WHAT IS LITERATURE?

 What is literature?

Literature can not be interpreted in any one specific way. Its definitions vary from person to person. Different people especially readers differ while giving definitions of literature. 

Literature is a body of written works. But recently oral literature was also incorporated into it. Works or books whether fictional or non fictional make up literature.

simply literature can be defined as a reflection of an age. it draws out the prevailing issues of an age and offers their solutions. writers cater to the predicaments that prevail in the age and try to resolve them . literature does not exclude any dimension of the age. it includes social, economical, political, moral and other aspects of the society. these writers are outcomes of their age. they are highly affected by their ages. their themes and motifs are offered to them by their times they live in. but this does not mean literature is bound and does not transcend the limits of its age. it is timeless and its themes apply to all the times to come. this is the reason Shakespeare has been called the writer for all ages.

literature preserves the intellectual lineage of an age. one can know the intellectual developments of an age by reading its literature. Developments in science, art, culture, morality and other things can be known by the literature of that age. Aristotle, Galileo, Newton, Einstein , Hawking and others have recorded the scientific progress of their respective age. we read them to know  what things were going on in their times. 

The better way to understand literature is to understand its few of the most momentous characteristics;

1. Humanization .

2. Perfect version of life.

3. Immortality.

4. Universality.

The primary feature of literature is that it hold the power of humanization. While reading literature like novels, dramas and poems, one undergoes the modification of behavior. Ones manners improve. One becomes temperate. Although, there are characters who are not drawn morally and ethically acknowledgeable but they also mend ones behavior because no one wants to have the same fates as they have due to their corrupted behavior .we learn best behaviors from reading the best character- characters.

The second characteristic of literature is that it reflects perfection. Perfection in characters who seek their dreams and obtain them. The perfection of dealing with enigmatic situations and attaining control over them. Fighting the hardest battles and coming out victorious from them. Literature is delighting because of this feature. Everyone wants and longs for perfection in practical life but never obtains it. For these people literature works wonders. It solaces them. Makes their life bearable when they see perfect world drawn in novels ,dramas and poems. Literature acts as a hope and  optimism for them.

The third characteristic of literature is immortality. Stories never die. Characters never die. Literature is immortal. Shakespeare writes in  sonnet 18 ;

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Writers died centuries ago but we still read them. Applaud them and remember their stories. Literature transcends time. It is timeless and eternal.

The fourth characteristic of literature is that it is universal. Themes dealt in literature are universal. Everyone is  impressed by  it. Everyone appreciates it. Everyone feels his untold story is told by some writer. For instance; reading a novel, “I too had a love story” may appear to you that it is your love story being narrated. Those women who are forced by circumstances to opt for prostitution to realize their dreams may feel the novel, “Eleven Minutes” has been written about them.