LITERATURE BY Kristina Yegoryan WHAT IS LITERATURE Literature

LITERATURE BY: Kristina Yegoryan

WHAT IS LITERATURE? � Literature (from Latin litterae (plural); letter) is the art of written work. The word literature literally means "things made from letters". � Literature is commonly classified as having two major forms—fiction & non-fiction—and two major techniques—poetry and prose. � Literature may consist of texts based on factual information (journalistic or non-fiction), a category that may also include polemical works, biography, and reflective essays, or it may consist of texts based on imagination (such as fiction, poetry, or drama). � French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in his What Is Literature states Literature as an art is the purest way in which we practice freedom.

LITERATURE AND MEANING �Epistemology –” how people know what they know) Plato ( The caved man and the poet) �Meaning or sake? “Art for Art’s sake”

WHY DO WE CREATE and/or READ LITERATURE? � WHY IS IT IMPORTANT ?

WHY is LIT. Important? �Understand, make sense of the world (Plato’s mimesis) �Become creative, open-minded �Know and understand the history �Evoke authentic pleasure/ purge of emotions/actions? Pathos, Catharses

What is the purpose of Lit? �Inform, communicate a certain message �Entertain �Instruct, provoke action, evoke feelings WHAT IS A LIT. , WHAT IS NOT?

�In academic circles, this decoding of the text is often carried out through the use of literary theory, using a mythological, sociological, psychological, historical, or other approach. WHY DO WE ANALIZE LIT? DO WE NEED TO?

DO WE MEED A HERO IN THE LIT? �Hero Motif �Super Man (Nietzshe)