Literature

Literature, most generically, is any body

Literature
of written works. More restrictively,
literature refers to writing considered to
be an art form or any single writing
deemed to have artistic or intellectual
value, often due to deploying language
in ways that differ from ordinary usage.

Its Latin root literatura/litteratura (derived

itself from littera: letter or handwriting)
was used to refer to all written accounts.
The concept has changed meaning over
time to include texts that are spoken or
sung (oral literature), and non-written
verbal art forms. Developments in print
technology have allowed an ever-
growing distribution and proliferation of
written works, culminating in electronic
literature.

Literature is classified according to

whether it is fiction or non-fiction, and
whether it is poetry or prose. It can be
further distinguished according to major
forms such as the novel, short story or
drama; and works are often categorized
according to historical periods or their
adherence to certain aesthetic features
or expectations (genre).

Definitions
Definitions of literature have varied over
time: it is a "culturally relative
definition".[1] In Western Europe prior to
the 18th century, literature denoted all
books and writing.[1] A more restricted
sense of the term emerged during the
Romantic period, in which it began to
demarcate "imaginative" writing.[2][3]
Contemporary debates over what
constitutes literature can be seen as
returning to older, more inclusive
notions; Cultural studies, for instance,
takes as its subject of analysis both
popular and minority genres, in addition
to canonical works.

The value judgment definition of

literature considers it to cover exclusively
those writings that possess high quality
or distinction, forming part of the so-
called belles-lettres ('fine writing')
tradition.[4] This sort of definition is that
used in the Encyclopædia Britannica
Eleventh Edition (1910–11) when it
classifies literature as "the best
expression of the best thought reduced
to writing."[5] Problematic in this view is
that there is no objective definition of
what constitutes "literature": anything
can be literature, and anything which is
universally regarded as literature has the
potential to be excluded, since value
judgments can change over time.[4]

The formalist definition is that "literature"

foregrounds poetic effects; it is the
"literariness" or "poetic" of literature that
distinguishes it from ordinary speech or
other kinds of writing (e.g.,
journalism).[6][7] Jim Meyer considers
this a useful characteristic in explaining
the use of the term to mean published
material in a particular field (e.g.,
"scientific literature"), as such writing
must use language according to
particular standards.[8] The problem with
the formalist definition is that in order to
say that literature deviates from ordinary
uses of language, those uses must first
be identified; this is difficult because
"ordinary language" is an unstable
category, differing according to social
categories and across history.[9]

Etymologically, the term derives from

Latin literatura/litteratura "learning, a
writing, grammar," originally "writing
formed with letters," from litera/littera
"letter".[10] In spite of this, the term has
also been applied to spoken or sung
texts.[8][11]

Genres

Literary genre is a mode of categorizing

literature. A French term for "a literary
type or class".[12] However, such classes
are subject to change, and have been
used in different ways in different
periods and traditions.

History
Sculpture in Berlin depicting a stack of books on
which are inscribed the names of great German
writers.

Egyptian hieroglyphs with cartouches for the name

"Ramesses II", from the Luxor Temple, New
Kingdom
The history of literature follows closely
the development of civilization. When
defined exclusively as written work,
Ancient Egyptian literature,[13] along with
Sumerian literature, are considered the
world's oldest literatures.[14] The primary
genres of the literature of Ancient Egypt
—didactic texts, hymns and prayers, and
tales—were written almost entirely in
verse;[15] while use of poetic devices is
clearly recognizable, the prosody of the
verse is unknown.[16][17] Most Sumerian
literature is apparently poetry,[18][19] as it
is written in left-justified lines,[20] and
could contain line-based organization
such as the couplet or the stanza,[21]
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Different historical periods are reflected

in literature. National and tribal sagas,
accounts of the origin of the world and of
customs, and myths which sometimes
carry moral or spiritual messages
predominate in the pre-urban eras. The
epics of Homer, dating from the early to
middle Iron age, and the great Indian
epics of a slightly later period, have more
evidence of deliberate literary
authorship, surviving like the older myths
through oral tradition for long periods
before being written down.

Literature in all its forms can be seen as

written records, whether the literature
itself be factual or fictional, it is still quite
possible to decipher facts through things
like characters' actions and words or the
authors' style of writing and the intent
behind the words. The plot is for more
than just entertainment purposes; within
it lies information about economics,
psychology, science, religions, politics,
cultures, and social depth. Studying and
analyzing literature becomes very
important in terms of learning about
human history. Literature provides
insights about how society has evolved
and about the societal norms during
each of the different periods all
throughout history. For instance,
postmodern authors argue that history
and fiction both constitute systems of
signification by which we make sense of
the past.[22] It is asserted that both of
these are "discourses, human
constructs, signifying systems, and both
derive their major claim to truth from that
identity."[22] Literature provides views of
life, which is crucial in obtaining truth and
in understanding human life throughout
history and its periods.[23] Specifically, it
explores the possibilities of living in terms
of certain values under given social and
historical circumstances.[23]

Literature helps us understand

references made in more modern
literature because authors often
reference mythology and other old
religious texts to describe ancient
civilizations such as the Hellenes and the
Egyptians.[24] Not only is there literature
written on each of the aforementioned
topics themselves, and how they have
evolved throughout history (like a book
about the history of economics or a book
about evolution and science, for
example) but one can also learn about
these things in fictional works. Authors
often include historical moments in their
works, like when Lord Byron talks about
the Spanish and the French in "Childe
Harold's Pilgrimage: Canto I"[25] and
expresses his opinions through his
character Childe Harold. Through
literature we are able to continuously
uncover new information about history. It
is easy to see how all academic fields
have roots in literature.[26] Information
became easier to pass down from
generation to generation once we began
to write it down. Eventually everything
was written down, from things like home
remedies and cures for illness, or how to
build shelter to traditions and religious
practices. From there people were able
to study literature, improve on ideas,
further our knowledge, and academic
fields such as the medical field or trades
could be started. In much the same way
as the literature that we study today
continue to be updated as we continue
to evolve and learn more and more.

As a more urban culture developed,

academies provided a means of
transmission for speculative and
philosophical literature in early
civilizations, resulting in the prevalence
of literature in Ancient China, Ancient
India, Persia and Ancient Greece and
Rome. Many works of earlier periods,
even in narrative form, had a covert
moral or didactic purpose, such as the
Sanskrit Panchatantra or the
Metamorphoses of Ovid. Drama and
satire also developed as urban culture
provided a larger public audience, and
later readership, for literary production.
Lyric poetry (as opposed to epic poetry)
was often the speciality of courts and
aristocratic circles, particularly in East
Asia where songs were collected by the
Chinese aristocracy as poems, the most
notable being the Shijing or Book of
Songs. Over a long period, the poetry of
popular pre-literate balladry and song
interpenetrated and eventually
influenced poetry in the literary medium.

In ancient China, early literature was

primarily focused on philosophy,
historiography, military science,
agriculture, and poetry. China, the origin
of modern paper making and woodblock
printing, produced the world's first print
cultures.[27] Much of Chinese literature
originates with the Hundred Schools of
Thought period that occurred during the
Eastern Zhou Dynasty (769‒269 BCE).
The most important of these include the
Classics of Confucianism, of Daoism, of
Mohism, of Legalism, as well as works of
military science (e.g. Sun Tzu's The Art
of War) and Chinese history (e.g. Sima
Qian's Records of the Grand Historian).
Ancient Chinese literature had a heavy
emphasis on historiography, with often
very detailed court records. An
exemplary piece of narrative history of
ancient China was the Zuo Zhuan, which
was compiled no later than 389 BCE,
and attributed to the blind 5th-century
BCE historian Zuo Qiuming.
In ancient India, literature originated from
stories that were originally orally
transmitted. Early genres included
drama, fables, sutras and epic poetry.
Sanskrit literature begins with the Vedas,
dating back to 1500–1000 BCE, and
continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron
Age India. The Vedas are among the
oldest sacred texts. The Samhitas (vedic
collections) date to roughly 1500–1000
BCE, and the "circum-Vedic" texts, as
well as the redaction of the Samhitas,
date to c. 1000‒500 BCE, resulting in a
Vedic period, spanning the mid-2nd to
mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Late
Bronze Age and the Iron Age.[28] The
period between approximately the 6th to
1st centuries BCE saw the composition
and redaction of the two most influential
Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the
Ramayana, with subsequent redaction
progressing down to the 4th century AD.
Other major literary works are
Ramcharitmanas & Krishnacharitmanas.

In ancient Greece, the epics of Homer,

who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey, and
Hesiod, who wrote Works and Days and
Theogony, are some of the earliest, and
most influential, of Ancient Greek
literature. Classical Greek genres
included philosophy, poetry,
historiography, comedies and dramas.
Plato and Aristotle authored
philosophical texts that are the
foundation of Western philosophy,
Sappho and Pindar were influential lyric
poets, and Herodotus and Thucydides
were early Greek historians. Although
drama was popular in Ancient Greece, of
the hundreds of tragedies written and
performed during the classical age, only
a limited number of plays by three
authors still exist: Aeschylus, Sophocles,
and Euripides. The plays of Aristophanes
provide the only real examples of a
genre of comic drama known as Old
Comedy, the earliest form of Greek
Comedy, and are in fact used to define
the genre.[29]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the most

prolific German writers

Roman histories and biographies

anticipated the extensive mediaeval
literature of lives of saints and
miraculous chronicles, but the most
characteristic form of the Middle Ages
was the romance, an adventurous and
sometimes magical narrative with strong
popular appeal. Controversial, religious,
political and instructional literature
proliferated during the Renaissance as a
result of the invention of printing, while
the mediaeval romance developed into a
more character-based and
psychological form of narrative, the
novel, of which early and important
examples are the Chinese Monkey and
the German Faust books.

In the Age of Reason philosophical tracts

and speculations on history and human
nature integrated literature with social
and political developments. The
inevitable reaction was the explosion of
Romanticism in the later 18th century
which reclaimed the imaginative and
fantastical bias of old romances and
folk-literature and asserted the primacy
of individual experience and emotion.
But as the 19th century went on,
European fiction evolved towards
realism and naturalism, the meticulous
documentation of real life and social
trends. Much of the output of naturalism
was implicitly polemical, and influenced
social and political change, but 20th
century fiction and drama moved back
towards the subjective, emphasizing
unconscious motivations and social and
environmental pressures on the
individual. Writers such as Proust, Eliot,
Joyce, Kafka and Pirandello exemplify
the trend of documenting internal rather
than external realities.

Genre fiction also showed it could

question reality in its 20th century forms,
in spite of its fixed formulas, through the
enquiries of the skeptical detective and
the alternative realities of science fiction.
The separation of "mainstream" and
"genre" forms (including journalism)
continued to blur during the period up to
our own times. William Burroughs, in his
early works, and Hunter S. Thompson
expanded documentary reporting into
strong subjective statements after the
second World War, and post-modern
critics have disparaged the idea of
objective realism in general.

Psychology and literature

Theorists suggest that literature allows
readers to access intimate emotional
aspects of a person's character that
would not be obvious otherwise.[30] That
literature aids the psychological
development and understanding of the
reader, allowing someone to access
emotional states from which they had
distanced themselves. D. Mitchell, for
example, explains how one author used
young adult literature to describe a state
of "wonder" she had experienced as a
child.[31] There are also those who focus
on the significance of literature in an
individual's psychological development.
For example, language learning uses
literature because it articulates or
contains culture, which is an element
considered crucial in learning a
language.[32] This is demonstrated in the
case of a study that revealed how the
presence of cultural values and culturally
familiar passages in literary texts played
an important impact on the performance
of minority students in English
reading.[33] Psychologists have also
been using literature as a tool or
therapeutic vehicle for people, to help
them understand challenges and issues.
An example is the integration of
subliminal messages in literary texts or
the rewriting of traditional narratives to
help readers address their problems or
mold them into contemporary social
messages.[34][35]

Hogan also explains that the time and

emotion which a person devotes to
understanding a character's situation
makes literature "ecological[ly] valid in
the study of emotion".[36] That is
literature unites a large community by
provoking universal emotions, as well as
allowing readers to access cultural
aspects that they have not been exposed
to, and that produce new emotional
experiences.[37] Theorists argue that
authors choose literary device according
to what psychological emotion they are
attempting to describe.[38]

Some psychologists regard literature as

a valid research tool, because it allows
them to discover new psychological
ideas.[39] Psychological theories about
literature, such as Maslow's Hierarchy of
Needs have become universally
recognized.

Psychologist Maslow's "Third Force

Psychology Theory" helps literary
analysts to critically understand how
characters reflect the culture and the
history to which they belong. It also
allows them to understand the author's
intention and psychology.[40] The theory
suggests that human beings possess
within them their true "self" and that the
fulfillment of this is the reason for living. It
also suggests that neurological
development hinders actualizing this and
a person becomes estranged from his or
her true self.[41] Maslow argues that
literature explores this struggle for self-
fulfillment.[38] Paris in his "Third Force
Psychology and the Study of Literature"
argues that "D.H. Lawrence's 'pristine
unconscious' is a metaphor for the real
self".[42] Literature, it is here suggested,
is therefore a tool that allows readers to
develop and apply critical reasoning to
the nature of emotions.

Poetry
A calligram by Guillaume Apollinaire. These are a
type of poem in which the written words are
arranged in such a way to produce a visual image.

Poetry is a form of literary art which uses

the aesthetic qualities of language
(including music, and rhythm) to evoke
meanings beyond a prose
paraphrase.[43] Poetry has traditionally
been distinguished from prose by its
being set in verse; prose is cast in
sentences, poetry in lines; the syntax of
prose is dictated by meaning, whereas
that of poetry is held across meter or the
visual aspects of the poem.[44][45] This
distinction is complicated by various
hybrid forms such as the prose poem[46]
and prosimetrum,[47] and more generally
by the fact that prose possesses
rhythm.[48] Abram Lipsky refers to it as
an "open secret" that "prose is not
distinguished from poetry by lack of
rhythm".[49]

Prior to the 19th century, poetry was

commonly understood to be something
set in metrical lines; accordingly, in 1658
a definition of poetry is "any kind of
subject consisting of Rhythm or
Verses".[43] Possibly as a result of
Aristotle's influence (his Poetics),
"poetry" before the 19th century was
usually less a technical designation for
verse than a normative category of
fictive or rhetorical art.[50] As a form it
may pre-date literacy, with the earliest
works being composed within and
sustained by an oral tradition;[51][52]
hence it constitutes the earliest example
of literature.

Prose
Prose is a form of language that
possesses ordinary syntax and natural
speech, rather than a regular metre; in
which regard, along with its presentation
in sentences rather than lines, it differs
from most poetry.[44][45][53] However,
developments in modern literature,
including free verse and prose poetry
have tended to blur any differences, and
American poet T.S. Eliot suggested that
while: "the distinction between verse and
prose is clear, the distinction between
poetry and prose is obscure".[54]

On the historical development of prose,

Richard Graff notes that "[In the case of
Ancient Greece] recent scholarship has
emphasized the fact that formal prose
was a comparatively late development,
an "invention" properly associated with
the classical period".[55]

Philosophical, historical, journalistic, and

scientific writings are traditionally ranked
as literature. They offer some of the
oldest prose writings in existence; novels
and prose stories earned the names
"fiction" to distinguish them from factual
writing or nonfiction, which writers
historically have crafted in prose.

Fiction
Novel

A long fictional prose narrative. In

English, the term emerged from the
Romance languages in the late 15th
century, with the meaning of "news"; it
came to indicate something new, without
a distinction between fact or fiction.[56]
The romance is a closely related long
prose narrative. Walter Scott defined it
as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse;
the interest of which turns upon
marvellous and uncommon incidents",
whereas in the novel "the events are
accommodated to the ordinary train of
human events and the modern state of
society".[57] Other European languages
do not distinguish between romance and
novel: "a novel is le roman, der Roman, il
romanzo",[58] indicates the proximity of
the forms.[59]

Although there are many historical

prototypes, so-called "novels before the
novel",[60] the modern novel form
emerges late in cultural history—roughly
during the eighteenth century.[61] Initially
subject to much criticism, the novel has
acquired a dominant position amongst
literary forms, both popularly and
critically.[59][62][63]
Novella

In purely quantitative terms, the novella

exists between the novel and short story;
the publisher Melville House classifies it
as "too short to be a novel, too long to be
a short story".[64] There is no precise
definition in terms of word or page
count.[65] Literary prizes and publishing
houses often have their own arbitrary
limits,[66] which vary according to their
particular intentions. Summarizing the
variable definitions of the novella, William
Giraldi concludes "[it is a form] whose
identity seems destined to be disputed
into perpetuity".[67] It has been
suggested that the size restriction of the
form produces various stylistic results,
both some that are shared with the novel
or short story,[65][68][69] and others
unique to the form.[70]

Short story

A dilemma in defining the "short story" as

a literary form is how to, or whether one
should, distinguish it from any short
narrative; hence it also has a contested
origin,[71] variably suggested as the
earliest short narratives (e.g. the Bible),
early short story writers (e.g. Edgar Allan
Poe), or the clearly modern short story
writers (e.g. Anton Chekhov).[72] Apart
from its distinct size, various theorists
have suggested that the short story has a
characteristic subject matter or
structure;[73][74] these discussions often
position the form in some relation to the
novel.[75]

Essays

An essay consists of a discussion of a

topic from an author's personal point of
view, exemplified by works by Michel de
Montaigne or by Charles Lamb. Genres
related to the essay may include the
memoir and the epistle.
Natural science

As advances and specialization have

made new scientific research
inaccessible to most audiences, the
"literary" nature of science writing has
become less pronounced over the last
two centuries. Now, science appears
mostly in journals. Scientific works of
Aristotle, Copernicus, and Newton still
exhibit great value, but since the science
in them has largely become outdated,
they no longer serve for scientific
instruction. Yet, they remain too
technical to sit well in most programs of
literary study. Outside of "history of
science" programs, students rarely read
such works.

Philosophy

Philosophy has become an increasingly

academic discipline. More of its
practitioners lament this situation than
occurs with the sciences; nonetheless
most new philosophical work appears in
academic journals. Major philosophers
through history—Plato, Aristotle,
Socrates, Augustine, Descartes,
Kierkegaard, Nietzsche—have become
as canonical as any writers.
Philosophical writing spans from
humanistic prose to formal logic, the
latter having become extremely technical
to a degree similar to that of
mathematics.

History

A significant portion of historical writing

ranks as literature, particularly the genre
known as creative nonfiction, as can a
great deal of journalism, such as literary
journalism. However, these areas have
become extremely large, and often have
a primarily utilitarian purpose: to record
data or convey immediate information.
As a result, the writing in these fields
often lacks a literary quality, although it
often(and in its better moments)has that
quality. Major "literary" historians include
Herodotus, Thucydides and Procopius,
all of whom count as canonical literary
figures.

Law

Law offers more ambiguity. Some

writings of Plato and Aristotle, the law
tables of Hammurabi of Babylon, or even
the early parts of the Bible could be seen
as legal literature. Roman civil law as
codified in the Corpus Juris Civilis during
the reign of Justinian I of the Byzantine
Empire has a reputation as significant
literature. The founding documents of
many countries, including Constitutions
and Law Codes, can count as literature.

Drama
Drama is literature intended for
performance.[76] The form is often
combined with music and dance, as in
opera and musical theater. A play is a
subset of this form, referring to the
written dramatic work of a playwright
that is intended for performance in a
theater; it comprises chiefly dialogue
between characters, and usually aims at
dramatic or theatrical performance
rather than at reading. A closet drama,
by contrast, refers to a play written to be
read rather than to be performed; hence,
it is intended that the meaning of such a
work can be realized fully on the
page.[77] Nearly all drama took verse
form until comparatively recently.

Greek drama exemplifies the earliest

form of drama of which we have
substantial knowledge. Tragedy, as a
dramatic genre, developed as a
performance associated with religious
and civic festivals, typically enacting or
developing upon well-known historical or
mythological themes. Tragedies
generally presented very serious themes.
With the advent of newer technologies,
scripts written for non-stage media have
been added to this form. War of the
Worlds (radio) in 1938 saw the advent of
literature written for radio broadcast, and
many works of Drama have been
adapted for film or television.
Conversely, television, film, and radio
literature have been adapted to printed
or electronic media.

Other narrative forms

 Electronic literature is a literary genre
consisting of works that originate in
digital environments.
Films, videos and broadcast soap
operas have carved out a niche which
often parallels the functionality of
prose fiction.
Graphic novels and comic books
present stories told in a combination of
sequential artwork, dialogue and text.

Literary techniques
Literary technique and literary device are
used by authors to produce specific
effects.
Literary techniques encompass a wide
range of approaches: examples for
fiction are, whether a work is narrated in
first-person, or from another
perspective; whether a traditional linear
narrative or a nonlinear narrative is used;
the literary genre that is chosen.

Literary devices involves specific

elements within the work that make it
effective. Examples include metaphor,
simile, ellipsis, narrative motifs, and
allegory. Even simple word play
functions as a literary device. In fiction
stream-of-consciousness narrative is a
literary device.
Legal status
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United Kingdom

Literary works have been protected by

copyright law from unauthorized
reproduction since at least 1710.[78]
Literary works are defined by copyright
law to mean any work, other than a
dramatic or musical work, which is
written, spoken or sung, and accordingly
includes (a) a table or compilation (other
than a database), (b) a computer
program, (c) preparatory design material
for a computer program, and (d) a
database.

Literary works are not limited to works of

literature, but include all works
expressed in print or writing (other than
dramatic or musical works).[79]

Awards
There are numerous awards recognizing
achievement and contribution in
literature. Given the diversity of the field,
awards are typically limited in scope,
usually on: form, genre, language,
nationality and output (e.g. for first-time
writers or debut novels).[80]
The Nobel Prize in Literature was one of
the six Nobel Prizes established by the
will of Alfred Nobel in 1895,[81] and is
awarded to an author on the basis of
their body of work, rather than to, or for,
a particular work itself.[a] Other literary
prizes for which all nationalities are
eligible include: the Neustadt
International Prize for Literature, the Man
Booker International Prize and the Franz
Kafka Prize.

See also

Book: Literature
Philosophy and literature
Lists
List of authors
List of books
List of literary magazines
List of literary terms
List of women writers
List of writers
Related topics
Asemic writing
Childhood in literature
Children's literature
Cultural movement for literary
movements.
English studies
Ergodic literature
Erotic literature
Hinman collator
Hungryalism
Literature basic topics
Literary agent
Literature cycle
Literary element
Literary magazine
Modern Language Association
Orature
Postcolonial literature
Postmodern literature
 Popular fiction
Rabbinic literature
Rhetorical modes
Vernacular literature
World literature

Notes
a. However, in some instances a work
has been cited in the explanation of
why the award was given.

References
Citations

1. Leitch et al., The Norton Anthology

of Theory and Criticism, 28
2. Ross, "The Emergence of
"Literature": Making and Reading
the English Canon in the Eighteenth
Century", 406
3. Eagleton 2008, p. 16.
4. Eagleton 2008, p. 9.
5. Biswas, Critique of Poetics, 538
6. Leitch et al., The Norton Anthology
of Theory and Criticism, 4
7. Eagleton 2008, p. 2-6.
 8. Meyer, Jim (1997). "What is
Literature? A Definition Based on
Prototypes" . Work Papers of the
Summer Institute of Linguistics,
University of North Dakota Session.
41 (1). Retrieved 11 February 2014.
9. Eagleton 2008, p. 4.
10. "literature (n.)" . Online Etymology
Dictionary. Retrieved 9 February
2014.
11. Finnegan, Ruth (1974). "How Oral Is
Oral Literature?". Bulletin of the
School of Oriental and African
Studies. 37 (1): 52–64.
doi:10.1017/s0041977x00094842 .
JSTOR 614104 . (subscription
required)

12. Abrams, Meyer Howard (1999).

Glossary of Literary Terms . New
York: Harcourt Brace College
Publishers. p. 108.
ISBN 9780155054523.
13. Foster 2001, p. 19.
14. Black et al. The Literature of Ancient
Sumer, xix
15. Foster 2001, p. 7.
16. Foster 2001, p. 8.
17. Foster 2001, p. 9.
18. Michalowski p. 146
19. Black p. 5
20. Black et al., Introduction
21. Michalowski p. 144
22. Krause, Dagmar (2005). Timothy
Findley's Novels Between Ethics
and Postmodernism. Wurzburg:
Königshausen & Neumann. p. 21.
ISBN 3826030052.
23. Weston, Michael (2001).
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A.R. Biswas (2005). Critique of Poetics (vol.

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393-97429-4.
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4051-7921-8.
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Hinduism. Cambridge University
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Hogan, P. Colm (2011). What Literature
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Further reading
Major forms
Bonheim, Helmut (1982). The Narrative
Modes: Techniques of the Short Story.
Cambridge: Brewer. An overview of
several hundred short stories.
Gillespie, Gerald (January 1967). "Novella,
nouvelle, novella, short novel? — A
review of terms". Neophilologus. 51
(1): 117–127.
doi:10.1007/BF01511303 .

History

Wheeler, L. Kip. "Periods of Literary History"

(PDF). Carson-Newman University.
Retrieved 18 March 2014. Brief
summary of major periods in literary
history of the Western tradition.
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