What is Literature?

[Esus]

What do you believe literature is? Do you believe it to be something pre-defined by publishers and reviewers, or do you believe it to be anything pre 1900? Or do you think its anything fictional? Or do you think its any writing at all, whether it be the health warning on a cigarette packet or Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

Please don't write out a dictionary definition, I want to know what you believe it is, because I believe that everybody can define what literature is for themselves, and decide if what they're reading is literature.

[Wil]

I don't really like Literature, if only because Mr James is the biggest prick this side of Long Dong Silver, and has completely failed to a) teach us anything, b) gain our interest, or c) avoid reading Harry Potter porn to us. Apologies for the crude nature of this paragraph, but my hatred is much.

But I can appreciate literature, though I daren't try to express my own belief of what it can extend to include, as I have none. I guess literature includes novels and epics, short stories, poetry, and screen plays. Maybe sitcom scripts are literature: I'm positive a qualification in literature is a bonus when writing such material. For now I'll reserve my definition to include anything we're "studying" (read: ignoring), which is what I mentioned in the previous-but-one sentence.

[Hobo]

Max, thank you for not going into detail with the harry potter porn thing, personally I think the stories are nausitatingly bad as it is.

[Mac the Janitor]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=literature

Sorry...I just couldn't resist...

[Dave]

Literature, to me, is all the great writings there have been. Whether works of fiction or documentation of facts ... Yeah. Frankenstein was good. Catcher in the Rye, MacBeth, Hamlet, The Scarlet Letter ... All good stuff.

[Codek]

Max, thank you for not going into detail with the harry potter porn thing, personally I think the stories are nausiatingly bad as it is.

The movie is worse. That kind of childish 'sparkle' that makes you cringe seems to be syphoned off of kindergartens around the world, pumped into the film studio, and gassed in through the vents above the set. If you haven't seen it already, be thankful.

[ClaireBear]

Literature.... to me there's many sub sets of literature

Classic Literature (The old greats... some not so old) Authors such as Austin, Dickins, The Brontes, Orwell, Shakespeare... blah-de-blah... check out you SAT / GCSE / A'LEVEL Eng lit reading list!

Modern Literature (New classics...) Clock work orange, Trainspotting (although it pains me to admit it!) Memoirs of a Geisha... basically anything that has won a Booker prize or any of the other current literary awards!

Children's Literature (Encompases both classic and modern!) The Secret Garden, Treasure Island, The Water Babies, Redwall series by Brian Jacques, The Tracy Beaker novels, and ...it pains me once again... but Harry bloody Potter!

Airport Literature (Everything else!) Cheap crap full of sex, violence, with little plot or depth!

But its all "Literature"

Just a few thoughts! Hope this helps Esus! (frickin smilies!)