study literature would be to read. This does not just mean read anything that is considered good literature, but actually read any and every book possible. Regardless what it is one reads, that person will be studying literature whether or not they know it or care. Therefore, the best way to study literature is to read plenty of literature or read about literature. Although I am not sure how that would help.
--As shown above, literature and what it is, is subject to interpretation. Any work can be of literary content depending on who is being asked. Any individual, group, or culture can tell why they think something is considered literature. Since what constitutes literature is very broad and open, anyone’s definition could be right, or it could be wrong. Literature is everywhere. Is it excellent literature? Is it poor quality literature? Is it literature at all? Well that just depends on who is answering the question. I say, that if the piece in question is written well enough to keep you interested from start to finish, then it must be an excellent example of literature and therefore should be studied.



Resources


1. “literature.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 24 March 2009. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literature
2. Laga, Barry. "What is Literature?" Mesa State. Mesa State College. 21 Mar. 2009. http://home.mesastate.edu/~blaga/theoryindex/literaturex.html
3. Meyer, Jim. "What is Literature? A Definition Based on Prototypes." UND. University of North Dakota. 21 Mar. 2009 http://und.edu/dept/linguistics/wp/1997Meyer.PDF

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